Riding a Bicycle from Colorado to Missouri

During BAK 2007 I intended to ride alone. Instead, I teamed up with three other riders. Our personalities and riding styles were similar enough that we stuck together the entire eight day ride. The following year we all teamed up again. Earlier in the year (March 2008) I had been hit by a car while riding my mountain bike. (You can read more about it here: http://www.squidoo.com/cyclist-hit-by-an-inattentive-driver)

I had been off the road bike for several months and had not ridden in the street until the day BAK started that year. I just decided to get over it through immersion I suppose.

By mid-week, one of my riding mates and I began to hit it off really well. So well that we were living together within a month, married within six months, and pregnant with our daughter within the year. The following year we had a son. Now we are back for BAK 2011.

We're not nearly as fit, in shape, or light on the pedals as we were three years ago; but, we still love our bicycles and are determined to have a great time over the course of those eight days. The hardest part for me isn't the pedaling, the sun, the wind, the possible rain or severe weather; it's not the exhaustion, the 40-80 miles each day or the certain cold showers awaiting us at the overnight stops; it's the leaving behind of our babies. I'm especially upset about leaving the 15 month old. My husband and I are so completely involved with her every day happenings, needs and routines that I cannot imagine what confusion her little mind is going to go through as more and more days without us go by. Eight days is a very long time to be without your mommy and daddy!

Thankfully, we will be leaving early in the morning while the babies sleep. That's both good and bad as I know that putting her to bed tonight will be the last time we spend together before I'm gone for those eight days. We are blessed that my mother has moved in with us to help care for the babies and have been building up to this day since she arrived back in February just before our son was born. Grandma is here every day and knows all of the gotchas and routines. She'll do a great job; but I'm still sad about being gone. My sister and oldest son are also going to be around to help out and to be extra hands when needed. I'm counting on the fact that, once we arrive in Tribune, Kansas to start our adventure, my "all business" mind will take over and I won't be sad or worried so much.

Meanwhile, I've set up this blog so I can log in each day and tell everyone about the events of the day. I'm counting on the fact that I will have an ounce of energy left at the end of each day to update this blog; however, I will have to forgive myself if I only have enough energy left for that ice cold shower, a few bites of food and some sleep.

Geronimo!!

* WD40 for squeeky doors at night
* Clothes Pins
* Extra Cleat Bolts
* Medical and Dental Insurance Cards
* Bicycles
* Tubes (just a few will be able to buy them)
* Frame Pump * Tire tools * Air cartridges
* ID
* Bento box * Seat bag * Odometer * Water bottles
* Drink mix * Energy bars * Roc blocks * ecaps
* Cameras * Batteries * Charger * Memory cards
* Jersies x3 * Shorts/tights x2 * Socks x3 * Shoes (cycling & walking) * Sport bras x2 * Helmets
* Headbands * Hair bands * Riding Glasses & Mirrors * Xtra cleats
* Gloves * Jackets * Sunscreen * Chamois Butter * Zinc Ointment * Chapstick * Gum * Bug spray
* String backpack (for around town) * Shoulder bag outfitted for all needs in shower
* Queen Mattress w/pump * Batteries for pump * Sheets * Blanket * Pillows
* Body wash * Shampoo * Conditioner * Deodorant * Towels * Wash cloths
* Hairbrush * Toothbrush * Toothpaste * Tide
* Regular shirt * Shorts * Pants (for running around town) * Bathing suits
* Ear plugs * Ambien * Ibuprofen * Tums * Prescription Medications
* Phone * Charger * Power strip
* Cash * Laundry Bag * Undies * Shower Shoes

Left Wichita about 9:30. Had lunch in Great Bend at noon. Arrived in Tribune around 4pm. The Penske truck hauling our bicycles had a hole in the radiator and broke down about 30 miles before Tribune.

We found the gym and took our bags inside marking our spot for the evening. We checked in and got all registered. This year our freebies were drawstring bags that we can wear on our backs and also water bottles.

Waiting for our bikes to arrive, we went outside and wandered around a bit. There was a super nice RV parked out front. I've never been in one so Mike and I walked over and asked if we could look inside. Jane Canaday and her husband showed us around. It was pretty awesome.

We sat in the grass for a while, still waiting, and an older lady rode up on her bicycle and crashed in the parking lot. Mike went over to help. He's registered as one of the medics for BAK. The lady had a few bruises; but, was ok.

Around 7:30 our bicycles arrived. We helped unload all of the bikes. By then it was too late to ride out to the Colorado border and back before dark. Betty Dewitt, the person who arranged our transportation from Wichita, offered to take those of us who wanted a ride out to the border so we could ride back. We took her up on this because we really didn't want to have to do it in the morning.

About six of us took the truck ride to the Colorado/Kansas state line and took each others' pictures there. On the way out to the border, we drove through some rain. Prior to that, the winds were around 20mph. Once we were on the other side of the rain, it was sunny with no wind and a rainbow. Mike and I had our pic taken at the Colorado sign and then at the "Welcome to Kansas" sign. The rainbow was behind us. I have not looked at the photos on the computer yet; but, I'm hoping we can see the rainbow.

A few of us rode together back to Tribune. We averaged 16.6 miles per hour and made it just as the sun went down. We missed the initial meeting and the dinner. We had just enough time to shower and make our beds before lights out.

We slept really well. Not too many people were snoring. I woke up around 3am with a big headache. I didn't go back to sleep much. Once people started stirring around 5:30am, I took some aspirin. We got out of bed around 6:30 and were on the road at 7:15.

We rode from Tribune to Leoti. As we rolled in to Leoti, there were several kids with signs yelling and pointing us in to the high school where they were serving breakfast burritos. We like to support the local groups who are raising money so we stopped and paid $5 for two breakfast burritos and two home made cookies.

I was so cold all morning. It was overcast and in the 60s and I had chill bumps all up and down my arms. When we left the high school, we stopped at a convenience store. I was looking for a pair of panty hose I could wear on my arms; but, there were none to be bought so I drank two cappuccinos instead. We stayed there at the store long enough that when we came out it was a bit warmer.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful... consistently 20+mph. We stopped to see the SAG hags and get our stickers for the day. Just about 30 minutes from Scott City, the sun came out a little. As we rolled into town, the clock was striking noon and the sirens went off and the church bells were playing music. It was a very nice welcome.

We found our bags and started setting up our bed for the afternoon & night. The showers were private and warm.

We hand washed our riding clothes in the sinks and went outside to hang them on whatever we could find. We chose the railing of a stairway which was in the sun. As we hung our items up, Ron Leiker, a fellow cyclist and friend, rode up. He has to work and cannot participate in the full BAK event but usually spends the weekend with us.

He had ridden in from the other direction, from Ness City. He hauled all of his necessities in a BOB trailer and will be spending the night then riding the 56 miles with us to Ness City tomorrow.

We all went out to get dinner. The Mexican restaurant was closed from 2pm - 5pm so we went to Pizza Hut and had pasta. Food tastes so awesome after a morning of riding.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY: Photos of Tribune to Scott City

Last night was better sleeping because I used ear plugs. Lots of snoring. Everyone worked really hard and was wiped out tired. Lights were out at 10pm and someone's cell phone went off at 11pm. Every 4 minutes for the rest of the night that phone beeped a single beep. I woke up at 4am to use the restroom. *beep*

At 5:30 am, people started moving around and packing up to leave.*beep* The sound of air rushing out of air beds started coming from all angles of the gym. *beep*

I was very cold. I snuggled up closer to Mike for warmth. *beep* Around 6:30am, Mike got out of bed and pulled the plug on our mattress. I was still on it. Those are not easy to get off of once they have released half their air. Finally, the beeping cell phone stopped sometime before 7am.

Ron had slept near us last night so we could all get up and ride together. We got dressed in our riding gear, packed our four bags and headed out to toss them onto the truck. We rode around to some of the breakfast stops; but, they were all sold out. The BAK locust swarm had made its pass through town.

We cruised South towards Subway. I normally do not eat at Subway. Not because the food is bad, I think it tastes great; but, I get so incredibly aggravated just trying to order that I have decided never to do it again. I told Mike that he could just order for me and that would keep my blood pressure down. We rode up to Subway; but, it was closed. We rode a little further South and found a Wendy's. It was open. We all ordered breakfast.

After breakfast, we rode back North to get started with our day. It was about 8:30 when we headed out. We were one of the last ones. The temperature was right around 80 degrees and we had a Southwest wind. Perfect. Ron started pulling and he and Mike traded off back and forth. We were consistently going 19 - 21 miles per hour.

I like to snap photos of people as we pass them. I hope to have photos of as many of the 900 or so riders as possible by the end of the week. I'm usually very good about manipulating the camera while on the bike, in fact, I've never dropped a camera while riding... until today. I had just snapped a photo and went to put it back in my bento bag when it slipped out of my hand. I heard it slam into the asphalt of the highway and saw it bounce into the grass. I told Mike I had to stop. I turned around in the road and went back. Just as I picked it up out of the grass, Mike approached me so we could start riding again. We heard a loud "pop" and "hiss." His back tire had just blown off the rim. There was a 3 inch section that was no longer on the rim. So Mike went to work changing the tire.

The ironic thing is that when we rode this same route in 2007, he also flatted there between Scott City and Dighton. I think it had been closer to Scott City; but, still interesting.

As we arrived in Dighton, we watched for Ron, who had heard that I dropped my camera. He was waiting for us at the Kwik Shop; but, had not known that Mike flatted. We were taking a lot longer than he expected. Still he waited. A very patient man. :)

We, on the other hand, did not know he was waiting for us at the Kwik Shop, so we rolled into Dighton and went looking for a friend of Mike's who lives there. We found him and Mike hung out talking for about 45 minutes. During that time, I checked my phone and saw that Ron had texted us to let us know he was at the Kwik Shop so I rode my bike up there to wait with him and get a drink.

While we sat in front of the store, there were two "locals" standing there talking about the bicycle riders. They started asking us questions about where we were from, where we had ridden from and where we were heading. At one point, one man asked us how much "one of those touring bicycles" costs. Ron told him that his bike was around $600 when he bought it. (he now has over 13,000 miles on it!!). I told them that the bike I rode for two BAKs had cost me $400 used but that the bike I am riding now retails for around $6,000. I also quickly pointed out that I did not pay retail for it as I got a good deal because the bike maker was a sponsor of a mountain bike racing team I used to be on. When I said that "$6000" number, one of the men, who had been standing there, had a whole body flinch and he looked at the other man and said, "I told ya!" He then walked very quickly, shaking his head, to his car. He got in and promptly drove away.

Ron and I then got into a conversation with the remaining man about carbon fiber, components and why any of it matters.

At about 11:00 Mike showed up at the store and we were ready to head to our "included"/free lunch stop in Beeler. As we started to ride, Mike saw another rider he had met the night before, Bruce, and we stopped to say "Hello." Ron was getting pretty hungry by then and decided to head on to Beeler.

Mike and I talked to Bruce and his wife for a few minutes and then we headed on to Beeler.

The ride to Beeler, like most of the day, was hot, dry and a straight line until about Kansas Mile Marker 96 when it turned a little south more into the wind. Mike helped block the wind from me which made my riding a lot less taxing. Mile Marker 100 was just as the road curved back East and started a downhill.

Mike and I stopped and took pictures of the marker as lots of riders passed us. After the mile marker, we got back on our bikes and cruised down the hill. At first we were just seeing how fast we could go without pedaling. We hit about 22 mph.. then I decided to pedal. By the bottom of the hill we hit 30mph. As we started up the next, very small, (but big enough to be a challenge to me) hill, mike challenged me to not drop under 20mph. I dropped down as far as 20.7 mph but made it to the top. That hurt a little.

Just over the hill was a Historical Marker. George Washington Carver's homestead. We stopped and took a photo and put the marker on Foursquare.

Just past the marker was the turn for our lunch stop in Beeler. Beeler is a TINY community at the end of a dirt road. There is an old school there that is now used as a community center. We lunched there in 2007 and everyone rode their bikes down the dirt road with no problems; however, this year, there were many protesting about riding down a dirt road so there was a shuttle. LOTS of riders left their bikes on the edge of the highway and rode the shuttle. Mike and I took the dirt road. It was so packed it was more like a paved road with some sand here and there. NO big deal.

We went inside the old Beeler High School where they were serving lunch. There were several ladies, and a few men, from the community who had come out to serve us lunch. I'm pretty sure they were also the cooks. They had sloppy joes, cake, pickles, chips and fruit ready to serve. We ate in the old gymnasium. During lunch, we sat next to some older gentlemen who seemed to really enjoy talking to the cyclists and asking lots of questions. Some were normal, casual questions about our ride, the weather, the cars that passed us... and some were interesting questions about why we dress the way we do. One asked me, "Why do you all wear those black, stretchy shorts?" He thought they looked to be really hot. I explained that they wick away the sweat, drying out very quickly and that the tightness of them made it easier to move. Mike helped explain that they also have cushy bottoms so our rears don't take such a beating. Later, as we rode away, I realized that I had forgotten to mention that one reason they are dark/black is because the very few that aren't, show off what's under them a little too much. Most white or light colored spandex are very see through when damp.

While we were there, we noticed that the fire station for Beeler was also in this old school. One thing we are trying to do on our trek across the state is to take photos of all of the fire stations and trucks in the towns we go through. There is a web site, maintained by Andy Thomas (a Wichita Fire Photographer), called kansasfiretrucks.com. On that site, he is compiling photos of all of the fire trucks/stations in Kansas that he can.

As we left, Mike popped into the station and asked if we could take photos. He explained why, and they went ahead and pulled the trucks out so we could take photos. One of the men's names was "Darwin Whipple." He gave Mike lots of information about the trucks and the operations of the department. He was very helpful and had a few cute stories to tell about people who come through Beeler (population 91 in 1990). You can read more about Beeler here: http://www.skyways.org/towns/Beeler/index.html

We exited Beeler using another dirt road that took us East, got back on K96, and continued towards Ness City. The rest of the ride was rather uneventful. We cruised along at a good clip, stopping to see the, very hot, and ready to be done for the day, SAG Hags who had a pirate theme going today. By then there were a few people who were clearly not going to be able to finish today's ride, even though there were only about ten miles left.

We grabbed a few refreshments, applied some sunscreen, and headed out.

The rest of the ride was extremely hot, but we didn't lose much steam. We passed several riders, pausing to take their photos and encourage them a little. We were almost done so we cheered them on... it helped keep our spirits up as well.

As we got into town, there was a small hill in the middle of town. A few people opted to walk up it. The hill is there almost like an insult at the end of a hot ride. You're here, you made it, but here's one more thing to make you feel weak and hot and to accent how exhausted you are. Mike and I were just thinking about the swimming pool.. it got us through the last few blocks.

The gym was packed when we arrived. Everyone had established their sleeping spots for the night and many were already napping. We wandered through the gym, into the hallways trying to find a place for a queen sized mattress and our stuff.

We found a place in the hallway, outside the auditorium. It was a high traffic area; but, later seemed to have the best air conditioning. We made our bed and headed to the pool.

Ness City had free admission for the BAK riders. VERY nice. Last time we rode through here, admission was one dollar, which was still very nice. The water in both the showers and the pool was really cold. I jumped in and got it over with... Mike did the same at the diving board. His secondary mission was to soak anyone who was standing nearby. Right after he jumped in, a little six year old guy named "Logan" decided to give a cannonball a try. He leapt off the board and did a spread eagle mid air, incredible excitement on his face, and barely made a splash.. but when he came up he was so proud. It was very cute. He and Mike repeated this over and over until Logan decided to get his water gun. Then he and Mike had a small war going on which soaked most everyone who was sitting around the pool. We stayed at the pool until they closed at 5pm.

We returned to the school gym and got ready for dinner. We had plugged in our power strip and found that at least a half a dozen people had plugged into our strip or piggy backed another strip off of it. No big deal as long as our stuff was still plugged in.

We took a few minutes to call back home. We wanted to talk to Josephine. Mom told us all was well and she put Josie on the phone.. she jabbered to us a little. Made me really miss her a lot.

We rode our bikes to a food truck (RV) called "Weaver's" where they served smoked meats. Last time we came through Ness, Mike had eaten half a chicken there. We ordered a chicken dinner to share and took it down the road to a bar that one of Mike's old friends owns. We had not let anyone know ahead of time that we were coming. We got there and saw that the bar was closed so we just sat on the curb and started eating our dinner. A few minutes later, Mike's friend, Rocky, came out of the bar. He and Mike talked for a bit. We learned that he normally would have been closed; but, kept the bar open today for BAK. He was a little bit off the beaten path, though, and had only had four customers which was too bad. He showed us the inside of the bar and grill. It was very nice. We promised him that if BAK came through again, we'd help him with advertising.

After that, we headed back to the gym for the nightly meeting. On the way, we stopped at the convenience store for drinks. While there, we ran into Mike's friend, Candice and her daughter, Cadence. We had a nice time talking to them for a bit. While we were talking, the store closed. At 8 pm! I understand it was a Sunday; but, with BAK there, they'd have been much smarter to stay open later. At least until lights out at 10pm.

We attended the meeting where we learned that the youngest rider this year is 11 and the oldest is about to turn 86 years old. So awesome. I really do hope to remain that active for the rest of my life.. into my super late years. 86. Do you realize how close to 90 that is?? That's just incredible to me.

Today's temperature reached 102 degrees.

Tomorrow's are predicted to be even more hot. I'm hoping we do as well tomorrow as we did today. We might not lollygag as much just so we can beat the heat of the day; but, if there's something cool along the way, I know we'll stop.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:
Photos of Scott City to Ness City

Last night was a very nice night of sleeping. Before 10pm, our "bedroom" was the information booth. I don't know how many times I gave directions to the restroom, the shower, the swimming pool, the cafeteria... every five minutes someone needed something. Mike is registered as a medic and had about three requests for help as well.

Once lights were out, we had the most quiet and cool sleeping area. We both slept really well.

We got up and left around 7:30 after Mike had a pancake and sausage breakfast which I picked at a little.

The weather was nice as the sun was coming up, there was a light breeze and it was about 70 degrees.

About 3.7 miles into the ride, there was a cool barn on the north side of the road. We were told it was called the "Graffiti Barn" and that the tradition was for anyone and everyone to paint something about their celebrations on it. Mike took a few photos of it.

Around mile 7, we were passing a small group of riders who were standing on the side of the road near a guard rail. As usual, we called out "Everything Ok?" They seemed to indicate it was. Mike looked up in his mirror then turned his head to see that one of the riders had a huge bloody spot on his head.
We turned around and went back. It seems the rider had gone to break down when a car was coming and he and another rider got a little tangled up. This rider fell and went sliding on his forehead down the road into the guardrail. Mike used one of my water bottles to clean the wound and then put gauze on the injury and wrapped his head just as a BAK car arrived to take the rider to the hospital.

We continued on our ride. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We rode along, leap frogging various riders and stopping at SAGs or stores. We got to Rush Center and stopped in to see a friend of mine's grandmother who runs a cafe there called "Effie's Place." Effie gave us some drinks, on the house (tea and mountain dew) and then we headed on to LaCrosse. In LaCrosse, we stopped at Casey's and had some chicken strips.

On down the road, we stopped in Bison to see Mike's sister, Leslie, at the bank where she works. We stayed for a few minutes but hurried to get back on the road because the heat of the day was coming.

After Bison, we went to Otis where we stopped at the MAK-D convenience store. They were giving away ice and water for whatever donation you wanted to give. There were A LOT of riders there. I also bought a Gatorade and downed that.

The rest of the ride in to Hoisington was just hot, dry and windy. Mike "pulled" (let me draft) me most of the way; but I'm so slow on the hills I'd lose him. He'd let me catch back up but then at the next hill I'd fall off again.

We made it into Hoisington at 2:41pm. Most sleeping spaces (with electricity) were taken; but we found a little cubby hole at the bottom of a staircase that turned out to be perfect!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:
Photos of Ness City to Hoisington

About 4:30am we heard the rustling of the early birds getting dressed and packing up. We tried our best to ignore them; but, then someone turned on the gym lights at 5am! Lights used to be on at 7am and BAK organizers moved it to 6am.. but now it's at 5am!??! Of course it was a bold early riser that either turned them on or asked a custodian to turn them on. Mike and I were livid.

We rode from Hoisington to Claflin. Along the way, we stopped at the Cheyenne Bottoms overlook. The sun was just really getting up into the sky and it was a beautiful morning.

Claflin had cinnamon rolls for sale. We pulled into the park and sat for a bit with a few riders. Then we went to check out the downtown. Very quaint with an old west feel to the building fronts. We took several photos of the town and then of riders as they passed beneath the grain elevators.

As we left Claflin, going East, we had a VERY strong south wind crossing us. I wish I would have been fast enough to get my camera out because at one point a bird flew across the road in front of us. Due to the wind, he was going VERY slowly.. but the funny thing was that he was carrying a ribbon that was three times longer than he was and just as tall. It was a long, blue trail behind him and he was going so slow against the wind. I told Mike that it looked like those airplanes that drag banners across the skies at beaches. We giggled at the thought of ants reading the banner the bird was carrying.

Today was one of our hottest. I believe it got up to 103 with 45 mph consistent winds from the South. I knew I should have worn a more heat friendly jersey, or sleeveless.. but Mike was wearing a patriotic jersey so I decided to match him with one I had. My jersey did not unzip very far and seemed to be really thick. I wasn't really uncomfortable until much later in the day.

Mike's legs were not feeling very energetic today. He said he thought he was "bonking." Bonking is basically running out of fuel. It was more like he really needed some protein or something to make his legs feel more strong. We decided to stop in Geneseo for some form of protein.

We stopped at the Mini Mart there in Geneseo and had breakfast. It was a tiny little spot in the road and the people were very friendly. We stayed there for at least an hour just fueling up and hydrating. As we left, I picked up one of their promotional free calendars. One of those little adhesive backed ones you can stick anywhere. I folded it and put it in my mini wallet that I carry on the bike. I thought it would be nice to have a few mementos on our fridge when we got home.

A few miles from the Ellsworth County/McPherson County line, we turned north on the highway. This put that strong south wind at our backs. We started traveling at 30mph in some places. My maximum speed of 34.5mph was reached on one of the downhills. The road was smooth and the traffic was light. We had a lot of fun on those hills until we saw a SAG at the bottom of one of the hills. This was a horrible place for a SAG but we stopped.

Leaving the SAG we had to get going back up a hill. The wind was still at our backs so it wasn't brutal. After a few small hills, we came up on road construction where we had to stop at a light at the bottom of a hill just before we'd have to climb another hill. We hoped to hit the light when it was green so we could carry our momentum up the next hill; but no such luck.

After several long, hot, miles on the pavement between the county line and Marquette, we turned South for a mile heading into Marquette. Marquette really rolled out the red carpet for us. Well, it was more like a red and white tent that they set up in the middle of the street.

Mike and I went into "City Sundries." It had an old drugstore look. I had a chicken wrap and a very large root beer. Both were extremely satisfying. After lunch, we went out into the street where organizers were attempting to take down the big tent. The wind kept whipping it away from them.

There was a hose at a curb. The hose was there for whatever use we had. I used it to spray myself and cool off.

Probably around 2pm we decided to bite the bullet and head South out of town. We had 22 miles of zig zagging into and out of that 45mph wind. As we went out of town, our speed reached about 7- 10 mph at times depending on how much shelter we had from trees. Mike actually let me "pull" now and then so he could draft and get his energy back up. We had been told that about 2.5 miles outside of town we would be hitting the halfway mark for the entire BAK ride. We both forgot to make a note of this though due to fighting the wind.

There's not much to say about that last 22 miles except that it was extremely rough. MANY riders were SAGging in, getting rides from BAK vehicles because they simply could not take the wind and heat any longer.

We arrived in McPherson at about 4:30. My mom and sister had driven up from Wichita and brought our babies so we could see them. It was so nice to hug and hold Jake and Josie. (ages 3 mo and 15 mo)

We spent a few hours with them, and then we got a hotel for the night. After the babies headed back to Wichita, we went to eat at Applebees and then went back to our room and passed out. At the school, as we were sorting through what we needed for the evening, we noticed a TV camera aimed at our bicycles. Later that night, we tuned in to the local news and watched a short clip about BAK and saw our bikes on screen for a few seconds.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:
Photos of Hoisington to McPherson

Today we started out in McPherson. Mike and I left the hotel about 7:00 and went to Braum's for breakfast. A few locals asked us if we were with BAK. We answered a few questions.

After breakfast, we left the parking lot at about 8am and headed East. Both of us felt really cruddy. By the first sag stop, I was feeling grouchy at the wind and the traffic. Mike was upset with his legs. We stayed there at that Sag for quite a while before deciding to press on.

Back on the bikes, we still fought a south crosswind for a while.. it was impossible to draft because we had to keep breaking down for traffic. By the time we got to Hillsboro, my acetaminophen and mike's breakfast had finally kicked in so we both felt much better.

When we got to Marion, we were feeling pretty strong. We were well behind the bulk of the group; but, we decided to have lunch at LaHacienda. It was very very good. On the east side of town, we stopped to refill our water in the city park where several local groups had set up to serve us. There were only 2-3 riders there as everyone had moved on.

After Marion, we had a lot of really good highway to ride on and the wind had died down considerably. This is good and bad. The wind, during the heat of the day, really helps cool us down.

The highway on the way to Elmdale was awesome. Very smooth with very little traffic. It was a gradual hill for a very long time; but, without the traffic it didn't seem so bad.

Just before Elmdale, we stopped to take photos of a cool barn. Then we turned North for a mile, then east to Elmdale.

As we left Elmdale, there was an insane hill on some really really really crappy road. I'm sure the road must have had a lot of holes in it before we got there, as BAK organizers had worked to get fresh asphalt poured out there.. and that's about all they had done.. poured it and ran over it a time or two. It seriously looked like Lightning McQueen had worked on it just before we got there.

The hill after Elmdale was pretty nasty. My Mountain Bike friends will understand when I explain that it looked like a somewhat paved "Cardiac" hill from Camp Horizon. The only thing is, it really wasn't paved.. it had this fresh tar and asphalt on it so in the heat of the day, it smelled so hot and was sticky. When I first got on the hill, I thought I was going to have to walk it.. but I came to BAK determined not to walk any hill. I had Mike there encouraging me to keep going.. so I did. Very slowly. I think I got down to 4mph once or twice. Lots of people were walking it and that also helped me stay motivated to ride.

The view from the top of that hill was great.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:
Photos of McPherson to Cottonwood Falls

We left Cottonwood Falls by going North through Strong City. We stopped outside of town to take a photo of the river. As Mike stopped to take a photo, a lady in a van pulled up to take a photo as well. She said, "It's really easy for you to stop and take pictures, you can just stop your bike." I said, "That's why we ride across Kansas on our bikes!"

We passed through Strong City taking photos of the caboose and a few churches then turned East and passed the rodeo grounds as we left town.

The road was very busy but had a good shoulder.

There was a historical marker just outside of town describing Chase County and the Bluestem Region.

The morning was overcast, but very comfortable. I think it was about 70 degrees.

As we headed NE towards Emporia, the road's shoulder turned into a rumble strip nightmare. The strips filled the entire shoulder and were very deep. When I rolled over them, I would get a hot tingling over my entire body. Hard to explain; but, it wasn't very comfortable. I tried to ride the white line when there were no cars and when there were cars, I headed to the far right edge of the shoulder where I could usually roll over the tiny strip where the rumble strips didn't reach.

About halfway along that stretch, we saw a small pond on the left side of the road. Right on our rumble strip side, there was a MASSIVE, bloated beaver that had been killed. It was about the size of a Rottweiler dog. I commented to Mike about a mile later that when I looked in my mirror, I could still see the thing!

As we arrived in Lyon County, we were welcomed by a sheriff sitting watching traffic and a huge digital sign that alerted drivers to us cyclists. It was very cool, though, ironically, that was the closest I cam to being hit by a truck. There was a grey dodge that would NOT get over out of the right lane even though there were four lanes there. I was trying to get over to the right of the white line and he was coming fast. I dipped in and rode across a rumble strip as he flew by giving me no room at all had I stayed on the line.

We got to Emporia and were directed to take a south loop around the town Along that route we saw a street called "Clint Bowyer" street. Did anyone else notice that?

We rode through a small part of town and stopped at a McDonald's for breakfast. We hung out there for about an hour before heading south out of town. As we left town, there was a small veteran's park and an old bridge. We stopped for photos. A local person told me that Veteran's day originated there in Emporia!

Several miles south of Emporia was Olpe.

We arrived there and stopped to take a self portrait of ourselves under the Olpe water tower. While we stood there, a local man came out of his house and offered to shoot the photo for us. We tried several times to explain how the digital camera worked; but, he kept putting his eye up to the back of the camera. We eventually got a good shot and talked to him for a bit. He was a retired Westar worker who now worked as a Walmart greeter just for extra cash.

We stopped in the park in Olpe and had pulled pork with the juniors who were raising money for the junior/senior prom. There, we listened to a couple who were playing guitar and singing. To get an idea of what they were like, you'd have to watch a few episodes of Saturday Night Live with Will Ferrel. They weren't bad, it was just funny. They had written two songs about BAK. We recorded videos of them singing these songs.

After lunch, we rode down to the Chicken House for something to drink and to check out the town. We ordered a few iced teas and stood around for a few minutes. Then we headed back north, shooting some church photos on our way through town.

As we rode East out of town, we got sprinkled on just a bit. After a while we noticed that every few yards there were piles of poop. We wondered what animal was marking territory along the road. We also wondered how much that animal would have to eat to keep producing these piles.

We also noticed some very noisy trees. At first, I thought it was the wind whipping through the power lines; but, we decided it was groups of locusts in various trees on either side of the road. It was very loud; but not completely surrounding us. It sounded odd how it was on one side of the road and then the other.

After about an hour, the wind had died down but then returned even stronger. We stopped at a SAG where there was a huge pile of rock. Some kids were playing on it. We filled our bottles, had a few cookies and then continued East.

About a mile down the road, there were two blonde girls who ran out to greet us from their chairs beneath a tent. They told us they had ice cold water for free.

We were both full up on water; but each took a bottle anyway. The girls had two border collie puppies with them. We asked their names. Bella and Scout. We talked for a bit with the girls, took a few photos of them and gave them a few dollars for the water. They eagerly thanked us and told us they hoped we won. :)

At the 45 mile point, we turned back South into the wind. It was slow going for a bit as we passed a rock quarry and a few houses.

I had to stop and quickly apply some chamois butter for the first time this BAK.. it was a true "saver" of the inside of my leg where my pants padding had been rubbing my thigh.

We arrived in Burlington around 3:30.

At the 8pm meeting that night, Mike and I were called up on stage along with another couple, to tell our story of meeting on BAK and subsequently marrying. Mike wanted me to do the talking. I felt like I rambled forever. :)

A few days earlier, I ran out of my prescription for stomach acid pills. As I went to bed, I couldn't find my antacids. At about 1am I woke up and was sick from the acid. I kept coughing it up. After trying to find more Rolaids in my bags, I decided I had to go find some in town. I hopped on my bike, in my PJs, with a rain jacket on, and rode a few blocks to the convenience store. It was closed. I rode on downtown. Nothing was open but the laundromat. There were a few women outside. I asked if there was anyplace in town that was open that would have Tums or Rolaids. Nope. Just the laundromat.

I headed back towards the school and saw a minor emergency clinic. It was open. I went inside and told the lady at the desk that I knew it sounded nuts, but I needed something for heartburn. I told her I could give her my insurance card if she needed it etc. She just reached in her purse and gave me a handful of Tums. It was awesome. I have to remember to send her a Thank you note.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:
Photos of Cottonwood Falls to Burlington

Last night we were instructed not to leave town until after 7am due to the workers at the power plant being on the roads. I don't think anyone listened.. or maybe they just didn't go to the meeting. There were people with flip flops, talking at the top of their lungs in the hallways etc... yes, right where we were sleeping. I shushed a few of them; but, I don't think they cared at all. Those people who do that are already being inconsiderate, why would they care about someone shushing them? It's not like they didn't know people were still sleeping at 4 freaking 30 in the morning.

As we left the school, we rode downtown with our trash bags on just in case the water was spraying up from the roads. A group of us came to a stop light that was red. A few stopped, a few did track stands, a few slowed down way before the light so they could still be rolling when the light turned green. A tandem; however, started to go while the light was red. They were out in the intersection before it turned green. I said, "I'm not going until it is green." Once it turned green, we rolled on through. A police officer drove by us screaming for us to stop. We all stopped. He got out of the car and started ranting about "Do you people know what a red light means??" He was right in my face. I knew it was really just the tandem that ran the light. I said, "I stopped." The officer said, "No you didn't." I said more loudly, "I STOPPED." He said, "Maybe you did, you can go on then..." After he ranted for a little bit, he let us go on.

A few miles into the ride, the road had been milled. It vibrated our bikes. Mike said it was Kansas Cobblestone like in the Tour de France. :)

There was a point where we all had to wait for a pilot car to let us through the construction. By then we had pulled off our trash bags. The road was wet and dirty in this area so we got a lot of dark spots all over our clothes.

After the construction zone, before we turned east again, there were some girl scouts selling bierocks and cinnamon rolls. We all stopped to rest a minute and some tried the goodies. While we were there, a few of the girls did a BAK cheer for us. I have a video in my pictures on smugmug.

We stopped at the "Lunch Box" in Waverly for lunch. For the most part, it looked like a bunch of Schwan's food.. but it didn't taste bad. I just hoped for more of a down home meal with mashed potatoes etc. They said they only serve mashed potatoes on Tuesdays.

Evidently, the Lunch Box collects calendars. There were hundreds of calendars from all over on the walls. We even found the Kansas Firefighter Calendar there. I thought it was only appropriate that I contribute the Geneseo Mini Mart calendar I had in my purse. It was odd that I picked it up and odd that I carried it on my bike for two days.. so I thought that meant I should donate it to the collection.

We continued south on 31 and had a SAG stop in Harris. Two of our riders are German exchange students on really old bicycles. They were both at this SAG. One was playing with the little boy who was with the SAG. Later that evening, we found out that one of the German boys had discovered a really bad flat on his bike at that SAG. No one had a way for him to patch it or fix it. He didn't want to ride one single inch of BAK. He refused to SAG in... so he ran the remainder of the distance to Garnett!

Just before Garnett, we stopped to see the SAG hags at the last stop. It was patriotic day and they were still dressed in their patriotic outfits. I felt a little sorry for them though, there was obviously a skunk nearby.

As we came in to Garnett, there was a fun bale of hay on the North side of the road. It had half of a fake body sticking out of it along with a bicycle. I got a picture of it.

Right after that was an incredible hill. I sailed down it at 33.7 mph. On the other side of that hill was an uphill where I slowed to 7mph.

When we got to the school, they were opening classrooms for us to sleep in. We got a very nice, quiet classroom with some people we had ridden with a bit.

We went downtown to have dinner. There were a few stands set up and a stage for our nightly meeting. Near that area, was a place called "Josephine's." Very cute. That is our daughter's name. I went into the store to see if they had anything with her name on it as things like that are hard to find. Nope. Not one item.

We ate at the Mexican restaurant. It was VERY good. As we left, it started to rain. We found out that the meeting was moved to the school, so we raced through the rain on our bikes back to the school. We found out later that a few people saw us and giggled thinking we were out looking for a gazebo to be caught in in the rain. (We had revealed this was kind of how we got together on BAK in 2008.)

The biggest surprise of all for us was at the meeting that night. Mike and I were awarded the "Spirit of BAK Award" for having the right attitudes and representing what BAK is all about. That was incredible and a huge surprise. We won two license plate frames that say, "I'd rather be Biking Across Kansas" and we also won free admittance to the next BAK we choose to ride!!! Thank you SO MUCH to those who made that decision!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:
Photos of Burlington to Garnett

This morning we got up a little earlier to try to get out quicker. We had volunteered to help serve lunch and the organizers wanted us there by 10:45. We had taken 4+ hrs riding time to get to Garnett and it was about the same distance, with hills, to LaCygne. We knew it would take just as long.

We got everything loaded and I headed to the food area to get Mike some breakfast. The line was so long I knew it would be another hour before we ate. I went looking for some organizers to see if we could get our breakfast early. I found no one. I started talking to some friends we had made and they let me cut in front of them. I grabbed two plates of food and took it back to the classroom for Mike. He was already outside figuring we wouldn't get to eat. He came inside and ate.

It is tradition to wear the BAK t shirt on the last ride of the week. I really wish these could be some sort of jersey material and/or have pockets. T shirts sure do make you sweat.

It was a little damp out when we left but we didn't really get wet.

All morning I felt really cruddy. Like my legs were just dead weights and not really doing much. Each hill was slow and hard. I had felt great all week long up to this point. Sometimes, it takes an hour for my legs to loosen up and get going. Not today. I felt horrible all day long.

Several uphills and downhills and twists and turns in the road. There was a pretty long hill at one point and Mike cruised up it and waited for me at the top. When I got there I saw he was playing with a Golden Retriever puppy. It was probably about six months old and very energetic. We tried to get her to quit following us but she would not go back. Finally, I told Mike that there were 900 more of us coming and she was just going to do this all day long unless someone took her into her house.. and we had no idea which house that would be.

We continued on, down some fast downhills and up some slower hills... then we turned north. Right after we turned north, we heard sirens. I pulled over as a squad truck came by me from the north.

A few minutes later, we were in Parker, Kansas. This was where our one SAG of the day was. I was surprised we had only one SAG since yesterday was just as long and we had three. I was happy to see the SAG. I had just started to feel really hungry and was on the verge of a good bonk.

In Parker, Mike went to the fire station and interviewed them about their trucks. He took some photos so we could have them put up on kansasfiretrucks.com. I took a few photos of some riders we hadn't gotten to see all week because we were always leaving so late. The guys at the station told us that one of the cyclists had wrecked. Later on we found out that it was due to a dog in the road. I have no doubt what dog it was.

Just before the "Welcome to LaCygne" sign, there was a massive activity center. It seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. There was a cool barn and windmill across the street and I shot a few photos of them.

After the activity center, and the turn in the road, there were a few really good hills.. a few good downhills, too. Then the road was just super flat. It seemed to be flatter than when we were in Western Kansas.

In LaCygne, we stopped at a Casey's convenience store for drinks. We were told it was 8 more miles to the Missouri border. Some people said they weren't going all the way to the border. I think that is insane. Why would you ride this far and not go to the border? I don't know. Maybe they didn't go to the Colorado border either.

On the way to the border, there was an INSANE hill. It was long and I was s l o w.

The other side was, of course, a fast downhill... followed by a VERY long flat stretch to the border. On the way, we rode past an energy plant out on a lake. It was massive.

We rode past the Missouri sign together and kissed on the other side. Then we noticed there was a long line for pictures in front of the sign. I got in line while Mike helped some people shoot photos.

After our photo, we noticed Randy Rasa from KansasCyclist.com. We went over and talked to him for a bit. He had ridden his bike down from KC and had camped in the park to wait for the BAK arrivals today.

We also noticed, on the Missouri sign, that "someone" had posted a BAK11 kill mark. Pretty funny!

I was really dreading having to ride back up that long, steep hill to get back to LaCygne; but, come to find out, the park where we were having our dinner and boarding our buses was before the hill. Awesome. My legs were shot. We had a few really fun roller hills through some thick trees and then we arrived at the end point.

We were about an hour and a half late for serving lunch. I should have known better than to think we would have made it. I went to take a shower, then we loaded our bikes and luggage and grabbed some food. We had just finished eating when it was time to board the bus.

We slept most of the way home.

We got home just before 5pm. My mom picked us up with the kids. It was so nice to see them. We tried to go out to eat though and the kids both cried the whole time. I think us being gone, then being back, and them not being at home was too much for them to handle.

As Mike unloaded my bike from the back of the car, he said, "By the way dear, not sure if it had anything to do with how you felt all day, but your back brake is dragging."

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:
Photos of Garnett to LaCygne & State Line