Have you ever had a mole cut off your eyelid?

I will be, tomorrow. Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to it. I had a mole cut off my back last week, and that seemed bad. But that was on my back, where there's plenty of room to fudge a little bit if need be. This is right next to my eyeball. The margin of error is almost zero.


I'm not even sure how it's going to happen: knife? Laser? I have no idea. I had an appointment for early September to have it removed, but I got a call today that there was a cancellation, so they bumped me up to tomorrow. The way I see it (as of today, with two eyes), I've got a bum knee, I got a mole cut off my back, why not go all out and get a mole cut off my eyelid? Get it all done at once, heal all at once, get on with life.

I'll post a follow-up picture after the procedure, assuming it goes well. I'm told I may have to wear an eye patch temporarily, so I can add that to the full-length leg brace and pull off a halfway decent pirate look.

Brews and Bikes (list from Bicycling Magazine)

Here are some beers that tie in to summer and cycling:

1. Squatters Beer: Full Suspension Pale Ale
2. Flying Dog Brewery: Tire Bite Golden
3. Terrapin Beer Company: SunRay Wheat
4. Pike Brewing Company: Tandem Double
5. Boulder Beer Company: Singletrack Copper Ale
6. Oskar Blues: Gordon
7. Lost Coast Brewery: Tangerine Wheat
8. Full Sail Brewing Company: Session
9. La Brasserie Artisanale de Rulles: Estivale
10. Arbor Brewing Company: Tree Fort Beer
11. New Belgium Brewing: Fat Tire

You can find Bicycling Magazine's reviews of these beers by clicking here.

I'm bored...

I officially have a condition known as chondromalacia. There is no surgical solution for this problem; the only thing you can do is the RICE Method. RICE means Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Because I really want to get this injury behind me and get back on the bike (and hopefully on water skis with Beka's Fourth of July family reunion coming up), I am taking this method to heart and doing as much as I can to get my knee healed. This ends up with me spending lots of time at home, on the couch, with my leg up and on ice, and when I'm not icing the knee, I'm being judicious about not moving around much.

This is driving Beka crazy because I have gotten so bored and stir crazy. My natural inclination is to be moving, so having to sit still for extended periods just is not my thing. I look around for things to read, play on the computer, flip through the channels, and generally be annoying (though I really don't mean to). For some reason Beka thinks it's her job to keep me entertained, and because I don't like watching the shows she watches I'm like a little kid who just drank a big glass of Mountain Dew but can't move.

Beka says she feels bad for me because I am so restless, bless her little heart. She asks what she can do, but does not seem to be interested in taking me up on the offer of giving me a strip show. "Classy, real classy," she says. Not that I mean it. Okay, maybe I do. So instead of this, we have spent most of the weekend taking naps, watching Season One of "30 Rock", and putting more ice in my cold water circulator thingy.

Probably the highlight of this day was my dad stopping by on his way to pick up my stepmom from the airport. She had flown with her sister and others to some casino out west, and he was up for the day to get her. He stopped by, we chatted for a little bit, I showed him my little fishing boat, hung out some more, and then he had to leave. Later this evening we went to dinner with Beka's parents at Red Rock Canyon. I had the small tenderloin, and it was excellent.

If I appear to be rambling here, it's because I'm actually bored and just trying to empty my brain of thoughts because the alternative is skipping around on the Internet or watching some stupid Food Network reality show that I have no interest in watching.

Long story short, I need to get healed up before Beka smothers me in my sleep. Not that she would. Okay, maybe she would.

Ski Boat Stringers

I'm writing this for my own benefit, as we are hoping (for me, hoping desperately) to get a ski boat, and it's important that older boats have their floor supports made from fiberglass instead of wood (because wood rots over time, and replacing it is expensive). This is the best information I could find:

Year When Started Using Fiberglass

Mastercraft: 1983
Ski Supreme: 1987
Supra: 1992
Ski Nautique: 1993
Malibu: 1995 (Echelon was 1993)

Slice, Snip, and Sizzle

I have a general problem/fear about getting old and my body not working. Today I realized I also have a fear about my body getting sliced, scissored, and/or cauterized. I went to the doc today to have a questionable mole cut off my back and a skin tag removed from my left armpit (if this is TMI already, you may want to stop reading now). I've never had to have things removed from my body since I was an infant, and I went into my appointment with some anxiety: my doc was really going to cut off part of my body, albeit very small pieces of skin. I was still nervous.

The only physical pain I actually experienced was the pain of getting an injection of local anesthetic. The mole removal on my back involved no pain after the shot, just a light tug as he was stitching up the spot. Same with the skin tag on my armpit, although the burning smell of the cauterizing tool closing off the small blood vessels from the skin tag was simply gross.

My doc also looked at my knee, and his diagnosis was that it probably is not a tear, just serious and lingering inflammation from overuse and chondromalacia. I have to wear my knee brace for another week and head off to physical therapy. He already knows I'm itching to get back on the bike, so I'm going to have to exercise my patience. This will be easier now that our A/C is working again (the crowd goes wild!!!!).

As I sit here, the local anesthesia is still working so I can't feel anything from the slices and snips. That will wear off in the next hour, so we'll see how that feels. Hopefully it's not too bad.

My everlasting feud with the Zinsco breaker

We've been struggling our way through early summer without air conditioning. The air in our house can be stifling, especially during midafternoon. The problem is our aging Zinsco breaker: it's about 20 years past it's time, and replacement parts are no longer made. So if a breaker wears out, say, the breaker for the A/C, it heats up, trips, and there you have it: no cold air.

We've dealt with this problem off and on for the past couple years, and it's slowly getting worse, presumably because it's wearing out more and more. We've been suffering through this for the last week, as I have been house bound with a bum knee.

This evening, we found a breakthrough: removing the panel cover. Maybe it's because it cools off the breaker, maybe it's just bad mojo, but whatever it is, we are slowly cooling off and getting happier with each cooler degree in temperature.

My goal is to have chattering teeth when I wake up in the morning. I'm ready for some nice, cold air.

-- Post From My iPhone

*the culprit*

Oh, the Irony

It occurred to me that the very activity that I had hoped would give me more mobility and freedom has done exactly the opposite. Here I trained for months for BAK so I could see the state, and it has ended up forcing me on the couch, unable to move much further than the bathroom. This, Alanis Morrissette, is indeed ironic.

Some things I will keep in mind when I do BAK next year:

1. I have nothing to prove to myself in terms of endurance riding. I can do 75+ miles back to back to back, so I don't need to worry about having the training to make it to my destination each day. Before this BAK, my longest ride was 70 miles once, and this BAK showed me I can hack the long miles, as long as my knee holds up. I bet I can pull off a Century (100 miles) when my knee mends.

2. Keeping (1) in mind, I will take more photos, stop at more of the sights, and generally take more time off the bike to see and enjoy all those sights you wouldn't normally notice when driving through Kansas. There is so much beauty in our state to see when there is not a windshield in your way, you are not on the interstate highway system, and you are not going 70+ mph.

3. I will probably sleep in a tent next year. Although lights out at 10:00 p.m. is very reasonable when staying in the gyms, I think I would like to give tenting a try. Most of my BAK friends were tenters, so I'd like to see it from their perspective.

4. I will try to bring Beka with me. She's not a cyclist (yet), but she has mentioned wanting to help out with SAG stops. I think it would be fun to make it sort of a family Vay-Cay.

5. I will train harder. I did one long ride and several moderate-length rides (40-50 miles), but I had not slammed together several long rides to get my body ready. Now that I know what BAK days are like, I will do longer rides, but at slower speeds.

6. I will not do just cycling. I've learned I need to do weight training in the gym in addition to cycling to keep my muscle development symmetrical. Not doing weights is part of the reason I'm stuck here on the couch.

7. I will not ride as hard. I've sort of mentioned this, but I need to remind myself that BAK is not a race, and I don't need to focus on my average speed or time to finish each day. I knew that in my mind on this BAK, but I did not translate it into the effort I put into each day's ride. I think if I had not pushed quite as hard in the first few days' rides, I would have put less strain on my knees.

I'm sure I will remember more things as I sit here, bored on the couch, but that's all I've got right now.

Things I've Learned from My Dog

Things I've Learned to do More Often

1. Get plenty of naps
2. If you don't like something, make your opinion known with polite licks, growls, or full-on barking, if necessary
3. Love your family and take good care of your buddies
4. If you see something you want, run for it full speed
5. Smile every day
6. Take time to play every day
7. Don't hold back

Things I've Learned to Avoid (one or two of these I already knew, can you guess which ones?)

1. It is not cool to poop in public
2. It is not polite to drag your booty across the living room rug
3. It is not nice to play tug of war using baby bunnies as the rope
4. Do not eat others' poop
5. Do not run across the street in front of traffic

That is my random thought for the day. Hope you enjoy!

-- Post From My iPhone

On our way home

This morning we drive to Louisburg to pick up Andy and say bye bye to the friends I made on BAK. We had to stop first at my companions house to pick up his bike rack, then headed NE. We got there just in time for lunch, and I had a chance to catch up with all my friends before they returned to their respective homes.

We had a carb-tastic lunch of spaghetti, cole slaw, fried chicken, and baked beans. It was above average. We then purchased a final t-shirt, which the vendor was screen printing on site, and which we was trying to clear his inventory before he left. I got a shirt for $5, which I thought was a pretty good deal.

We are on our way back now and stopped at a cider mill just outside Louisburg. I stayed in the car. When we get back, we go to the first showing of the Music Theatre of Wichita for the season. I must confess I don't even know what's playing.

I've talked to beka about how to keep in shape while I'm out of commission, an we agreed some upperbody lifting and core strengthening should be okay, so I am headed to the Y tomorrow to get started.

Here are some pics from Louisburg:

-- Post From My iPhone

This is a test

I just bought an iphone app that allows me to blog! I'm trying it out now. Apparently I can post pictures as well, so take a look at this beefy monster!!

-- Post From My iPhone

BAK: Leg 6 (Halstead to Eureka, or so I had hoped)

June 10, 2009

My Last Leg

No stats (my computer broke on mile 10, there's some foreshadowing for ya)

I'm done. And I am sad. I worked really hard for this, but it was not meant to be. Before I start waxing philosophically, here's what happened. I woke up to my lovely wife's quiet voice. My body felt good: not sleeping on a gym floor will do that for a person. I packed everything up, being careful not to forget anything (it's hard to leave things behind in a gym where there was nothing there beforehand). We went to the cash machine, then to the coffee shop, and were on the road by 5:45a. I got to Halstead in time to meet a buddy for breakfast at 6:30a, then load my gear on the truck. I was supposed to meet them at 7:00a to head out, but they were nowhere to be found.

I waited a few minutes, then decided to go, thinking I might catch up with them. My leg was achy from the start, but I was going off of the previous day, when it hurt for 30 miles then cleared up. I forged ahead. It was mild temperature, but misty/rainy, the kind of day I imagine they get a lot of in Scotland. The droplets were collecting on my glasses and making bigger drops, which would drop off once in a while. The first part of the ride was on the same route I took for the Wicked Wind 50: Halstead to Sedgwick, then to Park City. My computer stopped recording data or showing my speed or distance just as I rolled in to Sedgwick, around mile 10. I stopped and did everything I could to try to get it to work, but it nothing worked, so I clipped back into the pedals and kept going.

My leg was slowly getting more and more achy the further I traveled, and the rain got worse. I started getting soaked. But I kept going. A few miles past Park City, I noticed my back wheel felt really loose. I stopped to check it out, and I had almost no pressure in my tire. This was the same one that had blown out on Leg 1. I flipped the bike upside down, removed the back tire, and put in a fresh new tube. It took about ten minutes. I kept going, and a few miles ahead there was a rest stop. I saw my long lost high school classmate, and joined with her group. We kept going east, into the wind and rain. After another ten miles (I'm guessing, again with the broken computer) we turned south and had a blessed tail wind. But my knee was really starting to ache. I figured it was temporary, and pedaled harder like I had yesterday.

We continued south for about five miles, then turned east. After going about a mile, I dropped off the pack to stretch my knee. While there my companion appeared and I told him about the knee. He gave me some stuff that's supposed to make it feel cold, so I put that on and kept going. But my knee ached badly, this time in a slightly different way. I had to go up a hill, and I knew I was in danger. I saw a rest stop at the top of the hill and stopped. This stop, at the intersection of SW Parallel Road and River Valley Road just north of Towanda, was where my BAK dreams died.

I sat down and saw that my right knee was very swollen. I showed my companion, then got some ice to help with the swelling. I sat there for awhile, wondering what I should do. I called Beka, iced my knee some more, and talked it over with my companion, who to his credit realized the situation and didn't take off down the road. I then made what for me was a very tough choice: to stop there, not fulfill my BAK journey, but not cause any further damage to my knee. As I write this it seems like a no-brainer (why cause further injury?) but when I was sitting on the side of the road with an ice bag on my knee, which was not getting any less swollen, I decided yesterday was a fluke, and the pain was not going to go away this time. I made the call to Beka, and she was out there in a matter of minutes. We loaded up the bike, thanked everyone for their help, said goodbye to my companion, and headed home.

Now I am not normally an emotional person, but on the rude home I broke down and wept for a good 15 minutes (again, no computer to help with time). All the frustration of the headwinds, fighting through pain for hundreds of miles, and all the other small frustrations poured out of me. I was frustrated, sad, angry, in physical pain, and soaked to the skin from the rain. We got home, took everything into the house, I changed into dry clothes, and fell asleep on the same couch where I had started that day.

I woke up a couple hours later and Beka drove me to my doctor to see what was wrong with the knee. The first thing he said was how swollen it was. Duh... Then he moved it around and tried to bend it, which caused extreme pain, it hurts just thinking about it. He then said it was most likely a pinched meniscus, and put me in a brace that keeps my leg straight. I have to rest it for a week then come back so he can take a second look.

Thinking now, as we return from getting my bags from Eureka, it is too soon to decide whether I want to do this again. I met some great people, but the pain I went through for so many days will make me think long and hard about how to train for another BAK and whether long distance, multi-day rides are for me, or whether I should stick to more casual cycling to stay in shape and relieve stress. Thank you to all of you who left encouraging comments. I read them all and they made a real difference. I think I will look back on this as a growing and overall positive experience, and I'm glad I could share this experience with you all.

The knee that ended my BAK hopes.

BAK: Leg 5 (St. John to Halstead)

June 9, 2009

78.81 miles
13.8 mph average
21.8 mph max
5:41:02 total time

Leg 5 began at the same time: 5:45 a.m., except my companion actually woke up on time (I gave him a friendly nudge after returning from brushing my teeth). He and I set off at 6:30a, with a new friend, for 'all you can eat pancakes.' I had four, plus two patties of sausage, coffee and OJ. It was excellent. We then met up with two other new friends, and the five of us set off for yet another record setter (for me at least): 78 miles.

We left right at 7:00a. My knee was again bugging me, so I took it easy. Thankfully two others in the group wanted to go easy as well, so we made our way with a straight headwind on our faces and ominous clouds everywhere (hence the 50% chance of rain). My knee bugged me for 35 straight miles, and I was getting REALLY fed up. I wanted to quit right there at the lunch stop (the food was excellent, by the way. Best homemade strawberry pie I've ever had). That point was by far my lowest on this journey. We set off from lunch with the clouds even worse, and I continued with them for another 5 miles, my knee bugging me all the way. At that point I decided enough was enough, and I took off at my regular pace, left the group behind, and reconciled myself to the idea that if I was going out today, I was going out with a bang (but hopefully not a literal bang from my knee). I pushed hard, and for some reason my knee pain started getting better. The wind was still brutal, but at least my knee was holding.

I started picking off cyclists ahead of me one by one, keeping my head down to buck the wind. I continued that way for another 30 miles. We had to make a few turns to get to the right roads, and it seemed like every time I turned, I was still heading into the wind. It was very strange. I felt myself starting to fade I the last eight mile stretch into Halstead, but found a buddy to chat with, and that helped pass the time as the wind pushed hard against me.

I got into Halstead feeling like I had nothing left, but when I got to the camp I immediately felt my spirits boost, as I realized I had not only set a personal distance record, but also had conquered the hardest physical and emotional challenge I have had cycling. I got a shower, then a massage, this time from the other girl, and tried to make some phone calls, but had no cell service. I asked a local and he said if I had AT&T I would have to go three miles north of town. I found a landline, made my calls, and wrote this update. It is now 5:30, and I have family coming to see me and eat dinner. I can't wait. To eat, that is.

A brief stop in Stafford to regroup.

An artist was airbrushing murals on the side of the grocery store in Stafford.

A bluegrass trio treated us to an impromptu concert outside Halstead High School.

BAK: Leg 4 (Jetmore to St. John)

June 8, 2009

77.74 miles
15.3 mph average
23.4 mph max
5:04:17 total time

Today began the same as yesterday: rustling in the gym at about 5:30a, and the feeling I could have slept longer. Laid there for ten more minutes, then got up, brushed my teeth, and packed up my apartment. Breakfast was just outside the gym, and consisted of breakfast burritos, bananas, milk and coffee. The burritos were clearly not of the homemade variety, but calories are calories (or so I keep telling myself).

Got done eating at about 6:30a, and noticed I had not yet heard from my companion. Went ahead and got the bike ready, and went to see what the holdup was this time. They had not even woken up their daughter yet, much less gotten packed or fed. My companion's wife commented about how I must be one of those weird people who have to get going right away. I replied that most of the bikes were already gone, thank you very much, so I was not the weird one, they were just slow.

I waited until 7:00a outside, and after learning that they had not packed or eaten yet, I took off for the longest ride of my cycling experience: 77 miles. It started out nice: pretty sunrise, light breeze. Within 20 minutes, a blanket of clouds covered the sky, the wind picked up, and it got cold, around 50 degrees. It stayed that way for 43 miles, straight headwind, 50-55 degrees, until Larned. Plus my right knee was flaring up. Time to stop.

I went to a craft shop/cafe called Scraps and had a hot mocha and a breakfast panini to warm up and get some food. I think Scraps is a bad name for a place that serves food. The food did taste good, though, so after resting for about 30 minutes I headed out again. I took a few minutes to stretch, which didn't help much, and took off.

On the second half of the leg my knee kept hurting, but I saw a high school classmate at one of the rest stops, and riding with her the last 20 miles kept my mind off the discomfort. She actually graduated with my brother, two years before me, but it was a small school.

Got into St. John and promptly iced my knee, then had my massage. My companion made it in and we went to one if the several dinners offered to the BAK'ers. The hospitality there was truly first-rate. Great dinner, sat out in the town square while a local band played, and chatted with my new friends made this week. Went back to the school, was very tired. Listened to the weather report (headwinds and 50% chance of thunderstorms) and went to bed dreading the thought of 78 soggy and windy miles.

Cyclists at a SAG (Support and Gear) stop.

Wind-powered turbines providing electricity to the City of Jetmore.

A stretch of the Arkansas River. This portion actually has water flowing.

A four-person tandem bike at the St. John stop.

The view from the corner office.

One of the many dinners offered by the generous people in St. John.

The courthouse in St. John, built in 1929.

BAK: Leg 3 (Garden City to Jetmore)

June 7, 2009

56.18 miles

18.5mph average
31.9 mph max speed
3:01:31 total time

Woke up to the sound of rustling bags at 5:40a five minutes before my alarm was set to wake me up. I wanted to keep sleeping, after going 70 miles on about three hours of sleep I was pooped. I got up and the gym was still dark, just like it had been in Syracuse. Put my 'apartment' back into my two travel bags, brushed my teeth and texted my companion. He and his family were just getting roused, so I aired up my tires, put on sunscreen, and waited. I called then texted, but got no response, so I headed out to find breakfast, not knowing whether my knee would act up again.

I rode to McDonalds (yes, Pizza Hut then McDonalds in the course of 12 hours) and it was PACKED with riders. I waited in line 20 minutes, then ordered three pancakes, eggs, sausage, iced coffee, OJ, and milk. Biggest breakfast I have ever ordered, and it all went into the furnace.

Set out from breakfast solo, taking it easy so as not to hurt the knee again. Had slight tailwind, and rode solo for first 5-10 miles. Another solo rider at some point began drafting off me, and we continued that way for the next 10 miles, so I backed off so we were side by side and met my riding friend, Nancy. She used to live in Wichita but now lives in College Station, TX, and is a cycling trainer. She's in her late 40s and has been cycling for 20 of them.

We skipped the lunch stop, as it hadn't opened yet and neither of us were hungry. My knee was holding out, but I could tell it was still irritated, so I was cautious not to push at my normal pace. This was good, because I had opened up the speed and Nancy couldn't keep up, so she helped me push at a reasonable pace and not at full blast.

At about mile 30 we passed one of the BAK RVs. It is around 30 feet long (one of the full size traveling kind). It was sitting sideways to the road, the back half in the ditch. We continued past as the police directed traffic.

The last 20 miles was at an easy pace. I didn't push hard, as I didn't want a repeat of the previous day. Somewhere in the hills (you think Kansas is flat? Take a ride with me sometime) I lost Nancy, so I continued to the finish, and she showed up about ten minutes behind. She does not like hills, and they slowed her way down.

I got to Jetmore early, about 10:45a, and helped unload the baggage truck. I got some lunch (that's another story), had my massage, and fell asleep. I woke up just in time to eat dinner and buy a spare tube from Bicycle Pedaler's traveling store.

There is a unique feel to this week. A definite sense of camaraderie here, very friendly people here for the same goal of a fun week cycling across our fair state. If my knee holds out, this could end up being a fantastic week.

The Jetmore HS gym, our home for the night.

The trucks that transported our luggage from town to town (there were three of them).

One lineup of bicycles. We had to store them outside, and no one puts kickstands on their bikes. Every inch of space was taken up with bikes.

BAK: Leg 2 (Syracuse to Garden City)

June 6, 2009

52.46 miles
20.0 mph average (minimum based on partial data)
36.7 max speed
2:32:00 total time (estimate based on partial data)

Leg 2 literally began when I finished my B&G. Packed up my apartment, put it in the trunk of Andy's car, and set to work fixing my flat tire. This normally takes 20 minutes tops. This time it took 90. Could not find the hole in the tube, a Good Samaritan gave me a new tube which was a slightly different size. Installed that tube and quickly realized it was not going to fit well. It was too big. Tried anyway, and it promptly spring a leak from trying to wedge it into place. Went back to original tube, eventually found the leak, and it held.

By the time we hit the road it was 10:00 and quickly getting warm. We struck off to do Leg 2 as fast as we could before the full heat of the day set in. We were blessed with a strong tailwind, so we maintained 25+ mph most of the time. Unfortunately my companion likes to make frequent stops, so it kept getting hotter. We kept pushing and got into Garden City when it was 93 degrees, and my right knee failed. I could not bend I without stabbing, excruciating pain, so I clipped out of the pedal and rode the last 4 miles through town pedaling with just my left foot.

Got to Garden City Community College and hobbled around to get my bags to a sleeping spot, and decided an immediate shower was in order. I had easily 200 gnat bodies on each arm and 500 on each leg. This has never happened before, and it was gross. Got cleaned up and gnat- free and made a beeline (if bees could hobble) to the traveling massage therapist. They go to every multi-day cycling event, so they know how to deal with cycling pains. Got a 30-minute leg massage, which hurt SO bad, iced my leg, texted Beka's sister who is a P.A. to find out how much Aleve I could take without hurting myself, and laid down for a nap.

There was no fundraiser dinner for us (depending on the city an organization of some sort, like a rotary club, etc. provide the riders with a free dinner to raise money), so we went to Pizza Hut and ate. And ate. And ate some more. I felt like a glutton. And I drank probably 1/2 gallon of iced tea. It was not great pizza (if you want truly great pizza you need to go to Knolla's in Wichita of course) but it was LOTS of calories, which fit the bill. Went back, laid down, listened to the evening report from the leaders (apparently a 52-year old man had a heart attack on Leg 1 and died) and laid down again.

My inflatable mattress had sprung a leak, but that didn't matter. Within 10 minutes of lights out (10:00 p.m. on the button) I was asleep. I slept great considering the accommodations, and woke up at 5:45. My knee felt much better, but I was still very worried it would not make it through Leg 3. I packed up my apartment, put it this time in the traveling box truck, and got ready for Leg 3.

The GCCC gym, our home for the night.

My apartment.

BAK: Leg 1 (Colorado Border to Syracuse)

June 6, 2009

16.78 miles
15.6 mph average
20.4 max speed
1:04:37 total time

Drove to the border by dawn's early light Saturday morning. 17 miles back to town. Was supposed to do it Friday night, but it was too dark when we arrived. Did not feel strong on this leg, so rode easy. Made me wonder, if the first 17 miles feels like this, what about the other 550?! Punctured rear tire one mile outside Syracuse, had to use emergency CO2 inflator to get back to town (Andy had left me in the dust miles before). Got back with tire pressure to spare, thank goodness. Just in time for a BIG plate of biscuits and gravy (my personal favorite).

BAK: the Trip to the Border

My BAK journey actually started around June 2, 2009. I had never been on a trip like this, so we had to get supplies: a duffel bag, self-inflating mattress, travel soaps, etc. We spent a couple evenings going through the list that BAK had provided and my companion had put together from his last BAK, and got everything put together by Thursday, June 4, 2009.

We were scheduled to leave Wichita at 12:00p, Friday, June 5, 2009, so we could get registered, get set up, and do the 17 miles from the Colorado border to Syracuse, Kansas. I was to ride out with my companion and his wife and young daughter. I was at my house by 11:00a, got all my stuff put together (I had it all packed, just did a last minute check). My companion called at 11:30a to notify me he had to go to his chiropractor for an emergency visit because he had wrenched his back putting his bags in the trunk of his car, and that he would be running just a bit late. This was a sign of how that day was to play out. I waited patiently, and he picked me up around 12:20p.

When he arrived, we put my stuff in the trunk, hung my bike on the rack, and made a quick trip to my office to pick up a laptop. I had good intentions of getting work done after each day's ride. You'll see how that worked out if you keep reading. We left there at 12:30p (I later learned that I had left my hat on my desk in my office), and headed toward my companion's house. He called his wife on his cell and found out not only that she was not ready to go, but that she had not fed their daughter yet or packed her bags. Strike two on getting to Syracuse by 4:00p.

We got to his house around 12:45p, and I patiently waited while they fed their daughter, packed their bags, and generally piddled for another 45 minutes. To save time I put my companion's bike on the rack and waited. And waited. When we were finally all loaded and ready to go, my companion saw that he had a low tire on his car (he had neglected to check the car over the night before). He quickly spotted a nail in the tire and decided to get it fixed, which I agreed was a very good move before making a 4 1/2 hour journey through western Kansas.

My companion lives 2 minutes away from a Wal-Mart. Instead of making a quick jaunt over there to have the tire patched, he decided it would better to drive 20 minutes to the nearest Sears, because he had purchased a roadside package on the tires and could get a free patch there.

We ventured over to Sears, my blood pressure starting to rise, just to learn that the patch could not be done, but that he would need a new tire. We sat there while the fat Sears mechanics fiddled around for an hour before figuring out that the tire could indeed be patched. My blood pressure rose a bit more. We then waited some more, and my companion decided it would be fun to go to the Orange Julius (the Sears was at the mall) while we waited. I walked over with them, threw some coins in the fountain with their daughter, waited patiently while they let her have a ride on the carousel (I was at a low boil at this point), and then walked back to see that the car still was not ready, and that the genius mechanics were now removing the rest of the tires on the car. My temperature rose some more. Apparently my companion had gotten a bad set of valve stems when he got his new set of tires, so they all had to be replaced. We waited, and waited, and by 4:00p, we were set free to go.

We pointed the car west and headed toward Syracuse. My blood pressure started to drop, as I finally felt like we were making progress and my companion and his family maybe weren't totally pissing away the afternoon. Those hopes were dashed when, just 30 minutes into our trip, we had to make a stop to eat at of all places McDonalds, and we didn't get it to go, we had to have a nice, leisurely visit eating our meals. I was about to blow.

We got back on the road and kept going, and I think they realized I was getting pissed, so we didn't stop from that point. We pressed forward and arrived in Syracuse at 8:45p, the sun setting (too late for the 17 mile leg that night), and just as the BAK registration had closed. Ohhhh, I was pissed. Trying to keep my cool, I got my stuff, ignored my travel companions, and found a place to sleep.

By the time I had gotten myself situated in the gym it was lights out (10:00p on the button), and I laid down and tried to get some rest. It didn't happen. I think I passed out around 2:00a, after tossing and turning on my air mattress (which was just a bit too short for my body) and reviewing my mental checklist of all the things that needed to happen the next day. I woke to the sounds of stirring at around 5:30a, got up, brushed my teeth, got dressed, packed away some of my stuff, and set off to find my companion and get the 17 mile let out of the way before breakfast.

My companion and his family had slept in a tent that night, and we were supposed to meet at 6:00a to do the 17 miles. When I found their car, they were not ready. I waited until they got around, and we headed out to the border just as the sun was peeking its first rays over the eastern horizon.

My Bike Across Kansas (BAK) Journey

I'm going to upload all the posts I had made, plus some photos, about my personal journey on the Bike Across Kansas (BAK). Hope you enjoy!

Ed