Tuesday June 24, 2003

Oakley, Kansas

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Our travels today were dedicated to the Information Technologies group at Ohio Willow Wood: Greg Neal, J.R. Anderson, Leanne Buck, Derek Nixon, Jack Ribadiya, Jeffrey Tadlock, Bret Wood.

At the start of our journey today, Mark and Jim elicit directional help from a resident of Kit Carson, Colorado. "He went WHERE?" the local asked, stunned, shortly before he burst out laughing while pointed an accusatory finger at Joe, the official (and perpetually lost) AAA Navigator.

But he means well, we CONSTANTLY remind ourselves.

Notice that Mark is not on crutches? Is this because he is miraculously healed, or is it because he is too darn stubborn to do the right thing? Actually, after about 6 hours of icing and rest yesterday, Mark is much better. Still sore, but but he was determined to participate as much as possible in the ride today.

Mark and Jim attempt to lure local wildlife with a partially empty bottle of really, really good tequila. None showed. Which is probably a good thing because Trish was muttering about the cost of a good shotgun in the background. So much for our initial attempt on the AAA Wild Kingdom.

A lovely breakfast before we began our ride today from Kit Carson. Everyone said that their eggs were the best they had EVER tasted. As much as this crew is eating, that says a lot.

Here the crew poses with our waitress (dark blue shirt) and cook (green shirt). Thanks, guys!

Bruce was a bit short on funds before breakfast, so here he receives a dollar from a concerned local who kept exclaiming, "Oh, you poor man!"

Kansas is wheat. Lots and lots of wheat. We believe a small portion of it may be stored in this facility. Bruce believes though that this is an Evil Arconian way station for electrolyte replacement. Poor, poor Bruce.

See the jaunty camera angle? Joe is trying hard to juice up the visual interest of the boys. Joe may be sorely tested on the visual side of things as we cycled through largely flat expanses of wheat and prairie in western Kansas today. We all put in over 50 miles today each and Cheryl put in 30 miles on her own. You go, Girl!

Bruce was caught unawares by equipment from Jame's Lawnmowing Service of Cheyenne Wells, CO. That should teach Bruce to not walk toward a Diet Coke machine with his eyes closed.

Don't worry, Raymond, the Pathfinder was not damaged. Our kudos the the OWW R&D department!

The poor man on this lawn tractor may never be the same again. No lawn equipment was harmed in this photographic exercise.

The prairie is awe inspiring. We tried to imagine what it was like several hundred years ago  when a largely unbroken grassland ran from the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains all the way to Ohio.

Bring back the Buffalo!

The boys and Trish pose at an historical marker. Trish is doing her best to be cocky, but the heat and wind today wilted her. She hung in there, though, driving a support vehicle for us.

Bruce explores alternate braking mechanisms in case his brakes are sabotaged by Evil Arconians. Actually, Bruce was inspired so much by the Rocky Mountains that he decided bicycling is a sport for "girly men", so he begins rock-climbing training anywhere he can. At this moment, he is trying to climb the wall outside Joe's room at the hotel here in Oakley.

The wind started buffeting us hard at the end of our ride today. The road became treacherous with cross winds gusting way past 40 MPH. We eventually packed in after each of us broke 50 miles.

We paused for lunch in Weskan, KS. There we met Ernest Swartz, a double amputee, who poses at right with the boys. Hang in there Ernest!

See the dashed line? Trish is half in Colorado and half in Kansas, which means she is horribly confused. Bruce, behind her, is wearing special headgear to keep the Evil Arconians from reading his mind.

We made it to Kansas. That's five states down and more to go. We are slightly past the one-third mark. Tomorrow, we ride to Dodge City, where Jim is determined to engage locals in gun battles. The heat, we believe, has facilitated PTSD flashbacks to the DMZ in Vietnam, circa 1971.

We will certainly have to be on our toes in the fine state of Kansas.

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