Day 28 – Garden City, KS to Holly, CO

There’s a song with “Colorado” in it somewhere right? “I Know You Rider” by the Dead comes to mind. I’d like to say I was singing it when we crossed the border in to Colorado today, but honestly I was in the MCC after 5 hours in the saddle battling heavy head winds and mid-90’s temps. I wasn’t in the singing mood.

But I’m ahead of myself. Yesterday was a rest day, and in proper rest day fashion we didn’t put up a post. Mostly I think we were all trying to take the “rest” word seriously. We slept in, had breakfast at the hotel, then hit the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City.

The zoo was a bit like the National Zoo in the sense that you could just walk in and enjoy it. There was no entry fee unless you drove around in the zoo in your car. If you park across the street, you’re welcome to walk in and enjoy the sites. The zoo had some great habitats for the animals there, including a nice duck pond (Dax LOVES ducks it seems) and what must be at least 2 acres for a bison and a few elk to roam around in. Most of the animals were chilling out in the shade because of the heat, and frankly we did a lot of that too.

There was also a very Dax-friendly playground at the zoo. The spiderweb you see here was really an impressive feat of knot tying. The 2 boy scouts and myself couldn’t for the life of us figure out how this thing was put together. But it was comfy once you got settled in.

We had dinner at a Freddy’s last night. Wow. We’ve been seeing Freddy’s for about 1000 miles now but had never stopped. Good thing too, as it may be the only place we would choose to eat anymore. Great hot dogs, really unique burgers, fries made of crack, and lots of ice cream. We rolled out of that place and went in to a food coma back at the hotel.

This morning we started our journey on US Route 50. That’s our new home for the next few weeks. There will be some deviation here and there, but for the most part it’s the US 50 show.

For instance, today the route had us leaving the hotel, taking a few turns, then finishing the last 65 miles on US 50. Tomorrow, we turn right out of the motel onto 50, ride 85 miles, then turn left in to our hotel. That’s the route. Good times.

Sunrise was a little late today since we were so far west in the central timezone. I got Terran up about 6am, got dressed, ate, and were on the road together just before 7. JP left about 20 minutes before us and may have even been out before sunrise (again).

The wind ramped up early today. And while the weatherman said it was supposed to be from the southeast, it was (once again) straight on from the west. By 8 the wind was getting serious and the temps were starting to climb rapidly. Terran and I worked together through the wind and Heidi caught up to us 21 miles in. What we didn’t realize is that we had already caught (and passed) JP. We pulled up to the MCC, turned around, and saw JP coming up behind us. Apparently he had stopped in the little town a few miles back to restock and we shot right past him.

Terran had been working hard through the headwinds, so he called it a day after the first 2 hours. JP and I pushed on for another 10 miles… which took an hour. I kid you not, it was like climbing a hill all day long. At one point we were on a 2% downhill and were pushing the pedals hard to even keep the speedo above 11mph. Crazy.

JP called it a day around mile 30. I pushed on and mile 40… another hour. I got in the MCC to cool down, fill up bottles, and rest up a bit. The thermometer read 88, so I figured I still had some time before things got crazy hot. The Mountain Time Zone line was just ahead, so I told Heidi to go up 5 miles and wait for me. I pushed across the line, got within a mile from Heidi, and started to feel really off. My heart rate spiked and I started feeling a little “light”. So I called her to pick me up. Yeah, it was only a mile, but I was in trouble. Turns out it wasn’t 88.. it was more like 96 or 97. I really hit a wall (and yes I was hyrdrated.. I just think that after pushing the pedals non-stop for 4 hours, the heat was just too much). So I called it a day.

I asked the boys yesterday when they thought we’d see Cactus in the wild for the first time. Turns out, it was today… right where we crossed the time zone even. Pretty amusing.

So, I didn’t make it across the CO border on my bike. But we’re in Colorado nontheless. Here’s the pic for the “pics or it didn’t happen” crowd.

We rerouted on to US 50 because the TransAmerica Trail has NOTHING between Larned KS and Pueblo that even resembles civilized lodging. Tonight we’re staying in Holly. Holly got hit by a big tornado about 13 years ago and much of the town has been rebuilt. It’s a nice place and we had a fantastic lunch at the local “pig” themed diner.

A word about our motel. We’ve stayed at ~24 different hotels on this trip, and to date all of them have been part of a chain. Hampton’s, Garden Inn’s, Holiday Inn’s, Rodeway’s, and even a Super 8. Today is the first day we’ve been at a locally owned motel, the Miles Court. The online reviews of this place were crazy. All 5 stars, all glowing. It’s hard to take them seriously for a small town motel… I had a feeling there had been some ballet stuffing or something going on.

WRONG!

This place is awesome. As JP said, it’s basically a Hyatt. Modern facilities, everything is clean, spacious rooms, lots of power outlets (!?!?!). Somehow I don’t think all our our motel stays will be like this, but I really wish they would be. If you ever find yourself in Holly CO (or even near Holly CO) stay at the Miles Court.

Tomorrow should be 8-10 degrees cooler than today. AND there might be a tail wind. The day after will be another 8-10 degrees cooler. I’m hopeful we’ve seen our last 100 degree day for this trip.

Sleepy time.

 

A Word from Bobby

Hello,Bobby here. I’m Bruce’s son.

What I think of this trip is that it’s fun. I get to see, do, and get many things.

So far I’ve see mountain views, reservoirs, and countrysides. Somethings I got to do were going to museums, finding Dollar Generals (there’s been a lot of these – every small town has one it seems), and biking with my dad. We picked up a few cool things a long the way.  I got a pair of sunglasses, a Davy Crocket hat, and some computer stuff.

My favorite thing so far on this trip was feeding giraffes at the Natural Bridge Zoo in Virginia. Its tongue was like sandpaper.

My least favorite thing was the severe storm in Bardstown, KY.

What I’m looking forward to is DefCon and seeing my cousin Nevaeh.

Overall, I think this trip is exiting.

Day 26 – Larned to Garden City – Still in Kansas

Kansas is great when you have a tailwind. When you have a headwind, it’s a different story.

The today was very simple. Here’s a shot of JP’s Garmin giving him directions from the hotel as we left.

For those that haven’t read a Garmin 800 before, that first line tells you when the next turn is. Our route today was 100 miles long… the first turn was 99 miles in to the route. So yeah, we’re in Kansas.

J “I’m now a morning person” P got the jump on me again today and was out of the hotel about 6 minutes before me. Sunrise was pretty late today (6:25ish) and we had calm winds at the start. By the time I caught him, JP was clearly feeling the impact of his quality rides from the last few days. He decided to SAG up after the first hour to try to get his legs back under him for our next riding day on Saturday. I think it’s a fantastic idea especially when next week we’ll be riding in to the teeth of the Rockies.

About the time JP jumped in Art’s car, the wind started to pick up. But rather than having a tail wind from the East like the weatherman said, it was a headwind. A series of storms had just passed to our east and I think it was the tailing wind behind that storm.

Then the winds rotated around from the north for a bit… cross wind. Not great but not bad.

Then… magic. A solid tail wind. For about an hour I had a 10-12 mph tailwind. In the flats of Kansas, that kind of wind will make you feel like you’re riding in le Tour. I was cruising at 20mph without even trying. I thought I had the day made… not quite.

A word on the route. We rode Kansas Route 156 all day today. It’s a 2 lane road, no shoulder, and 65 mph speed limit. Oh, and some heavy truck traffic. Being seen is important, so I wore a bright red jersey, had a super bright red flashing tail light, and I even used a flashing white light on the front. There’s a lot of passing that occurs on 156 and the flashing front light keeps me from getting plowed in to by oncoming traffic.

I talked to some folks at the local bike store in Garden City this afternoon about 156 and they basically laughed and said “yeah, we don’t ride that road”. I picked a real winner of a route it seems.

I mentioned yesterday that Kansas is a big ramp up to the Rockies. Well, sometimes the ramp is steeper than other times. For instance, in the distance you can see here what appears to be a little rise at the end of a long straight.

When you get up to it, it’s not that little of a rise and it’s steeper than it let on. On this particular “rise” I nearly had to get in to my bailout 30 tooth ring in the back. Crazy. There were a number of these between mile 40 and 60 that got my attention.

Also around mile 40, the wind completed it’s swing and started hammering out of the southwest. Officially, that was a headwind. Grr… I fought through the wind and the heat until just before noon and called it a day. 72 miles of an emotional (and physical) roller coaster. I was hoping for 100, but right now 70-75 is my sweet spot… which is good because many of our days in the Rockies will be around 70 miles.

A side note on Heidi and the MCC. The MCC sticks out no matter where we go. It’s a BIG Mercedes sprinter van, it’s wrapped in vinyl with our logo and the logos of all our sponsors, it has all kinds of things sticking up off the roof,  and in general it doesn’t look like it belongs on back country roads (tho it performs fantastically on those roads). So when Heidi stops on the side of the road to wait for us, sometimes she draws the attention of locals. Today she pulled up at the Horse Thief Reservoir to wait for me late in the morning.

A gentleman in a red minivan pulled up and rather than going to the reservoir, he pulled up and started asking Heidi about the MCC and the ride. Turns out he’s been doing long distance rides for years and will be riding across Iowa in a few weeks. It was a great conversation, and similar to many others she’s already had. Frankly, she’s probably talked to more locals than I have on this adventure.

Tomorrow is a rest day, thank god. It’s been a busy week and we all need some time to unwind. I’ve already done some heavy lifting maintenance on my bike including putting on a new chain and attempting to true up my discs. Tomorrow we’ll do some sight seeing, restock the MCC, and continue to plan the route/stops for the next few weeks. The landscape is changing rapidly and we’re all stoked to get to the mountains.

Till tomorrow…

Day 25 – Hutchinson to Larned

Kansas is a ramp. At the east, it’s barely 700′ above sea level. On the west, it’s 4,000′ feet where it butts up against Colorado. In between, it’s mostly smooth but slowly goes up as you move west. On rides like today, when the vast majority of our ride was due west, you can actually get a sense of how “ramp like” the state is.

JP has found his calling the last few days. That calling is “get up before dawn and hit the road before any sane person would”. He was out the door again this morning before 6am. I’m not a morning person, especially when Heidi, the kids and I share one hotel room. “Getting to bed early” is largely dictated by Dax’s mood. Last night, not so much. I managed to hit the road by 6:30 though.

Even though the morning was relatively cool, I could still feel the effects of the heat from the last few days. My hands and feet were numb early and I ended up buying some advil at a gas station to try to cut down the tingling. About the time the advil kicked in, I hit a really bumpy stretch of road and the whole thing was moot anyway.

I caught JP somewhere along that bumpy road. Honestly, I had seen him about 40 minutes before I caught him, but like most things in Kansas, just because you can see something doesn’t mean you’re anywhere close to it. JP made great time today and I had to work pretty hard to catch him. About the same time I caught up with him, the MCC caught up with us.

After filling up bottles and grabbing a quick bite, JP and I made good time in the middle of the route. As the wind picked up today it was actually at our back and helped keep our speed up and heart rates down. JP called it a day after 100 km, and I pushed on the last 10 miles to Larned. It turns out that when you leave around 6, even 70 miles is done before noon. Luckily our hotel was ready for us and we all got checked in and showered before lunch.

Larned is in the heart of the Sante Fe Trail. Until today, I didn’t know what the Santa Fe Trail was. It’s a trading route that was used in the pioneer days to haul goods to and from the Southwest. There’s a nice museum here that talks about the history of the Trail, the impact on the local economy, and what eventually became of the Trail.

They had quite a number of different wagons and buggies including this cool covered wagon.

Again, these little towns we stop in have ended up having awesome attractions and history for us to check out.

The stop at the museum was timely because we’re in the processing of changing our route to match the Santa Fe Trail for at least the next few days. The Trans America trail is beautiful, but it can get a little “out of the way” at times. For the next stretch up to Pueblo, it basically doesn’t go through a town with a hotel in it. So rather than SAG our way to/from the route each day, Heidi and I researched some other routes and are tacking a bit south to stay in civilization. I’m not sure what that will mean for traffic, but at this point we’re sort of playing things by ear.

We also spent most of the afternoon fixing the route through the Rockies. The TA route mostly makes sense there, but the locations I chose to stop don’t make sense. So we came up with new stop/start points (and took a different route out of Pueblo) and started to make hotel reservations along that section. Some of the nights are proving to be a challenge. I’m hoping we don’t end up in tents. 😉