Scott City, KS to Larned, KS
The sun was rising out of the East at 6:30am and we were on our bikes and ready to do another 100 miles today. The sky looked great with the blues, reds, and orange colors of the morning sun reflecting off the semi-trailers whizzing by us at 65 miles an hour. That is when the day went south!
Don and I had planned on getting out early today to beat the heat and get in as many miles as we could before the temperture spiked to the 101 degreees the forecasters were predicting for the day. We rode out of the hotel parking lot to the goodbye waves of our only two fans (Rod and Sal) and set forth on the lone deserted highway. It was already 80 degrees at 6:30am. About 15 miles into the ride we got a call from Rod saying the van would not start. We offered some suggestions but kept riding in the hopes that the van was just being tempermental and they would soon be on thier way to save us from the heat and wind. In the multiple phone calls that followed, we found out that the security feature (pass-theft) would not allow the van to start. Why, we still do not know....but 23 miles into the ride, Don and I stopped in the small town of Dighton, KS. Since the van was still not starting we were worried that we may have to turn around and go back to Scott City while the van was being fixed.
Our stay in Dighton (3hrs) was an interesting observation of a cattle culture. To us, it seemed like Dighton was the crossroads of Kansas, since so many cattle semi's came through the town. Many stopped at the kwikshop gas station we chose as our home for the next three hours. We saw a father/daughter pair that had cowboy boots AND spurs walk into the store and others that looked like they had already put in a full days work in the cattle yard by the look of their clothes.
I, myself, decided to take a nap and fell asleep on the sidewalk about 25 feet from the main intersection. Don laughed at me but the sidewalk felt good, and I was out cold for about a 1/2 hr. Semi's and trucks are going by and I did not hear any of them:) It was a tough wait, becuase right across the street was the bank with the electronic sign telling us the time and temperature. As the hours ticked by, the temperature continued to rise. After three hours, Don and I decided it was time to ride back to the hotel and see what was going on--we would just deal with the ride later...but just then, the van comes roaring into town to save us the ride back. We found out the problem was with the keyfob and it talking with the security system. After disconnecting the battery for 15 minutes, the system reset itself and the van started with no problems.
It is now 11:30am and we decide to ride on...and the temperature has risen 10 degrees..its now 90 degrees and rising as we had out of town with our support van. We ride another 50 miles and call it quits becuase of the heat.
It did not help that we had the pleasure of riding on newly laid asphalt which is black and radiated the heat like a dry sauna right back at you.
The sun was rising out of the East at 6:30am and we were on our bikes and ready to do another 100 miles today. The sky looked great with the blues, reds, and orange colors of the morning sun reflecting off the semi-trailers whizzing by us at 65 miles an hour. That is when the day went south!
Don and I had planned on getting out early today to beat the heat and get in as many miles as we could before the temperture spiked to the 101 degreees the forecasters were predicting for the day. We rode out of the hotel parking lot to the goodbye waves of our only two fans (Rod and Sal) and set forth on the lone deserted highway. It was already 80 degrees at 6:30am. About 15 miles into the ride we got a call from Rod saying the van would not start. We offered some suggestions but kept riding in the hopes that the van was just being tempermental and they would soon be on thier way to save us from the heat and wind. In the multiple phone calls that followed, we found out that the security feature (pass-theft) would not allow the van to start. Why, we still do not know....but 23 miles into the ride, Don and I stopped in the small town of Dighton, KS. Since the van was still not starting we were worried that we may have to turn around and go back to Scott City while the van was being fixed.
Our stay in Dighton (3hrs) was an interesting observation of a cattle culture. To us, it seemed like Dighton was the crossroads of Kansas, since so many cattle semi's came through the town. Many stopped at the kwikshop gas station we chose as our home for the next three hours. We saw a father/daughter pair that had cowboy boots AND spurs walk into the store and others that looked like they had already put in a full days work in the cattle yard by the look of their clothes.
I, myself, decided to take a nap and fell asleep on the sidewalk about 25 feet from the main intersection. Don laughed at me but the sidewalk felt good, and I was out cold for about a 1/2 hr. Semi's and trucks are going by and I did not hear any of them:) It was a tough wait, becuase right across the street was the bank with the electronic sign telling us the time and temperature. As the hours ticked by, the temperature continued to rise. After three hours, Don and I decided it was time to ride back to the hotel and see what was going on--we would just deal with the ride later...but just then, the van comes roaring into town to save us the ride back. We found out the problem was with the keyfob and it talking with the security system. After disconnecting the battery for 15 minutes, the system reset itself and the van started with no problems.
It is now 11:30am and we decide to ride on...and the temperature has risen 10 degrees..its now 90 degrees and rising as we had out of town with our support van. We ride another 50 miles and call it quits becuase of the heat.
It did not help that we had the pleasure of riding on newly laid asphalt which is black and radiated the heat like a dry sauna right back at you.
RSS Feed