Deep Dish Rumble Strips, and Two Dimensional Animals

You have to respect the guys at the Missouri Dept of Highways, who developed the specs for the new paving they have done recently.  The have provided a bit of a shoulder where there was none, maybe 20 inches wide, pretty stingy for bikers but better than nothing.  Then they decided to have a rumble strip in the shoulder, to wake up drifting drivers.  If you imagine a cross section of the Ohio River from Mount Adams, down through the river, up the other side to New Cath, that is approximately the profile of the rumble strip, shrunk down a little bit.  It is about 16 inches long, extending from the white line across the shoulder.  This leaves about 4 inches of shoulder.  The depth of the rumble strip is such that it will shake your fillings out if you must run over it to escape traffic.  Fortunately, traffic has been pretty light recently, so we can ride the road most of the time.  And in general, when traffic is light, motorists are courteous and swing wide.  Please spread the gospel to all your friends - swing wide for bicyclists, slow down a little, take your foot off the gas pedal, give us a break.
    Another interesting feature of the rides lately has been the armandillos.  I've always thought the armandillo is sort of disrespected.  People think they are ugly.  I think they are quite unique and fascinating.  Sort of a plump possum with body armor.  Anyway, we first spotted one leaving the park back near Toronto, MO.  One was crossing the road early in the morning.  Since then I have seen maybe a dozen of them, but unfortunately all have been victims of encounters with automobiles - roadkill, sadly.  But some of them have been truly flattened on the pavement, unlike other critters without the body armor, which wind up just a bloody mess on the road.  The armandillo retains a certain dignity in it's flattened state.  It sort of reminds me of stuff I read years ago in physics books, trying to explain higher dimensions by describing a two dimensional world where the inhabitants are unable to conceive of a third dimension, just as we have a hard time imagining a fourth dimension in our three dimensional world.  
    Today, we've had  a bit of a change in our game plan.  After Clair's visit, Sue is going to take a bit of a break and go home for a few days, until we get to Berea.  I have been getting pretty fatigued lately, and have also developed some "saddle sores" from our riding.  So I am  taking a day or two off to heal, and will be driving the support van.  I have some big shoes to fill.  Sue has done an incredible job of supporting us, and I am just beginning to realize how much work she has done each day.  We will see if I can do the job.  Jack and Jeff are riding through the hills of the Ozarks today, one of the toughest stretches due to the repeated ups and downs.
     Jerry

July 12 - Jeff

July 12, 2013

Leftovers from last night.  Clair made us a delicious meal and dessert.  Enjoyed by all.  The dessert was vanilla yogurt, strawberries, grapes, and granola.  It was deeelicious.  Easy to make.  Try it you’ll like it.  Some went to the pool, some sat in the AC, looked at Clair’s pictures from her last adventure, a three month sat on a tropical island in the pacific, and Jack found a café where they served him salsa and chips, free of charge.  He must have a silver tongue.  It was a place that catered to bikers.  We changed out our tires.  Jeff got a lesson in tire changing.  I did ok.  Give myself a C-.  Sleeping in AC was delightful. 

Since we didn’t have to take down tents, we got away early, about 5:30.  Went through Walnut Grove, pop 665.  Had coffee in Fair Grove, pop 1,393.  Gas station coffee.  Went through Marshfield, pop 5,720.  Had a Wally World, McDonald’s, had it all.  Even had a car dealership.  They sold pre-owned cars not used cars.  Gas was $3.27.  Lowest we have seen.  Had lunch in Hartville, pop 613.  Sue and Clair were there too.  They ate in a café.  We stopped in a town called Bendavis, pop 353.  We stopped there to cool off.  The owner and two other gentlemen were in there.  We asked about the population.  He said it was currently 5.  Jack, me, him, and the two other gentlemen.  We asked if we could get walter out of the restroom.  He said sure but he wouldn’t drink it.  He had one cold walter in the cooler.  And at least thirty open slots and cases of walter next to the refrigerated cooler.  I guess he was too busy.  We chatted with them for about 20-25 minutes about everything from Richie Farmer, to some guy named Armstrong who played for the team that beat Kentucky in the 1966 game where the tam had 5 black starters.  Armstrong was the guy who got benched .  He was from the area.  And we talked about bikers, and other miscellaneous items.  Interesting stop.  Then we headed to our destination, Planet Houston, pop 2,081.  City park.  Pool but not free and closed at 5:00.  We did 114 miles today  in spite of the hills.  A very good/exhausting  day of riding.  Since we all got back late and Clair is probably leaving tomorrow (she can’t take all the excitement), we may go out to eat tonight.

Mailboxes have been interesting.  There was the tin man mailbox.  Of course, the airmail mailbox.  The fish mailbox. 

Lots of hills today.  More than you can imagine. Southern Missouri is where we are guessing the Ozarks are and that is what we are confronting.  Like a roller coaster at times.

Tomorrow we head toward Eminence.  Traffic could be bad with the weekend activities around Eminence.

Jeff, Jerry, Jack, and Sue

July 11 - Jeff

July 11, 2013

Shout out to Joanna Von Handorf for sending out bread for our dinner last night.  Good shtuff.

This morning, we left around 5:40.  Got to see the sun rise during the early stage of our ride.  Saw some longhorns on the way out.  Hookem’ Horns.  Made some turns on some strange roads.  590^th Avenue, 200^th Street.  Strange numbering system out here.  Later on in Missouri, it was A and K Roads.  We went through Pittsburg early.  Three Rivers Stadium was brilliant.  Just kidding.  Pittsburg had a pop of 20,233.  Looked like it may have had minor league baseball.  Had coffee in Golden City.  Pancakes too.  Waitress offered to fill water bottles with ice and cold walter.  We were at Cooky’s Café.  Cooky passed away about 10-15 years ago.   Nobody could agree how long ago.  They were making pies out the wahzoo.  I’ll bet they had 15 different flavors of pies.  We considered getting one but didn’t think it would be able to fit in backs we had.  Moved on and went through Pennsboro and Everton, pop 319 and ended up in Ash Grove, pop 1,472.  Pool and city park wit showers again with an added bonus.  They have a house on the grounds for bikers.  AC and no tents tonight.  Hooray!!

Everybody got back safely again, thanks to all your prayers.  Clair has offered to cook tonight. 

So we have crossed into the Mizzou state.  We are not in Kansas anymore.  Roads have been a mixed bag.  Some good pavement, no shoulders.  We are on roads less traveled, so it makes sense I guess.  Hills have been not too bad.  Headwind a lot today.  But cooler temps.  We are confused why we are going east and very seldom experience a tailwind.  Maybe tomorrow.

Guy in the café warned us that we may begin to see more dawgs.  Have seen a couple that chased us but no real dangers.  All rat dogs and today, a lazy  St Bernard.  Supposedly, Kentucky is the worst for dawgs.  Sue bought us some whistles.  We have talked to other bikers coming west and they suggested air horns or whistles.  We’ll give it a try. One group had a rider get bit in Ky. 

Did about 80 miles today.  Clair brought some replacement tires with her for us.  Probably going to switch those out tonight.

Jeff, Jerry, Jack, and Sue

July 10 - Jeff

July 10, 2013

Shout out to Adam Schmidt on his 20^th bertday today!!!!!!!

Another shout out to Teri Von Handorf who recorded a hole in one at World of Golf last night!!!!!   Wish we got ESPN.

Our visit to the Hilltop Café last night was a huge success.  We got cooled off and the home cooked food was good.  It was a cultural and a true dining experience.  Think almost Anchor Grill. Jody the owner treated us great and her kids did all the serving and dishes.  I volunteered Jack, our head dishwasher, but they said they had it covered.  All got ice creams as well.  The café had bait, hardware, and even puppies for sale.

Storm hit during the night.  Some of the thunder and lightning felt like it was hitting right on top of us.  Hot night again.  You just sweat in your tent until it really cools down around midnight.  Rain and lightning ended just in time for   us to get off on our ride.  We slept in until almost 5:00 and left about 6:04.  Beautiful sunrise over the lake.  Had to ride out of the park.  Saw an armadillo cross the road.  Saw a lot of dead ones on the side during the day.  Went through Coyville, pop 66; Benedict, pop 96 (Jack had to get a picture with the Benedict sign, his middle name.  Jack Benny?); Chanute, pop 8,738; Walnut, pop 219; and onto Girard, pop 2,710.  We are in a city park again.  Showers and a pool!!!!!  A lot of these little towns have pools.  God bless America.   The people at the pool can’t do enough for us.  We usually have to register with the Police when we get to the park.  They asked Jack if there was anything we needed.  What’s wrong with this picture?  Are we really in America?  We had coffee in Chanute.  Gas station coffee but good.  We missed Jerry and he went to a different diner.  It was a combination expresso/computer repair shop. He ended up taking a different route.   On our way out, we hit a “road closed” sign.  We had to walk our bikes through part of the construction zone to get back on our route.  Stopped to get walter at a golf course.  Lady there took our water bottles, emptied them out and filled them with fresh walter and ice.  Again, people couldn’t be nicer.  Had lunch in Walnut.  And then here we are in Girard waiting for Clair, Jerry and Sue’s daughter, to show up to meet us and travel with us for a few days.   Pool feels great.  Rode about 80 miles today.  Temp is about 98.  “Talking about a heat wave”.

Girard brought up more movie notes.  Sam Girard (Gerard?) , played by Tommy Lee Jones.  Jack has not seen the Fugitive or the US Marshall movies.  C’mon Teri, let this guy out sometime.   Guess you are too busy polishing your golf swing obviously.

Almost out of Kansas.  Although the wind has died down.  Missouri map shows a lot of up and down.  We’re not quite sure how  bad it is going to be.  May have to put our climbing legs back on.

Sue bought a walter melon for us tonight.  Should be good.  Pool open until 9:00.

Jeff, Jerry, Jack, and Sue

July 9 - Jeff

Shout out to Kylie Von Handorf for being the most awsomemest life guard at Summit Hills CC.

Shout out to Adam Schmidt who has a bertday tomorrow.  We think he is 20.  He may want to be ready for a big important phone call from a very famous people.

We saw the Arkansas River in Pueblo.  Vibrant river.  Just saw a sign for it yesterday.  Drier than a dog bone.  No walter.  Amazing

Left today about 5:45.  Got about one mile and Jerry proclaimed the worst words a bicyclist can utter, I have a flat tire.  Not a Fat Tire because those are good words.  A little story behind the flat tire.  In Sheridan Lake, the pastor’s wife, Vonnie, warned us about a weed that grows in the area.  It is called Goathead.   She bought some in from the yard and showed it to us.  We had seen it along the road earlier.  She showed us the berry on the weed.  Sharp and strong.  Able to puncture tires.  We took note.  Today, when we were leaving the campground, rather than ride our bikes across the gravel, we lead them through the grass.  Guess what was in the grass in this area too.  So when we looked at Jerry’s, we found a little sharp berry that was the culprit.  After further examination by the three geniuses, we found one on Jack’s tire too.  But it had not yet punctured his yet.  It was Jerry’s first flat of the trip.  I guess he was due.

Got to a city called Cassaday.   Nothing there.  But  it is the Prairie Chicken capital of the world.  Went through Rosalia, nothing there.  Getting low on walter.  We had to stop at a high school (nickname, Mustangs) and interrupted volleyball or cheerleading practice to get walter.  Moved onto Eureka which was a booming metropolis of 2,483.  Got fueled up and headed out for the last leg of the trip to Toronto,  pop 262.  Found a state park around Toronto Lake, huge lake.  Shower and bath are open air. I kind of liked it.  Jerry said he needed to use suntan lotion during his shower.

Ride today had some wind, both good and bad.  Rode about 99 miles. Tomorrow, we ride 75 miles to Girard.  Clair Von Handorf is coming out tomorrow to spend some time with us.  She is bringing us tires and other supplies.

No more grain elevators.  Seeing more water towers as landmarks.

Wildlife report.  Dead wabbit  in  road.  Cows in ponds.  A goat.  And a horse of course.

Tonight, we head to a café here in thepark.  We need to get out of heat for a while.  Café is a little rustic but it has AC.  Let you know how it works out.

Ranger said to not walk around barefoot.  Rattlers.  Four bites a year.  We will walk gingerly.  And the skipper will too.

Jeff, Jerry, Jack, and Sue

July 8 - Jeff

Left Nickerson about 5:30.  Rode a little in the dark and saw the sun rise as we were riding.  Pretty short day.  Went about 55 miles.  Ended up in a town called Newton.  We needed to get some laundry done.  Newton is a pretty big town.  Even had a Wendy’s.  We stopped in a down called Buhler on the way and got our coffee and shtuff.  Cute little diner.  Good hospitality and Jack proclaimed the best water and ice combination he has had the entire trip.  He also said his blueberry pancake was the best.  Life’s little pleasures.  There was a kid in the corner of the diner who looked like he was taking the day off school.  Wind not too bad.  Couple of headwinds for a while.  Little up and down. 

Wildlife report today.  Deer, blue and white heron red headed woodpecker (named Woody of course), donkeys, cows, horses of course, and a zebra (no we are not drinking in the morning yet and we are not on safari).  There was an exotic aminal farm in the city that we passed on our way out this morning.  He supposedly has giraffe and other exotic aminals.

We are staying in Harvey County Park.  A lot like AJ Jolly Park in Campbell County.  Shower and campsite on a lake.  When Sue got here, the lady said it was free camping because we had no electricity or water at our site.  But she said, let me talk to my husband.  He said $9 but let me talk to shmo.  Well shmo said $9 per tent.  So we went from free to $27.

We have some neighbors camping next to us.  After I got out of t he shower, I walked past his site and he was struggling putting up his tent.  Said he just got it at Wally World for $35.  So here I am helping him put up his tent.  It was like the blind leading the blind.  Jack and Jerry got  a big kick out of me helping him.  The city boy who hasn’t been camping in umpteen years before this trip.  I was doing ok, but the “two experts” came over and assisted me in being a Good Samaritan.  We got them all set up.  Kind of a sad story.  I think he may be homeless.  He said his wife just left him, but he has some female with him along with 2 cats and a dog.  Said he can stay there for 14 days before he  has to move his tent.  No sleeping bags, just carpet to sleep on.  Don’t know how they will survive.  Jack sees a reality show in my future.

The last couple of days we are seeing strange things.  Creeks and rivers with walter in them.  Yesterday we saw a lake which was the first big body of walter we had seen in  about 4-500 miles.  Nice to see walter again.

We are beginning to see some Transamerica Tour signs on the road.  Also are seeing signs that instruct drivers to keep 3 feet distance between bicyclists.  What a great sign.

Laundromat was a fun thing.  Had a Ms. Pacman and pinball machines.  Ms. Pacman was still a quarter, but the pinball machine was 50 cents.  What is wrong with this country?  Going to the Laundromat makes you appreciate your washer and drier.

On to Eureka tomorrow.

Jeff, Jerry, Jack, and Sue

ExtraExtra: Superman Humbled by Kansas Winds

On Sunday, we rode to Frisco, Colorado, where we camped by Lake Dillon.  We had a delightful dinner with Sue’s cousin Ken and his wife Kate who live in Grand Junction, CO.  Ken was one of the pioneers on the TransAmerica  route, doing it in the inaugural year of 1976.  We shared memories of some of the major climbs like White Bird.  The next day, we did the climb up past Breckenridge (which is a major ski destination) and over the pass, which was a bit over 11,500 feet and the highest point on the TransAm route.   A long slow climb especially for me to the top, but then it was down and down and down. It was an exhilarating descent.  I felt like we could just go on and on forever.  We were invincible.   We covered a hundred miles and felt great, finishing the day in a nice RV park that Sue found which had a pool and laundry and showers and ice cream sandwiches.  The next day we headed further down and down and down, to Pueblo. Another great descent.   We were anxious to get as far through Pueblo as possible due to the upcoming 4^th of July.  So we did about 95 miles that day.  The next day was mostly flat across the last stretch of Colorado, and we did about 90 to Sheridan Lake, where we were welcomed by the church in Sheridan with a great example of unconditional hospitality.  Also, lucky for us, being the 4^th of July, they were having a town parade and a pot luck supper.  Jack did a dish for us to share, and we partook of the feast with about 60 townspeople.  It was great to talk to them and  hear about their farms, and how the drought has affected their lives.  Someone said they haven’t had  a really good rain since 1999.  But they continue to farm and each year is a new cycle of hope for enough rain to grow their crops.  From there, we did a fairly short day to a city park, which we got to in the early afternoon, but the way the winds move in during the afternoon makes it difficult to cycle far into the day.  The next day, we did about 75 miles to a rest area near a small town, and got there about 12:30.  After so many days of good distances and favorable conditions, I felt really enthusiastic and suggested that we should not stop for the day, but target a town about 42 miles further.  Only 12:30, right?  Plenty of daylight.  Go 10 mph for 4 hours and we would be there by 5 pm, no problem.  Just one problem – about 18 miles was going directly south.  Into the wind.  And the wind picks up in the afternoon.  We did about 10 miles east which went fine, and then…turned south.  Jack and Jeff were several miles ahead of me.  The wind was blowing at about 30 mph, with gusts that surely were 40 or 50.  It was brutal.  I was slowed to 6 mph, sometimes 5, pedaling as hard as I could.  The temp was about 100 degrees, although the humidity is low.  Fortunately, Jack had to presence of mind to call our Lifeline.  Sue brought us water along the way.  Otherwise I don’t know what we would have done.  Finally, I got to the end of the south run and turned east, and the wind became a crosswind, which was still tough but a bit more manageable.   I had to stop every mile of so to rest and regroup. I finally made it to the city park where we were going to camp about 6:30 pm, completely exhausted.   So, my advice to all  is, never get involved in a land war in Asia, and never underestimate the power of the winds in Kansas.

    Jerry