I Hate Headwinds - July 21, 2007

 

The wind in Kansas, if you are headed west can be a bear. But hills are rare.

You can often see the water tower for the next town six or ten miles away.

I Hate Headwinds

(July 21, 2007)

 

This will be a quick post because the library where I’m sitting closes in 27 minutes. It’s 96 degrees outside and the winds have been blowing hard against me most of my time in Kansas. On top of that my cell phone quit working altogether. So I’m going to have a hard time keeping in touch with my family for a few days. SW Kansas isn’t exactly a place with a lot of cell phone stores.

 

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“Kansas bathtubs” and cinnamon buns.

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I am now on the American Cycling Association trail; so I have run into six or seven bicyclers, all headed east, mostly thin, and young. One gentleman was my age, 52, and he had his wife following in an RV. It has been fun to share notes on what to expect, problems and pleasures, aches and pains (at least I have aches and pains).

I wrote down their names, but lost the paper.
Two young riders, headed east.

They started in California. I started in New Jersey.

The Devos brothers, also headed east.

We had a good talk in the shade on a very hot day.

People continue to be friendly. I ate breakfast at the Copper Oven in Osage City, Kansas, a couple days ago. They had breakfast burritos and cinnamon rolls that were among the best I’ve ever eaten. It was worth fighting Kansas’ perpetual headwinds just to eat there. On top of that, the owner heard I was riding for diabetes and gave me my meal free.

As always, any savings go into the JDRF fund.

Kansas has a stark beauty I enjoy; but many towns are dying. I passed through Hillsboro and found out their McDonalds shuttered its doors a few months ago. Same thing happened in Lyons – but Lyons is experiencing a boom these days with a new ethanol plant and other construction.

Most mornings I start late because I talk too long at breakfast with the locals. Extra bacon and conversation seem more appealing than getting back in the saddle. At one stop I fell into a discussion with a gentleman named Lyle Foureau. He mentioned he liked reading history. I recommended Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose, 1776 by David McCullough and a couple of other works. Lyle took notes and donated to JDRF.

I’ve camped out in the woods a couple of times and bathed in “Kansas bathtubs”  most days (lakes along the road). Many areas of the state are still green due to heavy rains and Chase County had beautiful bluestem grass prairies. I spend a lot of time grungy and hot; but I can finally say I’m a little proud for getting this far.

Tomorrow I enter Colorado and hope to get my phone fixed in Pueblo.

A 78-year-old truck driver told me one morning about some of the sights in Kansas. It used to be you could go see the embalmed remains of a Civil War veteran, Samuel Dingle (I think was the name). “When I first saw him, he had a full beard and all,” said my informant. “Then I went back a few years later and all his hair had fallen out. The parasites or somethin’ got him.”

Well, I guess I didn’t want to see Dingle anyway.

I am now a little more than halfway done with my trip (in miles anyway) and right about on schedule.

Still no flats, no mechanical problems, just hot and tired a lot.

I love my family and miss them very much.

One of the joys of pedaling out West: Traffic is often very light.

Near Ness City, Kansas. 

Parts of Kansas have viewer people than in 1890.

Abandoned church.

Abandoned high school near Ness City, Kansas. 

Kansas: The Sunflower State.

 

*Obviously, there are many better ways to record your trip now than there were in 2007. I would recommend taking more pictures, too, and not just of your bike. Put people in them whenever possible – unless the scenery is too spectacular to miss.

Abandoned Kansas farmhouse, photographed in 2019.