Day 23 and Beyond: Balloons in the Sky over Albequerque NM

Morning view from my Hotel Window

The ride into town was largely ceremonial, 15 miles with a 1000 foot drop in elevation. I barely broke a sweat during the whole thing.

I had a great visit with my nephew and discovered that his kids prefer a different mode of transportation:

The bestest way to get around the hills of Albuquerque

Actually Anna got a real kick out of attached herself to my foot and having me walk with her, but I didn't manage to get a picture of that.

When it was time to leave I suited up in a jersey that had been laundered and was no longer stiff, and my shorts similarly supple. I notice that the left leg of my shorts was much faded compared to the right. Makes sense, it was facing south.

I exited the gravel:

Leaving my nephew's house

To arrive at the conference site:

Arriving at the Hotel Albuquerque in Old Town

And now I transition to a different lifestyle. We will see when my stomach catches up with me.

Thanks for joining me on the journey.

July 20, 2019, Albuquerque New Mexico

Day 22: Clines Corner NM to Albuquerque NM

So I finally arrived - or almost. I am staying with my nephew who lives on the outskirts of town. I will make a final ride in to the hotel and conference site tomorrow.

Today was a short day (thankfully) that started early:

Clines Corner View from my tent at sunrise

The spot I camped in was very nice, but too close to the highway which meant lots of road noise. It was also high (about 7,000 feet) and cool. So I started the day with a sweatshirt, and as I descended it got even colder. Lots of downhill today though so I should not complain.

The beginning of the long descent

Both my brother David and my colleague Jeremy pointed out that the funny tail section of an aircraft I saw in Kansas was probably a wind turbine blade. Indeed I saw a few more of those (6 actually they travel in triplets). And managed to snap a picture today:

Windmill blade on the road in New Mexico

Curiously the have passed me in both directions. The from and to I can make little sense of. There are lots of roadside signs in New Mexico, most are pretty standard, but some stand out:

Got water?

Then finally, and very suddenly:

Albuquerque comes into view

So one last climb:

The road my nephew lives on

I had to get off and push for this one, and it was the first time I was really sweating all day.

So time to chill out:

On the swing at the end of the road

And play with my grand niece and nephew

Anna applying stickers

So tomorrow I don't need to wake up early, but I will post again.

July 19, 2019, Albuquerque New Mexico

Day 21: Newkirk NM to Clines Corner NM

Three full weeks - seems like an eternity. New Mexico has been brutal, but it all comes to an end tomorrow.

Started early again today:

Breaking Camp

 Again there was a moon out and, though not as picturesque as yesterday I did capture it:

The setting New Mexico Moon

The New Mexico countryside is vast and open:

The open New Mexico Countryside

Though there was not much wind, there were still lots of hills. I got to this one point:

All water drains to the Rio Grande

Where it seems like it should have been downhill all the way to Albuquerque. Alas, not so. Lots of grueling climbs in the heat and not one, but two:

Second flat tire of the day

So far not a day has gone by in New Mexico without a flat. I guess that is part of grueling.

I am finishing this up in a Subway:

Blog writing with a Sandwich

I won't make it to the next town, so that means another night of camping. The last.

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion.

July 18, 2019, Clines Corner NM

Day 20: Nara Visa NM to Newkirk NM

Another long short day - or is it short long day. New Mexico is hard riding with a headwind. It has been hot, and it getting hotter, but just two more days of riding left - and both can be short (and will probably be long). Ah well.

I started off to an amazing moonset:

Sunrise in New Mexico

The picture didn't do it justice (I wish I were a better photographer), but the sunrise was great too.

I started really early again to avoid the heat and the wind - and that works for a few hours (wind) and a couple more (heat).

 New Mexico is wide open with lots of interesting landscape - though more beautiful in distance that up close in many cases:

Open landscape of New Mexico

And I even found a Citizens bank (not related to the Citizen's back home I guess):

Citizens Bank, Logan NM

Logan was the high point for towns. Small town New Mexico is not thriving, so many things have closed down and so few people seem to still populate the towns.

Though the day was hard, I finally saw a road sign with my destination:

Albuquerque 162 Miles

So there you have it. Stay cool.

July 17, 2019, Newkirk New Mexico

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Day 19: Stratford TX to Nara Visa NM

A short day by the map, and actually by the number of hours on the road, but it felt like the longest day of the trip. I started really early in the morning, hoping to beat the heat:

Oops - can't upload pictures - so this will be all text:

I made the run from Stratford to Dalhart in the cool of the morning, stopping at Dalhart to get more water/root beer and a muffin. So far so good.

After leaving Dalhart the wind started to kick up, and it got pretty big and all blowing in my face. When the going gets tough, well apparently I am not tough.

It took a long time from Dalhart to Nara Visa and I was pretty darn thirsty. But for the luck of a kind person doing work on the road who gave me two bottles of water, I would have given up and hitched a ride to Nara Visa.

Of course, as it turns out, that would have been pretty futile. When I got here I looked for a gas station with a store to load up on liquid, then perhaps food. None of that exists. Nara Visa has a Motel and a Weigh Station.

I stopped at the Weigh Station to ask what else there was and that was it. The person there was kind enough to get me some water, and even offered me part of his lunch - the chocolate covered almonds were delicious.

My fantasy of cooling down and getting properly hydrated in a nice controlled environment, I sat down to eat the other half of my lunch, drink water, and generally recover.

Then I set out to Logan, my original destination. However, the wind was even bigger and I simply gave up, turned around and let it blow me to the motel.

They didn't have rooms, but told me I could pitch a tent out back and here I am. The nice woman even gave me ice to help me cool down, the internet password and an orange. Verizon does not work here, though T-Mobile seems okay.

So we will see what tomorrow brings.

July 16, 2019, Nara Visa New Mexico

Day 18: Plains KS to Stratford TX

I can't help but start this post with an almost identical photo to the end of the last post:

Kismet Kansas in the distance

This was the sight that met my eyes just after leaving the motel in the morning (actually I took the picture a bit later so you could see the distant grain elevator).  There is about 8 miles between where I was and what you are looking at (Kismet). I still find this pretty remarkable - though Oklahoma and Texas are equally so.

The rest of my post is mostly landmarks and curiosities. The day was grueling and got pretty hot (98) but tomorrow promises to be hotter.

I expected the western edge of Kansas to be dead flat, with a little upward slope. Boy was I wrong. The below picture shows Liberal Kansas in the distance. The broad valley has a (currently dry) river at the bottom and transitions to pure scrub on crossing.

Looking down on Liberal Kansas

From corn to scrubland

Really about the last thing I saw in Kansas was part of an aircraft:

The tail assembly for???

Not sure  what aircraft - looked pretty cool though. What's up with Kansas and Airplanes? The Wright brothers I guess.

Next up was Oklahoma:

They welcomed me with a tree, so of course I sat down under it for a snack.



I was traversing only the pan handle of Oklahoma - so it was pretty quick, but not without its oddities:

The Hooker Inn, Hooker Oklahoma

 The town is Hooker, so I guess it is an obvious name. Still.

Perhaps that is an alternate engine?

The horse was just strange - I really don't know what to make of it.

Golden Acres Casino

This one I though was a prison - Stalag 18 or something. But no a casino - in where? Someplace in Oklahoma. Does that work?

I spent a bunch of time trying to pictures of grasshoppers - both in Kansas and Oklahoma - on the road they look like gravel then scatter as I pass - on the shoulder they scatter as I move. So, so, many. But no good pictures.

And so:

Welcome to Texas

And even in Texas:

My first Texas tree

Actually it turns out there are quite  a few trees in Texas. We will see what tomorrow brings (hot hot).

July 15, 2019, Stratford Texas

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Day 17: Pratt KS to Plains KS

I have almost finished my traversal of Kansas. Three days with a tailwind. Lucky for me or I would not have gotten across so quickly. I travel facing no obstacles, with roses scattered in my path.

The morning dawned clear, and actually a bit chilly. I even considered putting on long sleeves, but soon found myself sweating despite the chill so didn't. The little hills of Kansas were finally turning into plains:

The grain elevator marking the next town

Each town is marked by a grain elevator next to a railway. This is very much like Alberta, where I grew up, so I felt at home.

Not too much to tell about the plains. I did see an airport:

Gail Ballard Airport, Haviland, KS SN63

Not sure that you would find it on Orbitz though, and I didn't see any planes.

I did run into and chat with another cyclist. He was in the process of trying to lighten his bike and had just mailed home his sleeping bag. I was pretty loaded down compared to him, but I guess I just like the security of having things in just in case. Check out his youtube channel if you are interested.

So, not to imply that Kansas is boring or anything, but the day ended more or less like it started, except this time the grain elevator was for my destination.

Plains, KS in the distance

This picture is the second one I took. The first was from more than a mile earlier, but you can't make out the grain elevator in the photo without losing the effect - you can see for miles and miles!

July 14, 2019, Plains Kansas



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Day 16: El Dorodo KS to Pratt KS

So today was a good day with a tail wind - more about that later.

First, a little background on this trip, and my colleagues from isee systems. I have been thinking about this trip for a while, and when the conference site repeated itself that kind of nailed it. But a little over two years ago I broached the idea while enjoying a fine spring day with everyone at work of making an event of it for the whole company. Do a bunch of biking, convert an old school bus to a portable office - lots of cool ideas.

Of course this all left me wondering whether anyone was the least bit serious or if they were just humoring me. I was largely convinced of the latter, but decided to put it to the test one step at a time. So at the end of 2017, I said I wanted to organize a team to ride in an annual fund raiser called the Prouty - a 100 mile ride with variations.

Four people said yes, one ended up backing out, but last year we road the Prouty together. I thought that was the first step to a carnival of bicycling across America.

But, in the end, it was the Prouty, not Albuquerque, that won out. And this year, four people finished the Prouty (35 and 100 miles) while I road through Kansas:

Sarah, Ginger, Hilary and Jeremy at the finish line

So that makes my mileage.... No, I am really just proud of them. Congratulations all around.

Before I left, they gave me a cake, to help put on weight:

Get fat cake (chocolate)

And they also took a photo of me just for reference. Much like the scientist in the Heart of Darkness was measuring sculls. Just as in that case, most the change is on the inside:

Before and During

One of the funniest things I saw today was the White Water River:

White Water River in Kansas

It turns out there is a town called White Water - not sure where that comes from.

Passing through Wichita was an interesting experience - kind of like Cleveland in reverse. I came in by Wichita State University which is a pleasant looking modern campus with a big stadium (this is Kansas after all). But the road turned into car parts, steel recycling, and the most curious collection of semi industrial activities I have seen. That gave way to houses - seems I missed downtown again. Then a nice spot for second breakfast:

Wichita Kansas

Leaving town was entirely delightful. There is a bike path on the west side of the city that runs parallel with the highway starting from my second breakfast stop. I saw many more bikers today (Saturday morning) than I have seen on this entire trip.

Remember how I said there would be even fewer trees as I went west. This turns out to be true. I found myself hiding from the sun under overpasses.

Hiding from the sun under an overpass

In fact I started timing my breaks by them, stopping for a drink and short break under every one.

Not much more - I ended early hoping to get a good sleep. We will see if I can wake up in the morning.

Till then.

July 13, 2019, Pratt Kansas

Day 15: Fort Scott KS to El Dorado KS

 So today was over 120 miles - but I had a tail wind so it feel like cheating. I also wanted to end an hour and a half earlier, but I was in the middle of no place.

I called Fort Scott a hard town. And not far out of it I saw this:

Morning in Kansas

It is not just the town that is hard.

But overall the day was pretty nice. I am only 30 miles from Wichita and still seeing scenery like this:

The hills of Kansas

Not quite as majestic in the photo as it was in real life. The sky is big, and you can see a long way (like water towers 8 miles in the distance), the hills are low, but still hard to climb at times.

I saw the funniest sign, telling me it was 8 miles to Gas and 12 to Eureka. So why was it telling me about Gas?

Got Gas?

Turns out there is a Gas Kansas. What do people from Gas do? Probably make jokes about being from Gas when they are not eating beans.

I also chanced to stop at a gas station where they keep a log of people passing through on bike. Quite a few - one every day or two if I am to believe the log, and going in both directions. I have only seen 2 other people on bicycle. A couple who were moving slow pulling wagons, and a fellow who had a tire problem but didn't know what size his tires were - my patience has limits and I had nothing in his size. Anyway they are out there, just stealth. I also got a memento:

Lizard luck

Not sure what it means, but it seems cool.

One flat tire - but it may have been leftover from a couple days back. And finally I got some tofu and rice for supper.

Tomorrow Wichita, and the Prouty for the team I left back in New Hampshire. More on that then.

July 12, 2019, El Dorado Kansas

Day 14: Camdenton MS to Fort Scott KS

Two weeks - wow. I guess I should be settling into a rhythm, and I sort of am - every day certainly ends in exhaustion.

I entered Kansas at the top of a hill - which I find moderately amusing, but the eastern edge of Kansas is not yet plains.

Crossing into Kansas in the later afternoon

It is still a hard place though. I walked to a grocery store from the little motel I am staying in and life it not easy in Fort Scott Kansas. Let me just leave it at that.

Today was a pretty good mileage day. I left the Ozarks into what seemed like the beginning of the plains:

 

Leaving the Ozarks

But the hills picked up again, so I ended up with lots of climbing. Kind of similar to New York, but not as steep nor the climbs so long.  Kansas will likely be different.

I did finally see a residential solar installation (in Missouri still)

The only rural solar installation I have seen

Also a bank, completely by itself:

Lone bank

Not sure where they get customers from - but on the upside I doubt that anyone tries to rob them.

Lunch today was peanut butter sandwiches - but I did find a nice spot to eat them:

Lunch on the road in Missouri

And finally no flat tires. Hopefully that is the beginning of a trend.

Till tomorrow.

July 11, 2019 Fort Scott Kansas