Day 12-22

Ok all, it is just not working to do a day by day account of my ride and you all probably don’t have the time to read it any ways. So I will try and give you the highlights when I can. As of right not I have been riding for 22 days and about 2000 miles. I am in Hesston KS right now staying with Neal Frezen who is going to ride to Boise ID with me from here.

OK so highlights for you all. The day after I last blogged about I rode 110 miles to Berea KY where my brother David picked me up and took me to Lexington KY where I spent six days resting and weighting for the weather to break. It finally did and I began riding again.

On my first day of riding it was sunny for the first half of the day and I began riding at a good pace. About 2:30 in the afternoon it began to cloud over so I stopped at a church and asked if they had anywhere that I cold sleep out of the weather. I specifically asked for a car port. As I was setting up my tend the pastor came back to me and asked if I would rather stay in a hotel. I told him I was on a tight budget and camping was ok with me. Then he told me the church would cover it and the he would feel better knowing I was inside for the night. So I got to stay in a nice warm hotel as it rained that night. That was May 19, my 12 day on the road.

Day 13 I rode past the birth place of Abraham Lincoln and I just had to stop. It was quite fascinating. They have a huge building the looks like a Greek temple built over this little cabin that President Lincoln was born in. I can’t weight for some one to rediscover that in a thousand years and think that we were a really weird bunch of people. Any ways it was beautiful and I would sugest stopping by if you are ever in western Kentucky. That day I also slept in until 10:00 and still managed to ride 95.5 miles. It was quite a day.

Day 14 I was sitting under a tree eating lunch and righting a letter when a cyclist rode by. I was about to yell at him when he passed but I didn’t. I finished my letter and began riding as fast as I could to catch up to him. About the time I gave up and was resting along side of the road he rode up behind me and stopped told me he had been trying to catch me for the last half hour. We rode the rest of the day together and then I was going to continue on because I wanted to get farther that day. While we were stopped talking along the road a woman drove up and told us about a church that takes in bikers so I decided to stay the night with Jason and start our fresh in the morning.

Day 15 Me and Jason started relatively early and headed off for the Illinois border. It was about noon when we reached it. It was rather exiting because we crossed over from Kentucky to Illinois by fairy. We were crossing the Ohio river. After we crossed the river the skyes opened up on us and it did nothing but rain until we got to Eddyville where we camped for the night. There was no worm shower, but Jason did have a little camp stove the he cooked warm food on for us both. That was one of the best and most comforting things of the day. After we had warm food in us and warm, dry cloths on us we went to bead. That day we rode 92 miles.

Day 16 We woke up early and ate breakfast at a restaurant down the road before heading out. That day we finished Illinois. We stopped in a town a few miles from Missouri We camped again in a park with no shower. I forget the name of the town, but it was the town the cartoon Popeye was started in. There were statues of all the characters every where. It was a little creepy. We slept well and were left undisturbed.

Day 17 This was by far the most trying day of the trip. I rode 111.6 miles. It was just a rough day. I was chased and knocked down by a pack of dogs and that was more than 30 miles from where we were going to stop for the night. The Ozarks are beautiful, but riding up and down them was a bit trying. Any ways when we finally got to the hotel we were staying at they were all full. So we rode all that way and I had two bad road rashes I needed to clean well and I didn’t even have a city park to sleep in. We went down the road to ask a pastor if we could sleep in the church and we were turned a way. We found another church and just slept in the car port. Again Jason cooked dinner for me and that was probably the best thing that I could hope for. I hit a new max speed of 42.5 mph today as well. If ever there was I day I thought about quitting that way it.

Day 18 I broke a new distance record today, 113.5 miles, as well as a new speed record of 46.75 mph. It was again a tough day. Me and Jason split up because of some minor conflicts. I continued on and rode through the day. I was determined to reach Springfield Missouri by nightfall and I got awful close. I was headed out of Hartville towards Marshfield when a storm that was not in the forecast blew in and I got caught right in the middle of a huge storm. There were tornado warnings out and the thunder and lightning was booming like nothing I had ever seen. Then an elderly couple drove up beside me in their car and asked me if I new that there was a storm warning out. I didn’t, but I could have guessed. Then they asked me if I wanted a place to stay for the night. I said yes and they put their flashers on their car and drove slow enough for me to fallow them to their farm. As soon as I was under their car port the wind kicked up strong enough to blow their potted plants around like rag dolls. I was very glad to be inside. They fed me kept me warm and allowed me to do laundry. I took a shower and went to bead. That night I slept for 11 hours.

Day 19 I took this day really easy as it was evident that I was pushing myself to far every day. I only rode 50 miles and it was to a Mennonite Your Way home. I was warmly welcomed and fed fresh strawberries and short cake. It was simply wonderful. It was very nice to stay in doors for two nights in a row, especially after the hard days before. The couple I stayed with had been raised Amish so I got to chat with them a good deal about what the Amish believe and the differences between them and Mennonites. I also found out that they had been stationed in Laos and they new Gordon Patterson my service contact in Cambodia. It was simply bizarre to talk to them about him. Made me miss Cambodia a whole lot. Then They also informed me of my Friend Dean Binde who had passed a way in a car accident the day before. It was a sobering piece of information both because D was my friend but also because I began to realize just how dangerous riding my bike across this country really is. Any ways I slept good again that night as well. My host family did one more amazing thing for me before I went to bead. They were worried about me because the weather was still not looking good for the next day and I didn’t have any where to stay inside so they called all of their friends and found a place for me to stay just outside of Pittsburg Kansas for the next day. It was simply one of the most kind things some one had done for me on the trip to date.

Day 20 I rode a pretty easy day. I have been learning that I enjoy the trip more when I take it easy. On my way I ran into Jason again. We stopped and talked for a bit and he felt compelled to explain to me why he didn’t want to ride with my any more. That was all fine with me as I didn’t wan to ride with him any more as well and I had a place to stay that night and they were not expecting two cyclists so I was not going to invite Jason any ways. We rode together for a few more miles until we came to a hill and I looked at him and said, “if you get to the top before I do and keep going, it was nice knowing you.” And he looked at me and reached out his hand. As we rode I shook his crippled hand and off he went over the next hill before me and out of sight. Later that day I took tow hours off to rest, eat lunch and work on the internet. That is where I maid my biggest mistake to date on the trip. I walked out of the library and left my list of telephone #s and addresses that I was sending letters to. I didn’t realize it until later that night. by then it was to late to go back and get it. As I was riding down a road, the same road for 45 miles, I came to an intersection and across from me there was a big sign that said Road Closed and had no detour signs posted for me to fallow. I flagged down a driver and asked him how to get around it. It was a 21 mile detour. He asked me if I had some where I needed to be by a certain time and I said I was supposed to be at the house I was staying at by 6:30 and now I was not going to make that. Then he offered me a ride around the flooded part of the road. His name was Kim and we talked a good deal. The one thing he said that I will always remember is that he wished his son was more like me. It was a great complement. His son had flunked out of college and had wasted thousands of dollars on tuition for nothing and was now working in a bar. I was sad to hear that but didn’t know how to respond. My host family that night was a lot of fun. We talked for hours over dinner before I went to call my family and then to bead.

Day 21 was a good day, in fact it was the best day in some ways. I broke a few records. I rode 114.24 miles my farthest and I rode it at 15.5 mph my fastest average time to date. Other than that it was a pretty average day. That night when I rode into town I saw Jason across the street, but didn’t say hi to him, I just kept going to my camp sight. Once I was at my camp sight I got to take a shower and then I met a cyclist who was camping next to me. He was an old X Marine who was riding across the country on his own. We talked a bit. He had been in Vietnam and we talked about both of our experiences there. He was very clear that he liked western culture better and had no intention of ever returning. I asked him where he was going the next day and he said Hesston. I asked him if he wanted to ride with me the next day and he clearly said NO. So we both went to sleep.

Day 22 I woke up and Jim, the old Marine sleeping next to me looked over and the first thing out of his mouth was, “well, if you are going to drag me to Hesston I might as well buy you breakfast.” So he took me into town and bought me a breakfast before we rode to Hesston together. It was a slow ride. He was not a fast rider, but the company was welcomed because that day I had a 38 mile ride that was straight as an arrow and flat. That gets real boring after a while so some one to talk to is great. We met Neal about 20 miles out from Hesston and then we all rode in together. It was a good day over all and it was nice to be in a place where I new I would be resting for a while. I said good by to Jim and then me and Neal went to his place where I cooked a huge pizza for dinner. It was a good end to the first half of the trip. Now I only have 2,000 more miles to go.