OK...so I messed up and somehow 'bricked' my phone which resulted in me losing ALL my photos from early April (before I left on the Amtrak trip) until July 2. Since I did not have photos I felt I couldn't blog about my biking trips but a few friends have helped me recover some of them so I'll make do with the few that I have and start back chronicling my travels, starting with
"Biking Across Kansas"
Biking Across Kansas (aka: "BAK") is the second oldest cross state bike ride in the US having started in the late 1970's and is quite an adventure. This years' ride started in the small town of Johnson City and followed US 160 east bound to Baxter Springs, then turned north to Pittsburg, KS. The whole route was 552 miles and we rode it over 8 days in early June. With the exception of the first two days, IT WAS HOT. And it was almost always 'flat', especially in west Kansas. But the overall vibe of the ride was fun and very community driven. Many of the towns we stayed in were very small - we generally camped at high schools and each of them had photo collages of their previous graduating classes, almost all of them had less than 50 students in the senior class and a couple had just 10 or 12. How these schools, and their towns, are staying alive is beyond me. There were several hundred people on the ride and over the 8 days we rode together we had plenty of time to meet and make new friends and to share stories with at dinner or rest stops. Our days began well before sunrise and we were usually on our bikes and leaving the overnight town at exactly sunrise in order to beat the heat.
The ride was well organized and they enlisted a town local in each overnight town to be the liaison between us and the town; but, since the towns are so small there wasn't much for them to say other than "yeah, we don't have an Italian/Chinese/Deli/Bakery/Bar/Sports Bar/etc here." We did find some industrious locals who tried to fill the void by opening ad hoc 'beer gardens' in their driveways and offer beers to thirsty cyclists for a small 'donation'.
One thing I noticed about every one of these towns, no matter how small they were, was that they had public swimming pools...that brought back memories of me and my junior high buddies spending part of every summer day at the city pool just down the street from our house. Everyone we met were super friendly and happy to have us in town, even if it were just for a day!
One of the larger towns had closed off part of their downtown for a block party and we found our way to "Uncle Jacks Bar & Grill" where I entertained my BAK friends with stories of growing up under the tutelage of my Uncle Jack. We also got to ride on a very short piece of US Route 66 and cross over one of the first concrete bridges in the US.
All in all, BAK is a great ride put on by a bunch of very dedicated volunteers that are happy to share all sorts of information about their state and work hard to make a very successful ride every year.
All in all, BAK is a great ride put on by a bunch of very dedicated volunteers that are happy to share all sorts of information about their state and work hard to make a very successful ride every year.
Next Up: Missouri
