These have been two difficult days. The riding itself has been quite nice. Pretty flat through nice farms on country roads. The challenge has been the heat. Yesterday was over 95 by early afternoon. We started early in order to try and beat the heat, but it wasnt enough for many of us. I am still unsure whether trying to set a reasonably strong pace in the morning set the stage for a very hard last 30 miles. But no matter the cause, the last 30 miles were a blur of leg and abdominal cramps, thirst that felt unquenchable and a desire to quit
The temperatures were compounded by an almost total lack of any shade. That meant that any time we stopped, we baked. I started drinking more when I started getting cramps. But that meant I went through my water bottles faster than I had been and at mile 71 or 72 I was out of water/electrolyte mix with 8 miles or so to the next support (SAG) stop. At about 75 miles, my riding partner, Debbie, and I stopped for a little break and I started to realize that I was in some trouble as I was instantly nauseous when I got off my bike. We got back on and rode towards the support, but each mile was torture at that point.
I am not sure exactly what happened when we arrived at the SAG. I do remember saying I felt like I was going to throw up and lots of women asking what they could get for me. I was very grateful, but a little embarrassed, by all the attention. I started to feel better after a couple of water bottles and some food and under guide Cy’s very watchful eye, I finished (barely) under my own power.
Today the ride was much shorter at 58 miles and Deb and I planned to take it as a recovery ride. We felt good until about 40 miles in and then everything started to hurt again. And it was really hot. Today there was no close call with heat exhaustion or whatever it was yesterday, it was more like a normal tough day after a really tough day.
Tomorrow we leave Kansas and I have to say that I feel no desire to ride my bike again here. In 2019 it was hard and in 2021 it has been hard. Eastern Kansas is more beautiful, in my opinion, than western Kansas, but with so many places I want to explore on a bike it is hard to imagine returning to this state. But who knows? Missouri and the Ozarks await us. The climbs will be the steepest of our ride so far, but they will often be short. The temps should be cooler and I believe there will finally be some shade! Onward!
Eastern Kansas landscape. Do you see any shade trees?
This display is in someone's front yard (the tree’s shade does not get out to the road) and a wonderful woman, Dusty, took this picture of me and Deb and gave us bottles of really cold Gatorade. It was a fun moment on a day that did not have a lot of fun.
By this point I was beyond exhausted and so thirsty that I could totally relate to this poor, departed cow. See the vulture overhead? I saw lots of them while riding and was always glad when it became clear they were not following me, waiting for me to keel over and die.
On today's shorter ride, there was something making some noise on the bank of this creek, but I could not tell what it was. If your Where's Waldo skills exceed mine, please let me know what you see!
An almost full moon rising over the parking lot of our hotel in Pittsburg, Kansas.