Day One: October 6, 2009

I didn't leave until after one, much later than I'd hoped. I'd wasted my morning rushing around with my sister gathering last minute supplies and packing the panniers, tasks I should have accomplished in the days before I planned to depart. I cursed myself for my endless procrastination as I pushed through my first pedal-strokes down the drive-way and up the hill leading from my parent's house. The air was cool, mid-sixties, but the warmth of direct sun-light fought against the chill.

I rode without the headphones I'd packed, wanting to get through the busy suburbs with my ears fully alert. Also, to listen with paranoia for some early mechanical failure. The un-tested weight of the fully loaded bike caused considerable concern before I realized it was my weakness and not the bike's that made it so unsteady. The ungainly nature of the beast would fade from notice as my body tweaked it's muscle memory to compensate for the extra weight.

I left the Kansas City area through the southern suburbs of Johnson County Kansas. Heading south on the far reaches of Metcalf Avenue before making my first westward connection at 199th street. Metcalf was familiar to me, having used it in my training routes many times. The 199th street turn was the border into the unknown and it met me with a stiff-head wind, boldly foreshadowing the trials to come. I lowered my head and pedaled on, cynically subtracting miles from my days-end goal with each eastward gust.

I wasn't eight miles down 199th before I stopped for my first and unexpected map check. I thought I was going 20 miles straight down the road and was surprised when the road ended at T intersection just north of Spring Hill, Kansas. I stopped to check my map and had my first struggle to keep my hefty bike upright against a too-thin sign pole.

The weight of the front panniers would cause the fork to twist and turn dramatically without notice, often clamoring the bike to the ground. I found that the normal habit of balancing the bike while straddled over the top bar would often lead to a painful crash of bike and man. Eventually, I'd learn to carefully balance the right rear pannier against a post while holding fast to the bar-stem to keep it steady.

The map check proved un-helpful. My maps were broken into 20 mile increments, which made it difficult to see the nuances of the rural roads I travelled. I would always, eventually, be able to decipher the maps when I cross-referenced them with physical land marks that I encountered. Often saying to myself: "You haven't missed that turn because you haven't crossed that stream/passed that lake/ heard the traffic of that busy road". If there were no such landmarks I could gauge the general direction of the road against the sun and take the turn in the direction I should most likely be headed.

Getting back on the bike I soon crossed Hwy 169 and I-35 in turn, still dealing with the head-wind. Somewhere south of Gardner, around four in the afternoon, I made my first rest-stop. I pulled the bike up along a fence and sat on a round concrete well cover at the gate of a tree farm while I ate a snack. As I ate, a parade of cars pulled out the gates and onto 199th carrying the mostly Mexican laborers home for the evening. I was given a few friendly waves which improved my gloomy mood, still discouraged by my late and hectic start.

After eating and taking some water I rode on. I chased the sun westward feeling, for the first time, the worry of not knowing where I'd be sleeping. Shortly after passing through Edgerton, Kansas I turned south on Hwy 33. As I rode I became more and more anxious as the sun approached the horizon. You don't really appreciate electric lights until you realize how dark it actually is at five in the afternoon without them. I'd checked the sunset-times before I left and knew I had about two hours of light left as I rolled through the northern outskirts of Wellsville, four miles after turning on 33.

I started searching every group of trees with eagle eyes. Looking for a suitable place to camp for the evening. I stopped briefly at two locations before determining they were unacceptable. I didn't think it would be so difficult to find a place that a) was concealed enough from the road and b) had two suitable trees for my hammock. My nerves were nearly shot as I approached the intersection of Hwy's 33 and 68.

The sun glowed golden orange, thirty minutes above the horizon when I noticed a three acre parcel of unfenced land bordered by 33 on the east and 68 on the south. A dense-enough grove of trees sat fifty yards from the road with nothing in between but a muddy plot of ground without the high grass that made so many other spots unapproachable. I pulled off the road and looked about for a moment to let a few cars pass and scan for a "no trespassing" sign. None was found so I darted (or sludged) through the muddy plot to the cover of the trees.

I finished putting up my hammock just as the last glow of the sun sank to the west. I ate a bagel with peanut-butter by the light of my flash-light and grew very lonely without the light and warmth of the sun. I hadn't thought of how, without light or the company of someone else, there is really nothing to do at eight o' clock. I didn't bother to try and amuse myself. I called my mother to let her know where I was and assure her that I was ok and went to bed.

In Review....

Ok, So I failed to update this as much as I would have liked to before I left. I also did not have the time to update it to my satisfaction while I was on the road. So now, after being back for three weeks I've decided to write out a detailed day by day review of the trip. I'll post the first day today and the rest as I write them. They'll be long because it doesn't seem to make sense to break them down more than one entry for one day. I hope people'll still read them despite the length. Enjoy ... or not.

Three weeks...

I've gotten two extra days off for the beginning of my trip so I'll now be leaving on October 6th. Time is running short and I'm working overtime with the rest of my planning and material gathering. This afternoon I ordered a rack and another set of panniers for the front of my bike. Once they arrive I'll be able to finalize my gear list based on available space. I'll make sure and post some pictures of my gear layout and packing strategy.

I suffered a bit of setback in an injury-wreck I suffered on the way home from work this week. I tapped the curb with my front wheel at 30mph, lost control and went into a slide. My legs and arm got eaten up by the concrete and I walked away with some bad spots of road rash. It's painful as all heck but I suffered no internal damage. My bike bike was thankfully saved from the carnage. I'm hobbling a little and missed out on a couple days of training but should be back in full gear by the end of the week.

More to come as it develops.

Here's a couple of photos of the damage to my leg.

Routes!!!

After much disorder and dismay I have finally finished planning a route for my trip! I had to try three or four different online mapping programs before I found one that would actually allow me to correctly save my routes. I finally stumbled upon www.mapmyride.com which worked exceedingly well for my purposes.

One of the difficulties in planning these routes was finding roads and highways that were suitable for bicycling. The satellite photos found on most mapping programs were helpful to tell the size and expected traffic of possible routes. I also got lots of help from cyclists who are local to the areas that I'll be travelling through. They were able to give me alot of great advice on good biking roads. Regional online cycling forums were very useful for contacting these helpful individuals.

All in all it's a 785.5 mile trip. If you'd like to see more detailed interactive versions of these routes then I'd be happy to post links for such.

Long time coming...

I've been slacking off on updates and I apologize. My computer went down and the back-up computer was so confoundedly out of date (Win.98) that it made me neglect my duties as a "blogger". However, the long break has provided me with all sorts of new things to write about so let's get on with it!

Bicycle Upgrades & Repairs
I brought my bike in to the local shop for a full overhaul a few weeks ago. It cost a pretty-penny but was well worth the cash. They deconstructed all the components, cleaned them, greased them and put it all back together again. I also had them replace the brake and shifter cables, something that should have been done a long time ago. This work smoothed out my rides a great deal and I wish I had done it sooner.

A couple of weeks later (after getting paid again) I picked up two new tires and a set of bar-ends. The tires are a mis-matched pair of 32cm's. Normally I run 26 or smaller but for the extra weight on the trip I thought it'd be wise to go with a wider tire. I didn't realize how badly my tires needed replacing until I got out on the new ones. I quickly noticed better handling and braking power. I decided to add bar-ends to my flat bar rather than replace it with a racing style drop bar. The price of replacing the handlebar and all the components that go along with it was just not something I was willing to pay. The bar-ends are working great and I'm very happy with them. I just hope it provides enough hand positions for 7+ days on the bike.

On my first long ride after replacing the tires I encountered a mechanical problem in the drive train! A terrible wrenching sound with lots of grating friction was coming from my bottom bracket (where the cranks meet the frame) Upon inspection I noticed a lot horizontal motion in the bracket. Back to the shop I went. They took it apart and diagnosed a broken segment inside the bracket. They ordered the part for me and did the install-labor for free. Another $30. I'm glad to spend the money now though, rather than have it break in the middle of nowhere Kansas.

There have been other developements that I'll be posting about soon. Including, equiptment gathering and route planing (as soon as I figure out how to post maps on here!)

Update

I hit a new personal best in mileage today, a 60 mile round-trip to Leavenworth, Kansas. I expected my legs to feel like warmed over jello tonight but that's really not the case. I've been getting in two long rides a week and it's starting to pay off. I managed today's ride in 2 1/2 hours each way. I probably would have been slower coming back but I took a three hour break to visit with a friend in Leavenworth. The only hitch in today's ride was a map reading mistake that lead me three miles down a dead-end road. Rather than running parallel to a set of train tracks, as I thought, the road simply stopped. Instead of back-tracking I chose to follow the tracks on foot to a point where the road re-connected with my path. Stumbling down a rail-bed in bicycle shoes for 1/2 a mile is no easy task but I did find a stray rail-road spike for my troubles. If you'd like to see how I made the mistake look at the northern border of Wyandotte Lake Park in Kansas City, Kansas on any online map service. I was on 77th street headed north and thought it would veer west and merge with Wolcott Dr. on the other side of the park. This will be an important lesson when I get into the nitty-gritty of my route planning, details of which will come in a future blog.

A new pair of shoes and a long ride...

My shoes came in the mail the other day. I did a few slow circles around the neighborhood to get used to the change. It's rather odd to be attached to the bike. I'm sure, with time, I'll get used to it. For now it gives me something else to focus on while I'm in the saddle.

I tried out the new foot-wear on a long ride today. I rode 52 miles through 4.5 hours with a half hour break at the folk's place. That's from Westport to 199th and Metcalf and back, if you're familiar with the K.C. area. Needless to say, I'm a bit tired this evening.

The shoes worked very well. I was able to engage and disengage the clipping mechanism with relative ease by the end of the ride. The actual sensation of powering through my upstroke will still take some getting used to but I'm sure it will come naturally by the end of the summer.