I was creating a new route, clicking the mouse intently. Instead of turning as I usually did for a short 30 mile ride, I continued straight on road C. I wanted to turn at some point to roll into Madison and ride home via HWY 99. It was a windy weekend in Kansas and I suspected tomorrow would promise strong winds from the south. That would put the wind at my back the whole way home, and I’d be on pavement. I suspected I would be tired from cranking through the Flint Hills with a strong gusting wind in my face. I wanted an easy ride home.
In the midst of my mapping, Jennifer peeked her head into the living room. “What are you doing?” “Are you coming to bed?,” she asked. Two questions, no pause in between. I explained that I didn’t want to get lost on my ride tomorrow and was mapping it out. She came into the living room and sat on the couch next to me. I loved her so. I felt bad for leaving her and the kids so long on my rides, but it is something that I have to do. It is difficult to explain, but riding long distance on my bicycle does something to me both physically and mentally. Without it, I get restless and to be quite honest a little depressed. In the future I hope to take the kids on cycling adventures. Jen was not interested.
I tried hiding it, but she looked at the monitor. The end marker read 64 miles. “Are you crazy?” she said. I murmured something about preparing for next week and wanting to get in a good ride before then, but it was only partially true. I was buzzing with anticipation about the ride I had just mapped out. A large portion of it would be through the beautiful rolling hills of the Kansas Flint Hills on low maintenance roads. Miles of nothing but natural grassland, cattle and lack of people. It was going to be a challenging adventure.
I tried to console her by saying I could cut the ride in half pretty easily by turning off the mapped route and going through Olpe instead of Madison, but in reality I had no intention of doing that. I wrote down some directions on a piece of paper, wishing I had an iPhone or other GPS device, but this would have to do for now. Hopefully the directions would be correct. I printed off a little map to help me visualize the route if I got lost. It wasn’t good for much since it was too small for the road names to be printed, but at least I would know where bends in the road would be and it may help if I got lost. Getting lost is a recurring theme as you can see. Some men can fix things and find their way pretty easily. I am not one of those men. I can’t fix much and I get lost pretty easily.
My mind had already began thinking about supplies for the trip. It would be hot, windy and humid. I would leave as early as I could to get in a few cool hours, but I would need a lot of water. I would have to hit the dreaded Wally World on the way out to get some Cliff bars, bananas and a portable air pump in case of flats. At this point, I am new to bicycle touring and I am still buying equipment. In fact, I am riding an older mountain bike which was made to ride trails in the late 80′s, not a multi-hour tour, but it is all I have for now.
I finished up the night by filling water bottles and a hydration pack and putting them in the fridge.
It was a restless night. I couldn’t believe how excited I was. If the sun was out, I would have left in the middle of the night. At some point I drifted off.
The screeching alarm interrupted my slumber. Any excitement I felt as I tried to go to sleep was replaced by a longing to go back to sleep. It took a little self prodding to get me out my cozy bed and leave Jen by herself. I told myself it would be a great ride as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and stumbled into the bathroom.
Oatmeal with granola, a glass of water and some FRS for breakfast. I am a coffee drinker, but I definitely did not want the diuretic or laxative effects on a long, hot bike ride. I picked up bananas, Cliff bars and a small air pump that would fit in my hydration pack from Wally World after breakfast. The pump was a POS that would most likely get returned after the trip, but I needed some sense of security on this long ride. There’s no way Jen can come save me in the middle of nowhere on a low maintenance road in the family van.
I packed my rear rack bag with my camera, two extra waters, four FRS chews, three Cliff bars, two bananas, spf 30 lip balm, towel, extra inner tube, garage door opener and debit card. The bag is not compartmentalized. I wondered how everything would hold up getting stuffed in there and bouncing around on the back of my bike. Time would tell.
After putting on my biking clothes, rubbing sunscreen on exposed parts and kissing Jen goodbye, I was off on my adventure. I shut the garage door and rode out of town. It disappeared behind me in five minutes or so. I remembered about two and a half miles into the ride that I forgot my tire changing tools would would have to try to do it by hand if need be. I didn’t know if that will be possible, but I just couldn’t bear the thought of back tracking.
The first ten miles or so always feels like work for me and today was no exception. I pedaled to wake up and get some milage behind me. About ten or so miles into the ride I hit my first low maintenance road. Things would get a bit more interesting. The road was bumpy, rocky in parts and hilly. Fifteen miles in, I was out there. I saw two cowboys unloading their horses to go ride in the hills. I hit some pretty steep climbs. This picture was taken at the top of one of the hills. You can see the cowboys in the distance.
I was feeling really good at this point but the bananas looked a little rough already. About 18 miles in, I had to stop and take these pictures. I decided to put one of the bananas out of its misery and eat it before it got any more bruised and bled all over my camera.
The choice of shortening my route had vanished. I had to go 25.5 miles before I hit a cross road that would lead me back home. I was feeling great and was on the high of the adventure. Now the only evidence of human existence was the low maintenance road that I was riding on. There were miles and miles of rolling hills covered with natural grasses all around me. I was riding into a very strong and gusty headwind and would until the time I would turn for the home stretch. That’s Kansas – hot, windy and humid.
I had my written directions stuck between my handlebar and brake cable. I pulled it out to check every now and then. When it came time to turn, I was amazed that I was only off by a tenth of a mile! Pretty accurate. It came time to leave the Hills and turn left onto maintained gravel roads and head towards Madison.
I thought of planning a weekend cycling tour into the Flint Hills at some point to really do some exploring. That would be fun.
Here is a creek running by a gravel road heading into Madison.
I turned one last time and head into Madison. I ended up at a Casey’s. I bought some G2 and asked the nice lady behind the counter if she could fill up the bladder in my hydration pack. She looked at me a bit funny, but obliged, after all, I gave a dollar to Jerry’s kids when I paid for the G2. I got a few funny looks from the good ‘ol boys. I guess they didn’t like my tight biking shorts. Or maybe they did, not sure. I am always as nice as possible to everyone I meet when I bike. I don’t want to get run off the road or anything.
I sat on the sidewalk and gave my self a few minutes to cool down before riding out of town and back towards Emporia. I got back on the bike and felt a little tight. It was getting hotter and I wanted to get home before it got into the 100s with the heat index. I think the longest part of the ride was pedaling out of Madison up on that long climb out of town towards Highway 99. I downshifted and pedaled on.
It was hot, the good thing was I had the wind at my back blowing me into Emporia. The bad thing was, without the wind in my face, it felt really hot. As I got to Olpe, the sweat that would pour down my face from my helmet was hot. Hot sweat. I was feeling a bit overheated. I stopped at a gas station in Olpe to cool down for about ten minutes and then got back on the road. It was about 15 miles back to my house. It was nice riding 24 miles per hour, but the heat was beating me. The heat index was 100. I kept drinking water. The sweat was pouring from me. When I looked down a steady drip was coming from my chin.
I made it! I rode up to the house, and there was no doubt about it, I was tired. I had ridden 64 miles, much of it through the hills of the Flint Hills and the last 20 or so miles in 100 degree heat. I was beat, but I felt great. The sense of accomplishment I had was greater than ever. I felt great mentally, physically and spiritually. It was hard to describe, but cycling takes me to a new place in my sense of self. It is a good place.
My adventure monkey was intoxicated and sleepy, like a milk drunk baby. He would be satisfied for a while. If I don’t feed my monkeys, I get screwed up. My adventure monkey gets no nourishment from my everyday life. My job is boring and retarded lacking any adventure or meaning. I need adventure in my life. This is how I get mine. Without it, I am pretty sure I would need to be on antidepressants. I am not sure what I am going to do this winter to feed my monkey. It gets very cold here. I will have to purchase some winter cycling clothes for sure, but I hate being cold!
I felt ready for the 90 mile trek next week. It would be 100% pavement and it wasn’t supposed to be as hot. Go feed your monkey!
Here is my GPS device from the trip:
Here’s the map of my ride. I highly recommend it.
show hide 1 comment