Hardest Bike Ride of my Life

Well the ride that was supposed to have glorious weather for our 80 miler to Dodge City proved to not be the case.

Everything that could go wrong.... went wrong.

First after setting up our tents in Lakin we did not know that the high school is very close to a large cattle feed yard.  These are the places where they basically stuff 1000 cattle into a small pen and feed them until they are fat - and presto - hamburger.

At about 6 pm the wind shifted and the high school was now downwind from the feed yard - god what an ungodly smell 1000 cows can produce.  As the high school gym was to be open all night for bathrooms a bunch of us took our air mattresses and sleeping bags and set up shop on the gym floor.  Not really thinking this out - I just plopped my bag down in the corner and hit the sack.  Well we had a bunch of snorers and if you remember your high school gym these floors reverberated the snores like and echo chamber.  Snores in Stereo!!!!

Kyle was the only smart one - he grabbed his bag at about midnight and went searching for another room to sleep in.  Found out the next morning he found a storeroom that had about 20 wrestling pads in it and he bunked down in luxury for the night.

Me, not so smart.  I grabbed my headphones, grabbed my phone, got on Google Play and downloaded a white noise application.  Tried listening to the sound of the ocean waves; but had to turn up the sound so much to drown out the snores (no Cathryn it was not me) - it sounded like I was on Longnook beach in the middle of a Northeaster.

Things went downhill from there.  The glorious day turned out to be a bust.  The temp stayed in the 40's and the light wind turned into a 20-25 mph headwind.  That was the good part - then it started to rain.

The ride was brutal.  I could only average about 9-10 mph  and the way the wind was blowing staying in a pace line did not help.  Kyle, Russ and I struggled.  I pushed ahead of the guys and soon lost sight of them.  It was every man for themselves!

At about 23 miles I decided I could not make the entire 80 miles.  The support truck was very helpful today and was stopped at the side of the road to see if any of use needed to shout "Uncle".  I knew I could make the lunch stop at 40 miles so I asked John (the support truck driver) that if I did not make it to the lunch stop to please pick me up.  My mind was playing tricks with me.  Quit or go on! Test your meddle, Mike!  No shame in declaring defeat!

Somehow I made it to the lunch stop at 40 miles and to bust chops even more, the weather got worst.  The drizzle turned into a moderate rain.  I was going to try to get my rain gear out of my bag - but it was on the bottom of 80 large duffle bags (note to myself - carry your damn rain gear with you).  Grabbed a sandwich and some carbo's.   Waited a couple of minutes for Kyle and Russ - but no sign of them.

In a test of fortitude (or stupidity) I decided to push on - knowing that I could always call John to stop and pick me up (of course not realizing I did not have his phone number).    We were on RT 50 which is like a mini-interstate.  When the double trailer trucks came by it was like being hosed down inside a wind tunnel. You had to grip your handlebars to make sure you did not get blown over.

Somehow I made it.  And figured I would not get to see Russ or Kyle and they were leaving the ride at the end of the day to head home for some meetings Russ had.  Then about 5 miles from the end I see two yellow rain jackets in front of me and to motivate myself, tried to catch them.  When I reached the riders - it ended up being Russ and Kyle.  I was totally perplexed - how the hell did they get in front of me?

Seems that at about 25 miles Kyle had a major blow out (he was using wimpy tires that just could not hold up to the rigors of this ride).  The support van picked him up and Russ up and somehow Kyle was able to borrow a wheel from one of the spare bikes.  Instead of fixing the wheel and jumping back on the ride - Kyle and Russ had the support van drop them off 20 miles from the finish.  Well before I got to this mile mark.  

They tried bullshitting me that they just rode faster than I did - but in the end gave up the truth.   So we got to finish the ride from hell together.  And of course the last 5 miles was up a freaking big hill.  Just to bust our balls some more.

Got to the van, grabbed my dirty clothes and headed to the hotel for a well deserved hot shower and full night sleep (no snoring allowed).  Found the closest bar and quickly downed a couple of beers (first two beers of the bike ride).

As to Kyle and Russ they said they will rejoin the ride in a couple of days - and I hope this is the case so I have my ride buddies back to finish the tour with me.

Rest day today and looking forward to touring Dodge City.