06/13/00 Stockton, KS to Mankato, KS

People started getting around about 4:45 a.m. and by 5:15 a.m. most people were up and about. This may have been because today was going to be our longest mileage day – 85 miles. This would also be the best opportunity to ride an "easy" century (100 miles). I knew in order to arrive at Mankato at a decent time and to try to ride a century, I needed to be out of town early. The cheerleaders were serving breakfast this morning starting at 6:00 a.m. so I was in line by 5:50 a.m. They served a breakfast buffet which was very good. I ate rather hurriedly, loaded my bags on the truck and was on the road at 6:25 a.m. Mark left about 6:15 a.m and was in Mankato by about noon.

The previous evening I had the mechanic adjust my shifters. Almost from the start of the first day I had an occasional chain skip. The chain would jump back and forth over the middle 2 or 3 gears. This would leave me with less gears to work with and limited the performance of my bike. It appeared his adjustment was working, but today would be the "proof in the pudding".

Went east out of Stockton into another beautiful day. Early in the morning there is not much wind and today was no exception. It was cool enough that some people were using jackets until it warmed up. When we first started, the sun was behind a bank of clouds, but came out at 6:39 a.m. Passed numbers of other riders on the road, but I was soon passed by even faster cyclists. When I would stop to take pictures the people that I had passed, passed me. Getting back on my bike I would eventually catch them and pass them again. This would go on throughout the day.

In the first hour or so I averaged over 15 mph. About 7:30 a.m. the wind began to blow so my average began to drop. The miles kept going by until I finally came to Osborne. Going through town I was uncertain where to turn. I went south of where our turn was, several block's to a QT and bought something to drink and a candy bar. I went back the way I came to the main intersection in town where there was a SAG driver pointing riders in the right direction. I had seen others going south like that was the way to go and mentioned it to him. He said that a number of people were confused where to turn and some were going the wrong way (south). The road east did not look to inviting, but I assumed that he knew where we were to go.

As I rode east I noticed it looked rather hazy several blocks ahead. The wind was blowing very hard, stirring up a large amount of dust. So much dust in fact, that several cyclists some distance ahead of me disappeared from view for a short time. This did not look very inviting, but I pedaled on anyway. The wind seemed to gather more strength the further I went. Some gusts were so strong I had to lean the bike sideways to go in a straight line. Several miles out of town north of the road, was a large old abandoned farmhouse. Whoever built it was probably someone of means - because of the size. Something happened to the owners though. Question's seemed to haunt me as I rode past. Did the depression drive them out? A series of bad crop years? Who knows… There it sat abandoned and empty – a testament of someones' dreams gained and lost.

After 10 miles of riding into a strong crosswind (20-30mph) you welcome the chance for a break. At the junction of Hwy. 181 our route turned north and with it the wind was at our backs! I was ready for this! I started pushing the pedals as hard as I could and was soon passing every bicycle on the road. It was 4 miles from the junction into Downs. I rode an average of 28 mph for almost the whole distance and for a while was cruising along at 35 mph! This is bicycling at its best - plain ol' speed - with no effort!

When I came into Downs, I soon saw riders from the other two routes - as all three routes were crossing in town today. On the north side of town, an old Methodist Church had been converted into a shop called Richardson’s Organs. Being curious, I stopped and was amazed at what I found inside. The first thing catching your attention were two very large self-contained pipe organs setting at the front of the building. The builder was a 38 year old man who originally came from Cawker City about 6 miles away. The church that he attended as a child had a pipe organ which fascinated him. He spent 7 years in Europe learning the craft of organ building and was endeavoring to make this his life’s work. The larger of the two organs was commissioned for a home in Colorado. For someone who is interested in woodworking, finding a shop in a small town like this, was a very interesting place. I asked if he worked from a plan - which he does – one he designs in conjunction with the owner. He builds almost everything in it with the exception of a few small parts. This explains why he had taken some two years to build the larger organ. His plans were very detailed – nothing left to chance. All of the larger pipes were made from wood – in varying diameters and lengths, some straight and some with tapered sides. The craftsmanship was superb.

At the north end of Downs, I took a detour east onto Hwy. 24 to go to Cawker City. This would be a 12 mile addition to the original 85 placing me within a few miles of my first century by days end. Cawker City has the distinct honor of being home to the worlds largest ball of twine! This was no ordinary large ball of twine – we’re talking over a thousand miles of twine here! I suppose the inner portion is not very good as far as twine goes anymore, but at least you can say it has the appearance of a lot of twine. The day I was there, the route that was going through Cawker City added another 16 pounds and x number of feet of twine to the ball.

Coming into town was a good ride with the wind at my back. Unfortunately I returned to Downs with the wind in my face. I made slow progress, observing an lot of pavement and spinning tire with my head down , but finally made it. Stopping at a QT, I bought a ham sandwich and something to drink and ate them while sitting on the curb watching the traffic go by. With Mankato another 40 miles down the road I knew that I had better get going. The wind had blown me into Downs, but in the intervening time it had shifted from the south to the west. Earlier in the day it would have been a very fast trip to Lebanon from Downs (19 miles), but now it was just another "me against the wind" contest and I knew who always had to win!

The road north of Downs did not have a rideable shoulder on it, so riding had to be done on the very edge of disaster. After riding for a long time I noticed a pickup turn onto the highway towards me about ¼ mile ahead. This wasn’t a problem even with the grain semi-truck going my direction behind me. He pulled slightly over into the pickups' lane since there was a good distance between the two vehicles and passed me going 65 mph. A little wind jostle, but nothing to worry about. What I didn’t notice was the two other grain trucks following the first one. By the time the third one started to pass me, the pickup was almost opposite so the grain truck and I were uneasily sharing the same side of the highway. Can a finger indent bicycle handlebars? I don’t know, but I was doing my best! Hanging on for dear life, trying to ride on a thin white line at the edge of the highway, while 40 tons of metal and grain roared along 36 inches away for what must have been an eternity - at least 2 seconds! It didn't appear that any of the trucks bothered to slow down. What had begun as a brief encounter with one truck became a nightmare of wheels and wind with three. By the time the third truck had passed I was ready for a break from traffic.

The stretch of highway from Downs to Lebanon was 19 miles long with no intervening towns. It was a lonely highway in some areas. The bicycles ahead of me on the hills appeared like so many ants in a column. All of these ants had a common destination - the SAG stop at the top of one of those hills. Stopping, I drank and ate my quota and continued on my journey. We were told at the stop that the next turn would be several miles south of Lebanon. I guess there had been some confusion where the turn actually was - some people venturing into Lebanon looking for the road to Mankato. Since the geodetic center of the USA was northwest of there I kept on going at the turn for my second detour of the day in my century quest.

Riding thru Lebanon, the miles of the day began to take their toll on me. The center was some 3 miles out of town and the hills leading to it were really bad especially when you are feeling like you are about to bonk! Finally arriving there, I took pictures of several guys and one of them took a couple of me. By this time the only thing I could think about was eating and drinking. I dug a melted Snickers bar out of the pack and took my two water bottles to the picnic shelter. Eating and drinking didn’t do much for me right then. Don’t expect it to kick in like filling an empty gas tank – it ain’t gonna work! Leaving everyone else, I started back for Lebanon. At the north edge of town I found a gas station which had dusty, but cold bottles of sports drink. Buying one, I went outside and drained it very quickly. By now the effects of the candy bar and the other drinks were starting to work and I began to feel a little more energy. I soon caught Hwy. 36 east to Mankato. At the first SAG stop I met Dave again, wolfed down 4-5 cookies, drank more water and filled my bottles. By this time my gas tank had finally filled up – I was ready to roll. With the wind at my back I really made good time even though it was in the upper 90’s and very humid. Normally, most of my riding was done on the middle chainring, but on this stretch of road I was able to keep it on the large chainring and was surprised later to find which ring I had been using.

Arriving in Mankato, Mark who had been there for sometime, had saved me a spot on the gym floor. The baggage truck had been unloaded at the back of the school so I went to retrieve my belongings. Of the two bags and mattress that were loaded this morning, only one bag and the mattress were to be found. Fortunately it was the bag that I needed most. I later found the second bag, which someone had picked up by accident, but learned a lesson - don’t put everything you need in one bag!

Feeling the dirt and grunge of the day, I took a shower and washed my riding clothes in the shower also. The water must have been soft because it was almost impossible to get the soap out. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed my clothes in an effort to get them soap free. Finally I quit trying, finished my shower and took my clothes outside to hang up – after I got dressed. While hanging my laundry on a fence, I heard someone say something to me. Looking around I saw a woman standing there with a camera asking to take my picture. At least I and my clothes were clean so I posed by my "clothesline" for a picture. She then proceeded to interview me for the local newspaper. So now I know what it is like to be interviewed – sure hope I said all of the right things!

Mark and I went to the local version of a Dairy Queen and had hamburgers for supper. Mark had his usual meat and cheese - only hamburger while I had everything on mine. Finished it all off with an ice cream cone. Had to eat it fast as we walked back to the school, since the heat caused it to melt quickly.

After riding almost 107 miles today I felt very good. I had even considered riding from Mankato up to the Nebraska state line and back which would have added another 30-40 miles to my days' total. The cool gym soon quelled those ambitious and probably insane thoughts. I’ll wait for a cooler time to try to ride that many miles! Even so, I’ll be able to stand with the century rider group tonight. Usually there are 5-20 people a day that do a century so it is a reasonably select group. There are those diehard riders though, that for whatever reason are inclined to make a century out of every day. They must grease their bodies and bikes with teflon so the wind doesn’t cause them any grief – otherwise I don’t know how they do it every day.

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