06/17/00  Hiawatha, KS to White Cloud, KS

Habits are hard to break, even if they are only a week old.  Although we only had a 20 mile ride today people were getting up at 5:30 a.m.  I awakened about 5:45 a.m. and slowly got around.  The idea of riding another day didn't have the appeal it did one week ago.  Finally getting everything packed up and loaded I was ready to go.  By this time Mark had finished breakfast and had returned to finish his packing. We said goodbye there since I didn't know whether I would catch him at White Cloud.  I went to the cafeteria where they were serving very good pancakes made by "Chris Cakes".  Getting your pancakes was a unique experience.  There was Chris Cakes himself, with a helper making the pancakes on 2 very large grills.  Each grill was 6-7 feet long and about 2 feet wide.  To create a batch of cakes they would roll a hopper, on tracks on either side of the grill, down the grill. At intervals they would flip a lever mounted on the hopper and out would pour the batter for 4 equal sized pancakes.  Roll, flip, roll, flip.  In a matter of 30 seconds they have 48 pancakes cooking.  They were fast and the pancakes were very good! It was obvious that they had plenty of experience doing this, from the way they would flip them.  Faster than I could say flip, flip, flip, flip,  they would flip 4 cakes and proceed on down the 12 rows doing the same.  These would cook another minute and then the entertainment would begin.  They would  pick up a plate and flip 4 cakes onto it, lay it down, doing this 12 times.  If someone were to return for more pancakes in the meantime they would ask them how many they wanted. While the person was standing 4-8 feet away from the griddle, the cook would flip, one at a time, as many pancakes as the person wanted onto their plate.  The pancakes would always land on the plate, but one occasionally would bounce off.  I find it hard to flip pancakes over onto a plate let alone 4-8 feet away.  I guess I should try the next time we have pancakes here at home - flipping them across the kitchen! The only problem is I'll have to clean up the mess, which I know would happen.  After breakfast I wandered around and finally left town about 7:30 a.m.

In listening to other riders talk in White Cloud, I suspect a lot of people had a problem with the last 20 miles.  For one thing, some of the hills were by far the steepest on the route, although not very long.  I think the biggest problem was mental.  I am not sure how to explain it other than to say you knew this was the last ride coupled with the fact we were all tired.  The first 1/4 mile was really bad.  If my legs could make a sound I am sure they would have been screaming for me to quit - they hurt!  After riding a mile or so, the circulation began to improve and it began to be easier to pedal.  At the first SAG stop 5 miles out, I was beginning to really move. For the next 10 miles I was really able to pump the pedals and was enjoying the ride.  An indication of this was that I was starting to carry on like I did occasionally when no one else was around - singing crazy, made up songs etc.  I came down one long hill about 35 mph and coasted past three other riders going 10 mph faster and they were still pedaling!  The geography began to change as we got closer to White Cloud.  The hills began to worsen and after pushing it as much as I had, I started wishing the end would be over the current hill.  I noticed several of the recumbants going uphill were having a tough time of it and were finding the road very, very tough to ride a straight line on.  Throughout the trip, I noticed recumbants and hills were definitely not "a match made in heaven" - they didn't seem to manage them very well.  The exertion was obvious on people faces as I would pass them going up the hills.   Large drops of sweat would be hanging on the end of their nose and their eyes were almost glazed with a look of agonized weariness.  It was just plain hard and tiring, physically and mentally.  Finally after a seemingly endless succession of roller coaster hills, I topped the last one in White Cloud and 1/2 mile ahead at the base of a long hill lay the Big MO (Missouri River)!!  What a welcome sight!  It was a free ride from here - all one had to do was let er' roll.  When I arrived at the boat dock for the traditional (BAK) "dip your bike tires in the water conclusion" who would arrive, but Mark.  He had been there for 20 minutes and had come down, for whatever reason, right after me.  So we had our picture taken together and like everyone else walked our bikes from the river back to the park.  I guess everyone's seat was too tired to accommodate any more riding.

While there, I purchased a BAK 2000 hat and "End of the Ride" T-shirt and then wandered around waiting for our baggage truck.  When ours arrived, I joined the baggage brigade and helped to empty our truck.   After everything was unloaded I quickly found my bags.  They were fairly easy to identify with the orange surveyor tape wrapped on the handles and straps.  I placed them on the sidewalk, noting the location and went to find a phone to call my wife, Pamela.  I didn't give my bags a second thought that they might disappear.  This group of people was one of the few groups I have ever encountered that seemed to be 100% trustworthy.  In the 8 days I knew these people, I never heard of anything being stolen, or even a hint of the idea.  You could leave anything lying around and no one would bother it.  I found a pay phone (my cell phone battery quit the previous day) and called my wife to let her know I was in White Cloud and where to start looking for me.  I called several other times and the last time I called she was about 5 miles from town.  By that time the lunch line had formed and since I was only 1/4 of the line from the front, told her I would be on the street with my lunch waiting for her.  I found her alright, but not in the way I had planned.  A few minutes later after filling my plate with coleslaw, veggie salad and the cyclist's staple - spagetti, retrieving 2 cans of pop from a mostly beer-can filled cow tank full of ice I walked back to the street.  I was just in time to see a light tan Topaz with a ribbon tied to the antenna - MY LONG LOST WIFE!!   I just knew she would sense or see me as I stepped out into the street - I saw her - she didn't see me.  She was some 30-40 feet ahead of me, going  back the way she had come.  I had told her to watch for me since I had on my yellow BAK 2000 t-shirt.  She saw that alright - probably 400-500 times.  It seems everyone else had also worn their's.  So there I was standing in the middle of the street waving my plate of food and cans of pop at her as she drove away.  I could see her scanning the crowd on the sides of the street and ahead, but never pausing to look at the figure in her rear view mirror.  She disappeared from sight down the street and somewhat forlornly, I sat down on a curb without my wife or my bike and ate my lunch.  I KNEW SHE WOULD RETURN, THOUGH!!!! I waited and waited and waited some more.  Five, 10, 15 minutes passed and I began to wonder where she was.  White Cloud, I knew, couldn't be that big!  After thinking about it, I realized probably what was taking so long.  She had mentioned the last time I talked to her on the phone that she was really needing to use a restroom .  So that was what I figured she was up to - and I was right.  Finally here she came - this time I was ready for her.  Upon reaching the car I was hoping for a really long kiss while the world comes to a halt around you, but all that was received was a quick peck.  I was disappointed!  I soon found out where my kiss had gone to.  It seems she didn't care much for a cabbage (coleslaw) kiss.  Next time there will definitely be mouth spray and chewing gum to cover that sin.  I loaded my bike, tossed in my bags and we were headed home.  I was so glad to be with her again that every 5 miles I stole at least a quick kiss!

Since I have settled back into the norm of everyday life and a pushed gas pedal for transportation I have not ridden my bicycle more than a few blocks (07/21/00).  One of these days though, I will assume riding again, but in the meantime it is nice to adjust the angle of my ankle to maintain my speed and turn my wrist slightly to move left, as I pass that sweating, bent over cyclist, straining to go up the hill on the edge of the road….

BFNTNY!

Top of Page

Powered by counter.bloke.com