Looks great from the photo's

Sunday 1 July 2012

Day 42 - Ness City to Leoti

Start time: 05.21
Start location: Ness City
Start State: Kansas
Start weather: Cool/Warm
Total millage so far: 2133.31


Finish time: 10.27
Finish location: Leoti
Finish State: Kansas
Finish weather: Hot
Miles today: 81.93
Total millage so far: 2215.24
Today's top speed:29.3
Today's average speed:  17.9
Today’s ride time: 4,28,43
Punctures - 1 (slow back wheel)

Music played:

Soundtrack - Saturday Night Fever - The Original Movie Soundtrack
Soundtrack - The Best Of Bond ... James Bond
Soundtrack - The Lost Boys
Soundtrack - The Warriors
Soundtrack - Top Gun
Spandau Ballet - Gold -The Best Of

Blog:


OK so what to write today then!  A bit like Kansas, it seems to be the same.  Get up at 4am and leave around 5am if I can. We are riding route96 which goes on straight for some 400 odd miles!!  Great!  I've got to say hi again to Nicole's mum again who read the blogs.  I hope you like the video, pics and don't mind the swearing too much.  There is a lot of jest and jokes in the updates.  So last night I finished my book I bought at Heathrow, "I left my tent in San Francisco".  The ending was pretty sad, expected and funny too.  There were some quotes I wanted to use in here, but i cant seem to find them now.  I guess they read better during the book.  I guess I will miss everyone.  Yesterday I forgot to add about this terrible service station I needed to stop at.  I was totally shattered and needed to find food and drink.  Instead I found a hell hole.  It might as well have been shut down.  There were some vending machines, one of which ate the crisps I punched the buttons for.  Dejected I chomped on some stale honey bun and headed out.  


So today's rant, I kinda have a couple, but I guess this one is the best place to start.  Back bacon.  Where is my back bacon??? Why don't the yanks eat back bacon, where does it go???  Answers on a postcard please!


Today was going to be a long day, a long hot hard day.  I got up early and headed out onto the road in the pitch black.  I got to say, its actually much much better cycling at night.  Why I hear you all shout, well its simple.  Kansas is hell lol, the part we are in now is flat, boring and plain, I guess that's why it gets its name.  So, at night it's harder to get bored with the scenery, your too busy looking out for last nights road kill, or actual live animals jumping out at you.  Plus praying that the cars and lorries see you and don't make you into roadkill.  As the light approaches, big dark, silent moving, smelly monsters appear out from the gloom as silhouettes.  The oil is constantly sucked or pumped out from the ground.  The cows in the fields could be bison too in the early dawn.  

The  roads were good quality all day long, but the first part was near enough all up a gentle hill.  Not sure you could call it a hill, but a incline, a bit draining.  Train tracks kept us company on the left hand side.  With my imagination in full flow so early in the morning, (I was probably still asleep), there were slight hills less than quarter of a mile to my left with smoke signals coming from behind.  On my right was a drop off. Definitely a good ambush point.  Then they came, riding fast on horseback from over the hill, just a few of them yelling and waving axes above their heads.  I guessed this would be a distraction from the real attack from the right.  Then they came, from the right.  I had to ride hard and fast to have any chance of beating them.  Dust being kicked up by the hooves of the horses being riden bareback, the young braves holding onto their stallions mains.  Oh hang on, just woken up.  So there were some long constant climbs which got pretty cold up top near Beeler


What I saw today, a pheasant, tawny owl and a baby antelope.  I also had a bird which flew along with me for a while, got some nice footage of it, very nice.  A headwind started up at 8.20 but it was short lived and only lasted about 20mins. The computers average speed seems low even though I wsa pumping out a good 20mph+ for many miles.  There was good cloud cover again, better then yesterday and seemed to last for ages, but then panic sets in when you start to see your shadow appear.  It means that the sun is burning through the cloud. The sun was directly behind as the shadow lay straight in front of me.   I'm also sure I saw Christmas trees growing!

I followed the white line for miles and miles.  Got into town and we are staying at another church.  Got to the pool for our showers and a good cool down swim.  Back at the church and there is a douche in the bathroom!  I tried to find something to eat in town, but no joy.  End of a long day, wrist is hurting bad.

 "The road is long...."
 Another early start, out before sun rise again
 Farm machinery graveyard
 Dorothy's home?

 How awful.  Must visit!
 Getting to the clues early today
 Keeping the canon ready
 Chomp

7 comments:

  1. Hi Simon, I'm still reading the blog as well and enjoying your humour. I'm also glad you say hello to cows, as I know they appreciate it and are often neglected. Cheers, Mark

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    Replies
    1. Hey there! Glad your reading and enjoying the blog, especially the humour - at times lol It can get pretty crazy out here when its just you and the elements.

      Yes the poor cows, they do like it you know. They always look up, surprised that someone has bothered to speak to them, as most people are in cars. I am in Colorado now, so the photo's should get better too. Thanks for logging in

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  2. agree about the bacon! horrid here! Jx

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  3. Hello,
    Ive just started reading your blog and you are bound to go through some low times.
    I will be doing the Trans Am starting next June,I will be 50 and my son 21 and so I will be keeping my eye on you for any tips you may have.
    We will be carrying all our gear and be unsupported,so some things you are saying have really got me a little worried,still it just means we will need to be more prepared.

    Keep up the good work!

    Colin from Liverpool

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    Replies
    1. Hey Colin, how's tricks. Just updating for yesterdays ride. Glad you found and are enjoying the blog - mostly lol. It is hard out here for sure, and one of the hardest for me is that no one can really come visit as it will cost too much. The Yanks can have their families and friends pop over and visit for a few days because its easy.

      Cool, if I can help with anything, just let me know. I read a fair few blogs when looking into doing this, making notes as I went. Is June a little late? Which way are you riding? From Virginia to Oregon or vice versa? Or maybe a different route?

      Yikes, that will be very hard work, hopefully the weather will be cooler for you next year. It's good to prepare for the best and worst, but it is an adventure and if it were easy, then everyone would be doing it. A good thing/tip I found is that you can have stuff shipped to post offices here. So if you loose your last spare tire then you can order it on lets say Amazon, and have it sent a week down the line from you - or something.

      Hope to speak more in the future if I can help.

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  4. Hello Simon,

    Hope you are enjoying your rest day.

    I will be traveling East to West and the beginning of June is the earliest I can start, due to my son's University course.

    I have started training in the past few weeks and plan on 3 times per week to start with,got very wet the last 2 times out,but think it is necessary to train no matter the weather.

    I want to enjoy the trip and think I need to be fit to do it.

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    Replies
    1. Hey there. Yes it has got better thanks. Today's ride was amazing, well, the scenery was! the climbs were hard and made worse by the thin air.

      OK, i'm sure it will be fine then too. Training is a difficult one to advise on because everyone is didn't, so the training will be tailered to you. I have read that its best not to overtrain and wear yourself out. It will be much harder for you guys going self contained than it is for us, as we have a van taking our luggage etc. It is an amazing trip, but hard physically and mentally. Don't be scared to use hotels as and when you can!

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