10 May 2011 Fast America Day 17 HALFWAY!

Topeka, KS to Cameron, MO

Mileage:                     124.52 miles

Riding Time:              8:04     Riding Speed 15.4 mph

Total Time:                 9:45

Climbing:                    5008 ft.

Flats:                           1

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84851771

http://app.strava.com/rides/545593

Missouri cycling is all that it is cracked up to be. We crossed the swollen Missouri about 57 miles into the ride and after that it was up-down-up-down-up-down for 70 miles. Before entering Missouri, my average speed was about 18 mph; after it was about 13 mph; I think that the smoothing algorithm on the Garmin and Strava displays makes it hard to see what it is really like. Also, nearly 100 F. My foot was OK until about 20 miles to go. Again, I just took it easy and said: I’ll be in the motel soon.

Entering Cameron, I hit the world’s biggest pothole and broke my record for flatless days. I now have 12, and there are two riders with 10 – Ohio Bob had five today (and two ruined tires).

I am going to have to make this very short tonight; I have work to do to get ready for tomorrow and the Internet is REAL SLOW. Tomorrow is the real Missouri test 7,000 or 8,000 ft. of climbing 50 feet at a time. It includes a bridge that is out that we may have to detour around.

I’ll do a better report tomorrow.

9 May 2011 Fast America Day 16

Abilene, KS to Topeka, KS

Mileage:                     110.06 miles

Riding Time:              7:19     Riding Speed 15.0 mph

Total Time:                 8:40

Climbing:                    3670 ft.

Flats:                           0

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84648996

http://app.strava.com/rides/539052

Like I said yesterday, every day is different. Today, we rode through the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas, practice for the real hills of Missouri the next two days. I started out with a good group, but after the sixth or seventh small hill, I began to drift off the back. We started out to the South, directly into a headwind, but this was a good tactical move, because we came back North at the end of the ride and the South wind was three times as strong then.

I did fine for the first half of the ride, but by noon, the temperature was pushing 100 F (record highs everywhere around here) and my foot hurt like hell. There’s basically two problems: the structure of my foot after surgery and my heel hurts from the way the shoe grabs it. This second issue started in my warm up Solvang Double Century. It really hurt after yesterday’s ride and still hurt this morning.

Flash: I sat in the Jacuzzi here for twenty minutes after dinner, and then took a short swim. My heel feels fine right now. This will be a good way to start tomorrow.

Bottom Line: I just took it easy the second half of the ride. What’s cvalled Tempo Riding or Long Slow Distance (LSD) pace. About once an hour, I found a place to lie down in the grass and take off my shoe. My foot and I got to the Holiday Inn (nicest hotel/motel so far) a little after 3:00. At one point, as I was laboring up a 5% grade with a 20 mph headwind, a woman driving a nursing home van pulled along side of me and called out “Everything all right, sir? The wind is pretty strong today!”

The terrain has changed remarkably. The road is windy, there are trees and farm houses, and we rode on very pretty country roads. Tomorrow we enter Missouri, where the roads all have beautiful names like “H” and “T” and “HH”. And we cross the halfway point. The motto for tomorrow: HYDRATE.

8 May 2011 Fast America Day 15

Great Bend, KS to Abilene, KS


Mileage:        129.22 miles
Riding Time: 7:43 Riding Speed 16.7 mph
Total Time:    9:15
Climbing:       1256 ft.
Flats:              0

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84427598
http://app.strava.com/rides/533515

Greetings from Dwight Eisenhower’s boyhood home (hard to miss, as you enter town).

Every day is different. Today, faced with another horrendous cross/head wind, I picked up a five person pace line almost from the start. We were working really well together, and I was taking every one of my turns at the front. Note: my average pulse today was the highest since Day 4. This is a good sign.

At about mile 20, we came upon a group that had left earlier. I don’t know why they had stopped, but we were soon a 13 person pace line. Unfortunately, with the cross wind and narrow shoulder, this did not allow for a proper echelon, so Manny had us pull off on the sheltered (wrong) side. It was good that there was someone who took charge; he is a drill sergeant, but knows very well what he is doing.

But not everyone did. With this highly charged paceline, the inexperience in group riding of some of the riders became apparent. One guy was very strong, but he stood on the pedals and accelerated for five strokes every time he took the front. That’s bad enough, but then he sat up; so that the poor guy who was trying to stay on his wheel had to brake. Another guy, when he was done with his turn at the front, stopped pedaling and then pulled off (think about it: that’s backwards). There were constant shouts of “keep it smooth” and “don’t overlap your wheels”. Then Ed went down (clipped his front wheel). He was two people in front of me and how Jay and I don’t know how Jay and I avoided it. Fortunately, my experience kicked in and everything that happened in that one or two seconds happened in slow motion for me.

Mike had his van parked on a hill and was watching us and saw it happen. He drove up and said “OK guys, this is too big a paceline, break it up.” He had given a speech two days ago about complacency. His experience is that this is the point in the ride where accidents are most likely and, as I have noted before, he is all about safety.

I rode the rest of the ride to mile 75, where the road turned N and we got a good tailwind, with the original group of five riders, and then a sixth. At about mile 90, there was a sign “Road closed – except for local traffic”. We found a huge ditch, where the road simply disappeared, but used our cyclocross skills to navigate. I’m reasonably graceful on a bike (no snickers, please) but pretty ungainly off, so Manny climbed down the hill and hauled my bike up while I scaled the cliff on all fours. By this time it was nearly 100 degrees out and we all dragged ourselves in to Abiline. Some of us did stop for the post race milk shake (a wonderful recovery drink) at a Sonic drive in. I had two large shakes. A lot of people along the way ask why we are doing this and I now have two possible answers, depending on my mood:

1. Because too many people die climbing Mt. Everest.
2. Because I can have all the milkshakes I want at the end of the day.

A few notes on our riders:

There are 21 riders in all, ranging from 40 to 64 (me) years old. All but one are male. All but one are white. The American riders come from California, Nevada, Idaho, Texas, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and Massachusetts (I don’t think that I left anyone out on that list). All of the American riders say that they have been dreaming about riding across the country for years. But we also have riders from New Zealand (two brothers, Jason and Patrick; we can’t tell them apart on their bikes, so we know them as “the Kiwis”), Norway (Lasse, the giant), and three from the UK (Simon is originally from Northern Ireland). The foreign riders haven’t necessarily been dreaming about riding across the U.S., they all were looking for a cycling vacation and found the ride on the Internet.

Except for Manny, a hard core 48 year old, who hopes to win the age group Road National Championships this year, and myself, there is only a smattering of racing experience; everyone has a lot of centuries under their belts. Craig dabbles in Mountain Bike racing (although I would say that someone who has done the Leadville 100 does more than “dabble”).

Most, like myself, have a relationship with a charity for the ride but that is certainly not why they chose to do the ride in the first place.

The staff, all serious riders themselves, are from Alabama, Massachusetts, Oregon and Vermont.

We’re from all walks of life, we are all different in many ways, but we’re getting along just fine, and we all love to ride.

At fifteen days into the ride, we have still not had a serious brush with traffic (although we did meet a guy on a Harley today, with a serious attitude problem – and we all noted that Kansas motorcyclists don’t wear helmets).

Flats: you will notice that I haven’t had one since we left the Interstates. But a log is being kept, and I am in the lead with 11. Someone else has 10, and two people have 9. No one has zero. If I keep my lead, I am told that I will win a prize worth nothing.

Tomorrow: more wind (mostly a cross wind) heat and possibly thunderstorms (it is supposed to rain in Abilene overnight, but be clear in the morning).

Fast America Day 14

Dodge City, KS to Great Bend, KS

Mileage:                     87.53 miles

Riding Time:              6:08     Riding Speed 14.3 mph

Total Time:                 7:45

Climbing:                    556 ft.

Flats:                           0

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84111569

http://app.strava.com/rides/526906

(BTW, “Great Bend” refers to the Arkansas river, which abruptly turns from NE to SE at (you guessed it) Great Bend, KS).

For those of you who don’t appreciate the effects of wind, look at my distance and time for yesterday and today. It was a headwind all day, although it started out at only 7-10 mph, it finished at about 15 mph. I’m beginning to appreciate the sailing skills of the people who operated the prairie schooners. The wind sure negated the fact that today was virtually all down hill.

The Good: I think that this was my strongest day since the first day. I blew the start; one has to queue up to load one’s stuff in the trailer and sign in; then you can start. Today, for the first time, 7 or 8 people took off as a group before I could load my stuff. I understand that they formed an efficient, fast, and painful paceline the whole way (they were just leaving the first SAG stop when I arrived). So I rode into the headwind mostly by myself (I was not a parasite today, and Tom must have been lonely), dangling between the “faster” and “slower” riders. But I pushed it, and was able to get my heart rate up higher than it has been in a week.

The Bad: My left heel hurt like hell the last 15 miles. It was hot – I think that my shoe puts pressure on my left heel due to my odd foot shape, which caused the bruise before the ride (which has cleared up  but threatens to recur). I will try moleskin again on my heel tomorrow.

The Challenge: tomorrow is 129 miles, 50% longer than today, and into the same head/crosswind. I’m going to get a good night’s sleep.

On the way today, I took a short detour to Pawnee Rock, the highest point for miles around, and the half way point on the Chisolm/Santa Fe trails from Missouri to Neew Mexico. Unbelievable view (but I wish I could see Buffalo herds). Legend has it that Kit Carson killed his mule in the middle of the night while sleeping there, thinking that his mule was a Pawnee Indian.

I also declined a longer side trip to Ft. Larner. Our first SAG stop was at the exact midpoint between San Francisco and New York. There is a little museum, which includes the bicycle that a youg man rode here(don’t remember the date) to reunite with his family that had emigrated from NY when he was 10. It is a fixie (fixed gear, no brakes) and the rear tire still has his tape on it to hold it together.

Speaking of holding things together: “Ohio Bob” (to differentiate him from “U.K. Bob”) is riding his 25 year old Cannondale (for nostalgic reasons). Yesterday, the stem cracked and almost failed but he had the presence of mind to find a farmhouse and ask if they knew of a welder. The welder had to stay overtime and charged $1.00 a minute for his 25 minutes (a bargain, by any scale) and got him back on his way. Bob will try to replace it when we reach Springfield, IL.

And finally: I have had dinner in three, not very upscale, Kansas restaurants. But the steak at each was A+.

6 May 2011 Fast America Day 13

Liberal, KS to Dodge City, KS

Mileage:                     84.56 miles

Riding Time:              4:02     Riding Speed 20.9 mph

Total Time:                 4:30

Climbing:                    1060 ft.

Flats:                           0

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83894891

http://app.strava.com/rides/522555

I uploaded a few pictures:

https://picasaweb.google.com/hoeberc/FastAmericaDays812?authkey=Gv1sRgCPTNyors_7Tocw#

Today was different. It was only 84 miles, and the wind was at our backs most of the time (it was from the SSW and when we turned E for about 20 miles, it was pretty much a crosswind). There was no climbing whatsoever. Couple of observations: the grass on the side of the roads in Kansas ripples gracefully in the breeze, while the grass in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico simply sits there. Also telephone poles in California are installed eight or ten to the mile, while they are twenty to the mile in Kansas (I’m trying to pay attention to my surroundings and not just the patch of road in front of my nose).

There was only one SAG stop, for lunch, at the Dalton Gang Hideout in Meade, KS. Apparently the Dalton brothers terrorized the west for two years in the early 1990s, while operating out of the home of their sister Eva in Meade. When Eva moved out and the boys were killed/jailed, authorities came in and found a tunnel under the house where they hid whenever Eva had visitors.

So I was in to Dodge City by about 12:30, with time to sit in the Jacuzzi, take a swim, and walk downtown and visit the Boot Hill Museum. Many of the readers of this blog grew up on Gunsmoke; what is amazing is that the period of time captured by that show was only about five years. Then there was another five years during which 60 MILLION Buffalo were slaughtered, and the nomadic Indians were carted off to reservations. Five more years of cattle drives (Texas confederate soldiers returned home after the civil war to find that their longhorn cattle had multiplied like bunnies in their absence, and they had to do something with them). The cattle drives ended with an epidemic that required the cattle to be quarantined. Thinking about that pace of change makes current immigration issues sound trivial, and provides lots of food for thought as we address the possibility of mass human migrations due to climate change in the next hundred years.

It was a fun and contemplative day, but it also made me glad that I was doing such an aggressive ride; I don’t think that I would enjoy these half day rides every day!

But there is another one tomorrow: only 84 miles to Great Bend. Depending on winds, however, it could be much more difficult than today. There are a number of people with aches pains and swollen body parts, but I am doing fine.

5 May 2011 Fast America Day 12

Dalhart, TX to Liberal, KS


Mileage:        113.46 miles
Riding Time: 7:52                Riding Speed 14.4 mph
Total Time:    8:55
Climbing:       1821 ft.
Flats:              0

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83703667
http://app.strava.com/rides/518565

I forgot to mention yesterday’s slide show.

Since we got to Dalhart early, Mike set up a slide show from the first ten days. He is an excellent photographer, and he took shot that we, on bikes, could not. All his shots will be available on a CD to me after the ride.

As a reminder, here is a link to Mike’s Blog, you will get the tour leader’s perspective:
http://www.bamacyclist.com/BAMA/Fast/Fast.html

Today, I was a parasite. We rode due NE, and the 15 mph+ wind was coming from the N, at about a heading of about 10:30 or 11:00. To ride efficiently in these conditions cyclists form an echelon. Since the wind was coming from the left; think of an echelon as the right half of a flock of geese. Of course, this takes road width, and most of the time we had a very large shoulder that could easily take three riders in an echelon. 99% of the time the lead rider was Tom, the second oldest rider (61) on the trip. And I was a remora, glued to his right hip. This took great strength on Tom’s part, as well as generosity. (in biology, one learns that successful parasites form a symbiotic relationship with the host, who also gets something from the deal). In this case, Tom likes to talk, and I am a willing listener. We both had fun as a result. I promised him a steak dinner, but he opted for pizza in his motel room and took a rain check for tomorrow. But even with Tom’s generous help, today was no picnic; probably the third hardest day after the two climbing days.

By the way, there are conditions like this sometimes in California but never for 113 miles. The entire day, covering New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas, we did not see a single tree until we reached Liberal. We would pray for the suction created by a passing semi, and dread the shock wave of a semi coming the other direction (on the other side of the road, of course).

Although the scenery is at first desolate, road kill implies that there are lots of coyotes, badgers and hawks in the area. And the meadowlarks were out singing.

Motorists continue to give us a wide berth, and we got a number of friendly toots from cars and trucks. The train tracks parallel the road most of the time, and most of the passing trains acknowledge us with a whistle.

Our motel in Liberal is right next door to Dorothy’s house. Really! It is a 1907 farmhouse moved to its present location at the county museum. The Governor declared it the official home of Dorothy Gale in 1981.

BTW, if you are interested (as I was) in how Liberal got its name: the motel receptionist tells me that back in the days of the Santa Fe Trail, a man drilled the only well for miles around. But he welcomed anyone to take the water and he became famous to everyone passing through as being “Liberal” with his water. She also assured me that “we’re all Republicans” and assuredly not liberal.

4 May 2011 Fast America Day 11

Tucumcari, NM to Dalhart, TX

Mileage:                     101.00 miles

Riding Time:              4:39     Riding Speed 21.7 mph

Total Time:                 5:00

Climbing:                    1828 ft.

Flats:                           0

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83527103

http://app.strava.com/rides/513323

When U.S. 54 was built, someone must have taken a 200 mile string and stretched it from Tucumcari to Liberal, KS, where I will lay my head tomorrow night. Then the road was laid along that string. It is that straight, except where the string must have hit a snag crossing the Canadian River. The river gorge is a gash in the earth which is otherwise almost flat – we crossed on a high bridge, but I had visions of trying to get the covered wagons down the gorge to cross the river (probably a herd of cattle is a more accurate vision; this is where the big cattle drives to Dodge City took place. Today had small rollers, tomorrow loses about 1,200 feet of elevation (about 10 feet per mile) but doesn’t even have small rollers.

Aided by today’s 25 mph tailwind, I set my second century PR in 4 days, at 4:34. Actually, the scheduled ride was only 95 miles so I made a little detour around the Dalhart residential area to get my century in; the last five miles did not help my average speed. It took two laps of little Dalhart to get the extra five miles. I rode virtually the whole way by myself, but with no hills, I was again near the front of the group. Note: The century run will end day after tomorrow, the two rides after that are only 83 and 85 miles.

We’re now in Central Time. Tomorrow’s ride is due NE like today, but the wind has changed 180 degrees, and we should see 15 mph headwinds the whole way. I guess today qualifies as an almost rest day, and I feel well prepared for a miserable long day tomorrow. My problem left foot was fine today.

Yesterday, I remarked on the importance of habit and how some daily tasks had become a ritual for me. Well, one thing that broke the ritual is that the last two days I wore cold weather long fingered gloves. So I panicked 10 minutes before I was due with my luggage when I couldn’t find my regular cycling gloves. After looking everywhere else, I looked in my shoes, where I had placed them because I could not possibly not find them there when I tried to put on my shoes.