Trip Is Ending

I needed to arrive to Lydia's house by today. I'm still in Dodge City. Last night I was up until 1 a.m. watching tornado updates on the weather channel. I've heard stories of tornado alley, but last night was crazy. In fact, at around 8pm a tornado touched down in Coldwater, KS, which is where I would have been camping if I had been able to move on. There were no tornadoes in Dodge, just heavy wind, rain and hail.

Anyway, today there seems to be a hole in the weather. It is still pretty windy but there shouldn't be any severe storms until late this afternoon. My cousin, Lydia, is going to drive towards me and I'm going to hop on the bike and continue east. We should meet up around 1pm. Then it is off to Tulsa for real coffee and good beer.

Time to get out a Dodge.

See ya.

I can't get out of Dodge!

Ok, the winds are not becoming a problem. They are a significant problem. Yesterday I spent 6 and a half hours pedalling to Dodge City in 25-30 mph sustained winds with gusts up to 40 mph. This trip should have taken a little less than 3 hours. Notice that I was only able to average 7.6 mph over the entire day. Rather than camping I sought refuge in a La Quinta. After looking at the forecasts (more 30 mph winds from the sse) I extended my stay in Dodge City one more day.

Yesterday I left Garden City and was immediately affected by the strong headwinds. But I was traveling on Hwy 50 with this great "super two" shoulder.

I thought, "It can't get any worse than this." Then I crossed over a county line and the shoulder dropped to this ...

Travelling on this shoulder with a lot of semi-truck activity was terrifying. In the high winds I was constantly shooting sideways and re-correcting. When I met oncoming traffic I dropped off the shoulder, rode in the grass until traffic behind me passed and then jumped back up onto the highway and continued. About 20 miles into my day my nerves were shot so I stopped at an intersection and hitchhiked for 20 minutes but no one picked me up. I pulled into a grain coop and asked for optional roads. The guy told me that if I could travel 6 more miles to a rest area then I could take a dirt road to Cimmaron and that the "super two" shoulder continued from there. I made it about another mile and noticed this defunct road bed that I pedalled on to the rest area.

At the rest area I hopped onto this road ...

About two miles from Cimmaron I flatted out. Evidently I picked up a couple of thorns while bumping along the defunct road

Anyway, I finally made it to Dodge City. I've been here for two days waiting out strong winds and thunderstorms. Tomorrow--wind or no--I'm continuing on to Coldwater, KS. Supposedly there is a campground there. On the bright side, I did find a liquor store--Doc Holliday's Liquors--that had good beer. I bought two bottles of 90 Shilling, brewed in Colorado. When I told the proprietor that I was from Glenwood Springs, the town where Doc died, she ran into the backroom and gave me a bottle opener on which the store's name was engraved. My first souvenir! Hell, I even got to take a picture of the mascot. His name is ... yep, Doc Holliday.

Garden City, Kansas

The weather is beginning to become an issue. I rode a stretch that was 51 miles yesterday with only one town in the middle and there were strong winds in my face the entire day. A stretch that should have taken 3:30 took me 5 hours.
It looks like I'll be experiencing more of the same today. I'm heading for Dodge City, KS. There is a wind advisory of up to 30 mile an hour winds out of the southeast for this afternoon. Guess which way I'm travelling? Yep, southeast.
On the bright side, after spending the night stealth camping in a city park in Syracuse, KS, I got to luxuriate in a Best Western motel room last night. Now, normally there is never anything on TV when I stay in a hotel but Turner Movie Classics was celebrating the 100th anniversary of Jimmie Stewart's birth. Yesterday I got to watch Doris Day and Stewart in The Man Who Knew Too Much, while eating dinner I watched Grace Kelly and Stewart in Rear Window--I love Grace Kelly. And, finally, I watched Stewart, John Wayne and Lee Marvin on the late viewing of The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance. Not bad.

Kansas

How many times have you heard someone quoting Dorothy, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore"? Well, I am now! I just rode across the Kansas border, outside of Holly, CO. I'm seeking shelter in a library in Syracuse, KS. It's 95 degrees outside and I'm pretty zapped.

I'm glad that I finally found access to a computer because I just read my last cellphone update. Jott doesn't seem to be too accurate with its transfer from voice to text.

Yesterday I rode from La Junta, CO to Lamar. I stayed in a funky little RV park called Country Acres RV Park and Motel. It is essentially a large gravel parking lot with electric hookups but they are constructing a great little oasis on their grounds complete with a fountain and a whole bunch of chalapas (is that the right word for those thatched umbrella looking things in Mexico?).

Yesterday I met an oncoming touring cyclist who looked like Walt Whitman, even with a beard down to his belt. He was riding a heavy, inexpensive mountain bike and pulling a makeshift trailer overflowing with his camping gear. On top of the pile he had a baby bike trailer for his full grown husky who was also sitting on top of the pile. I waved and yelled "hello." Man do I wish I had thought to take a picture.

This morning, considering the 90 degree weather, I mailed a bunch of my cold weather clothing home. I stopped in the small town of Holly, CO around lunch time, hankering for a down home diner meal. Man did I hit the jackpot. I pulled into Jack and Wanda's Tasty House. I knew I was in the right place when I opened the door to a small air-conditioned room with booths around the outside wall and a round table in the center surrounded by six guys--five drinking coffee and one drinking iced tea--all telling stories.

One of the gentlemen, Jack I assume, hobbled over and asked me what I'd like. I asked him for a menu. He looked at me like I'd been in the heat too long and motioned over his shoulder, "We've got chicken and noodles and meatloaf today." Jackpot! I ordered chicken and noodles. It came with green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, cottage cheese, applesauce and a roll. I tried not to wolf it down because I was aware that the others in the diner were sneaking glances at the strange looking sunburnt guy who kept getting weepy after each bite of chicken and noodles. Afterwards, stunned by the amount of food I had consumed I found a shady tree and sat under it to read while I digested. When I felt able I hopped back on the bike and pedaled the final 25 miles to Syracuse, KS, where I'll be spending the night.

Sign above the toilet in The Tasty House's restroom: "It is our aim to keep this bathroom clean ... gentlemen, step a little closer; it's shorter than you think. Ladies, please remain seated until the end of the performance."

I never intended to post this picture, but I can't figure out how to delete a picture once it has been uploaded. Anyway, I rolled through a small town, I think it's called Manzanola, and they were having a muscle car rally. Here's one.

I am lying in my Kent...

I am lying in my Kent and LaHunta, Colorado, I haven't had internet access for the last couple of days. Yesterday I rode about 65 miles from, oh! where do I start, Oh the Royal Gorge to Lake Pueblo State Park and today I rode 78 miles from Lake Pueblo State Park to LaHunta. Tomorrow I am heading for Lumbar possibly Holley and I should be put on right on the border of Kansas, I will update as soon as possible. See you. listen

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I'm laying in my tent...

I'm laying in my tent in La Junta, Colorado, I haven't had internet access for the last couple of days. Yesterday I rode about 65 miles from the rail gauge to lake Preploo(?) State Park and today I rode from Lake Preploo(?) State Park to La Junta. Tomorrow I'm heading for Lumar possibly Holey(?) and I should be booking(?) right on the border of Kansas. I'll update as soon as possible, see ya.
listen

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Oh I forget to tell...

Oh I forget to tell you all about the great vine I saw outside of Avondale, Colorado. The sign said, feed your hunger for adventure with beef. See you. listen

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The Royal Gorge, Colorado

Ok, so the tour still feels like it hasn't quite started. When Laura, Merne and I awoke yesterday it was 34 degrees and snowing, with a forecast of more of the same all day. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Laura agreed to drive me to my campsite at the Royal Gorge, outside of Canon City, CO.

We drove up to the Royal Gorge bridge but they were charging $28 to go in to the park so I took a picture from the parking lot and we headed back to the campground.

We shared a nice lunch of soup and then Laura headed back. I spent the day organizing equipment, checking maps and reading. This morning I rolled out bright and early, ate some oatmeal and drank some tea. I'm in Florence, CO, heading to Pueblo. I plan to camp at Lake Pueblo State Park this evening.

Billboard sign outside of a go-kart track: "SCREAM until your daddy stops!

Buena Vista, Colorado

My friend, Merne, and I drove from Glenwood Springs to Leadville, CO. Temperatures in Leadville registered 32 degrees. We drove about eight miles south of the turn off for Twin Lakes and decided to pull off and get the bikes out. We rode about 27 miles up towards Independence Pass surrounded by snowy mountains and a threatening sky. About 5 miles from the pass we decided to turn around because it started to snow. We rode back to the car and drove to Buena Vista. We enjoyed a cup of coffee and an apple strudel in "Mother's Bistro" while we waited for Laura. Laura showed up around 5:00pm, at which time we headed out to our cabin on the river.

We had a great dinner of appetizers (pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, assorted cheeses, wine and sausage and kale soup, all washed down with chardonnay.

Tomorrow I'll continue on solo heading for the Royal Gorge outside of Canon City, Colorado. The forecast is calling for a 70% chance of rain and thunderstorms. I'm thinking dry thoughts.

No Pictures!!

I'm trying to not think of this as some kind of omen, but the day before I depart I broke my camera. I was transferring equipment downstairs to the garage in a canvas bag in order to start packing my panniers, etc. Once finished I reached into the bag to retrieve my camera and I noticed that the LCD panel is shattered and the camera does not have a viewfinder.

so ... I guess I will vividly describe everything to you during the trip. My bike: imagine a bike that looks tiny and wobbly because it has way too much stuff on it. Hmmm ... this isn't working.

Tomorrow I'm riding from Minturn, CO to Buena Vista, CO. My friend, Merne Dragonette, is going to ride with me for the first leg. Laura will drive over after her day of teaching to join us in a cabin on the Arkansas River in Buena Vista. So far the weather sounds awful. We'll be riding through Leadville--at 10,430 feet it's the highest incorporated town in the U.S.--and the town is supposed to get a foot of snow today. I am beginning to consider a "plan B."

I'll update you as soon as I can.

Happy Mother's Day

Laura and I rode 12 miles south to Carbondale this morning with some friends. I would have called it a training ride, but we rode to our favorite breakfast joint, the Village Smithy, ate biscuits and gravy and drank Bloody Marys. Training ride or no, the morning was crisp, the ride was beautiful.

I've begun laying equipment out in preparation for Wednesday's departure. As you can see, Sophie is not wild about my leaving.

Holy Cow! It worked!

I attended a day of faculty training in Steamboat Springs yesterday. A techie colleague told me about options for using a cellphone to update a blog. I tried a service called pickle but it looks like they are retiring on May 15. After a little searching I found a service called jott. With Jott, I'm able to create a voicemail and then it automatically posts to my blog spot--very cool.

I'm heading out on Wednesday, the 14th. I'll post pictures of my packing process this weekend.

Jott Blogger. I'm trying...

Jott Blogger. I'm trying to figure out how to blog with a cell phone. Let's see if this works. Testing, testing. listen

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Packing List

Clothing
Upper	Lower	Head
Wool t-shirt (2) S/s casual shirt L/s casual shirt Light wool vest Light wool sweater (2) Arm warmers Wind vest Rain jacket “puffball” vest	Baggy bike short Nylon Knickers Leg warmers Bike short liner (2) Casual shorts Boxers (2) Swim trunks	Cycling cap (2) Helmet Helmet cover Stocking cap
	Hands	Feet
	Cycling gloves Fleece gloves	Bike shoes Cycling socks (2) Wool socks “chacos”

Equipment
Bike and Tools	Bedroom	Kitchen
Surly “Crosscheck” Arkel XM-45 panniers Arkel “Tailrider” Smythe handlebar bag Water bottles (2) Extra tubes (2) Patch kit Park “I-beam 1” tool Small crescent wrench Extra brake pads “Fiber spoke” Extra shoe cleats Extra rack and bike hardwear Extra brake and gear Cables Seat cover Lube Spoke wrench Chain tool Bike pump Zip ties Duct tape Small vice grips Bike light Rear blinker light Small u-lock Cable	Tent: Big Agnes “Emerald Mountain” SL2 Sleeping bag: Western Mountaineering “UltraLite” Sleeping pad Bathroom Toothbrush Toothpaste Floss Sunscreen Razor Dr. Bronners soap Pack towel Toilet paper Fingernail clippers Other Maps Compass Map measurer Books Journal Pens Headlamp Camera: Ricoh GRD II Camera charger Camera card reader Cell phone Phone charger Powdered detergent Extra cordage	Stove: Trangia burner with “clickstand” screen Fuel bottle and alcohol Pot: snowpeak 900 Skillet: MSR Bakelite Lighter (2) Fork and spoon Knife: Swiss Army “Picknicker” Cutting board Pepper mill (yep, a pepper mill) Olive oil Tea Collapsible 64 oz. bottle Cup Scraper Sponge Wallet License Debit card Cash Insurance card

Overnight to Rifle Gap

May 14th I will embark on a 900 mile journey from Minturn, Colorado to Tulsa Oklahoma ... by bike.

As a "shakedown" ride I rode thirty miles west to Rifle Gap this weekend with my buddies Darin and Shawn, Zee, and Max. Despite a frigid night, a claustrophobic one-person tent and being chased by the spawn of Cujo, we had a great night out.

Check out a rough video of the festivities.