The Thin Blue Ride - Part 2 Day 61 - Chanute, KS to Pittsburg, KS (+5 to Missouri Line)

Thursday, August 8th, 2019

Ride Report:  64 Miles, 2,693 Total Miles, 17.3 Avg. mph, 1,266 Ft. Climbing, 4,776 Calories.  It was a soggy day - and not just me, the weather in general...

Today's story starts with yesterday's post.  Apparently the weather gods don't smile kindly on me citing my issues with how they run the whole humidity thing.  Because despite this...

...beautiful sunset when Susan and I went for a walk last evening...

...things had gone to Hell in a hand basket by 0450 this morning when the weather alarm on my phone went off and we scrambled to figure out what was going on.  Turns out that a flash flood warning had just been issued - specifically for Chanute and its suburbs.  One can see why.  What the reader can't see is that when put in motion, the radar had that red line of rain moving SE just enough to keep Chanute in the main part of the storm for a while.

Because by 0759, things had only improved marginally.  The long and short of all this is that between 6-9 inches of rain fell in various areas around Chanute.  That's a lotta water no mater where ya call home.  And the rain didn't give it up till maybe 1300.  So - there was obviously no riding to be done this morning.  In fact, the road East from Chanute was closed due to flash flooding.   

So - we did the only thing we could do to be productive.  We slept in.  Then we decided to flip the day.  We had intended to do the weekly chores after getting to Pitttsburg, KS.  Actually to the state line 5 miles East of Pitttsburg.  So - we started with the chores.  Chief among them...

That's right readers, it was laundry day.  And just to be clear, I did have a pair of underwear warming up in the bullpen.  But as I was about to call in the new pair just up from the minors, Susan declared that we were gonna do laundry anyway and to just suck it up.  When we got to the laundromat, there were a bunch of similar memes all framed and hanging above each washing machine.  This one spoke to me.

So after laundry and the obligatory weekly Wal-Mart run, I called the Sheriff's Office in both Neosho and  Caldwell Counties.  Caldwell said all their roads were open.  But Neosho said that the last they knew, the road I needed to go East on was still flooded.  I guess there's only one way to find out - head out there and check it out for myself.  This is Dave.  He saved me the stress of wondering if I was gonna have to turn around after 15 miles.  I ran into him as soon as I turned onto the Eastbound road.  When I waved him down he pulled up and the first words out of his mouth were, "You're good.  Water is down."  I chatted him up a bit and told him about The Thin Blue Ride and then we parted ways.  He was a good guy.  And friendly - as the reader may be able to tell from the pic.

There was a lot of this along the route today.

And it remained cloudy all day.  The forecast was for more rain throughout the day, but it never materialized.

The Neosho River at flood stage.  Before the rain last night it was at 20 ft.  Forecast has it topping out at 31 feet before starting back down again.  Wow!

But eventually, as we got closer to Pittsburg, it became obvious that rainfall totals weren't what they were around Chanute.  This is just East of a small town called Walnut.  I liked the trees lining both sides of the road so Sig took the opportunity for this shot.

Those of you who are ill informed concerning the T/A won't know what a big deal the Immanuel Lutheran Church is.  It's out in the middle of nowhere and welcomes bikers.  They have a separate building behind the Church that they've designated for riders to overnight in.  They also have food available in the fridge/kitchen for free - showers, bathrooms, the works.  We didn't go in since we have what we need in The Rig, but I've read plenty of blogs by weary T/Aers who have laid over here when they just couldn't go any further.  I can't explain the spelling of "Immanuel".  Apparently the "E" is optional, but a vowel of some ilk is required. 

After the second rest stop of the day and a change from soaked riding gear, I ran across this guy.  Old, beat up, rusty, some of the joints don't work at all, others grind when they move...  I feel his pain.

On the bright side there was this.  Actually - these.  I encountered several along the route today.  Having nothing but a 19 pound bike (Sig is a bit heavier than Delta) for protection we know who would win if we were to tangle with a car.  Go ahead, Google "Brad Schoen Bike Accident" and see what ya get.

But eventually we made it to the Missouri line East of Pittsburg - albeit a bit later than planned.  I think it was about 1900 when we arrived.  And of course, since I don't have enough fingers...

State number 7!  So I called Susan in for her cameo appearance again.  Good thing she's along.  It took me three tries to get the right number of fingers held up - and I was just in charge of two.

So this, readers, is the end of section 8 of the T/A maps.  Four more to go.

And the route on map 8 looked like this.

To close out the day, we headed for a Chinese Buffet Susan had located last night.  I was game.  It's been a while since we've been to a good Chinese Buffet.  After dinner I got this in my fortune cookie.  I thought it appropriate, given what we're trying to pull off here.  I don't talk about it much, but there are days that have been just a plain old struggle.  I read once that only about 50% of riders who commence the T/A actually complete it.  Part of that is trying to do it solo.  People can't stand the isolation for 3-4 months.  But part of it is also the difficulty of the ride.  Having Susan along is a good thing.  It negates the isolation issue, and she's also a great encourager.

And finally, we here at The Thin Blue Ride are always looking for ways to improve life for our readers.  In that vein, this will be our first attempt at providing practical consumer advice for the common man.  It is this: Wal-Mart's Hershey Sliced Chocolate Creme Cake is much better than their Triple Chocolate Muffins.  Our research has shown that the Hershey Cake is way "chocolatier" (A technical cooking term there) than the muffins.

Till next time. 

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 2 Day 60 - Eureka, KS to Chanute, KS

Wednesday, August 7th, 2019

Ride Report:  62 Miles, 2,629 Total Miles, 16.4 Avg. mph, 1,365 Ft. Climbing, 4,403 Calories.  In the main, an unremarkable day.  The average speed for the day was significantly, and negatively, impacted by the wind.

One would think that eventually the weather pattern would change to something that didn't include humidity in excess of 90% every day.  But this morning - 93% when we left the dock.  There were also several times throughout the day when thunderstorms are a possibility.  I'm left trying to figure out what's holding that 93% humidity in the air.  Shouldn't it precipitate out in some form?  I mean, if The Rig was 93% full of Oreos, wouldn't ya hafta to get some of em out before there'd be room for a whole bunch more?  So - how is all that predicted rain gonna fit in the remaining 7% of space available?  These are the questions that should keep the reader up at night. 

A typical morning pic - note the clouds.  They would be with us pretty much all day today.  At least they keep the temperature a bit lower.

Beans, beans, everywhere there's beans.  The reader shouldn't be taken in by my bean ploy and rather, should focus on the blessedly flat road.  We were following a river valley at the time.

While the humidity may have kept the temps down, it did nothing to lessen the sweat rolling down my bald pate to lodge itself in my head gear - which can only hold so much before it starts running into my eyes.  Hence the need to change out head gear.  What the reader sees in this pic is Susan's answer to the age old question, "How do I dry headgear when it's cloudy and humid outside?"  That's the previously mentioned fan purchased in Hays, America.  Note how it perfectly rounds out the head gear hung ingeniously above.

People are apparently patriotic in Toronto.  No - not that one.  Toronto, KS.  The observant reader will see two bald eagles on the posts to either side of the flag.

Sig took this pic standing on Main Street in Toronto, KS.  Yes - that's The Rig pulling away from us.  It was the only traffic we saw in the entire town.  There's a pick up truck down there on the left, but none of us saw it move.  

Yeah...those clouds are startin to gang up and get all ominous looking.  Better get moving - we still have 30 miles to go.

This, readers, would be Coyville, KS.  I liked this pic because it has a relatively well kept old house, the Coyville sign hanging from the fence, the bike route sign, and a sign on the pole at the intersection that says "Toronto" with an arrow pointing to the right.  A good portion of the day summed up in one pic. 

This is Andrew.  I caught up with him during the final 16 miles on the way into Chanute.  He's from Australia and works overseas teaching the children of US ex-pats.  We were both watching the weather, which was worsening by the minute.  He was aiming to make it to the Missouri state line East of Pittsburg by tonight.  Pittsburg is our goal for tomorrow - some 60 miles down the road.  He's ambitious, I'll say that for him.

Well - it appears that Chanute is also a railroad town.  I'm fine with that - so long as they don't railroad past the back of the RV tonight.

Me, draining my cycling gloves after arriving at The Rig in Chanute.  The reader should note those muscly forearms...

And within about 10 minutes of getting The Rig plugged in and the slides out, this was happening.  I hope Andrew at least made it to Chanute before the skies opened up.

And with that - it's time to call it a day here at The Thin Blue Ride.

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 2 Day 59 - Elbing, KS to Eureka, KS

Tuesday, August 6th, 2019

I know, I know - you all were afraid I'd forgotten you, ridden off into the morning sun, declared my freedom from the internet and would never post again.  Bah.  One of us needs the other too much for that to happen.  I just couldn't get my pictures to download in Eureka last night and had to wait till we got to Chanute this afternoon. So, climb back in from that ledge you were about to jump from and check out today's post.

Ride Report: 63 Miles, 2,567 Total Miles, 18.1 Avg. mph, 1,339 Ft. Climbing, 4,874 Calories.

And check out that average speed.  Over the course of today’s ride I had no wind for about a third of the ride, a headwind for about a third of the ride, and a tailwind for the remaining third.  In addition: note the climbing numbers - it was a hilly (well - for Kansas anyway) route today.  First time in a long while that number has been over 1k.  As a result of these various factors, I’m gonna declare the 18.1 average speed to be bordering on impressive - at least for me.

Oh - and Garmin’s recorded high temperature for the ride was 102 degrees.  Ouch.

Oh Part II - very humid again.  I had two jerseys and two base layers ready for the day.  When I came in for breaks I’d strip them off and Susan hung them on the trailer to dry.  Before I left, the “other” set went on and I was at least dry to start the various segments of the ride today.  With it being this hot and humid, she saved my bacon - all day today.  But before we get on with the day, I have this from last night...

This is a screen shot from "AccuWeather" when I searched for Eureka, KS last night.  The reader might note that rather than Eureka, KS I got "Kinaliada, Istanbul".  Presumably the people in Kinaliada were equally as curious as to the weather in Eureka, KS.  So there ya have it, screenshot proof of what I've been complaining about.  At least I knew to take a rain jacket if I decided to head off to Kinaliada.

As to the weather this morning - more of the same.  Check out the haze in the air in this pic.  Sig and I knew what this meant for the rest of the day - hot and sweaty all day again.

But we were kinda in our home territory, so to speak.  Today's route took us thru the southern portion of the Flint Hills.  Manhattan lies pretty much in the heart of the Flint Hills, and being on the southern edge of them today the hills weren't quite as dramatic.  But there was this...

I know enough about this to recognize Big Bluestem grass when I see it.  The two large clumps of grass in the front are it.  The Flint Hills are famous for this grass because...

...it attracts these like flies to roadkill.  (Gee - wonder how I came up with that?)  Today was cow Tuesday.  The first 30 miles or so were all County roads and pretty much all pasture.  Other than Montana, I don't know that I've ever seen so many pastures full of cows.  I'm given to understand that many of these cows are from out of state (typically Texas and the Southwest in general) and are sent here to pasture over the summer.

Which meant, of course, that I was passed by a ton of these guys today.  (Taken while riding - don't attempt this at home.)  I have two observations about cattle trucks.  1: They seem to take up more of the road than other types of tractor/trailer combinations - with the exception of wind turbine parts.  2: They disturb more air than any other tractor/trailer combination I've met since starting the ride.  Under the right (OK - the wrong) circumstances, they can knock 3-4 mph off your speed when they pass.  3: They're smellier than any other tractor/trailer combination.  4:  For obvious reasons, I'm glad it wasn't a wet/rainy day today.  OK - I guess that's four observations, but you get the drift.

These must be some of those out of state cows.  They all brought their swimming suits and headed for the beach.  The red and tan ones invited me to join 'em, but I could tell that the black angus weren't as receptive.  When I asked, one of the red ones told me that some of the angus were jealous that my butt looked better in black than theirs.  Angus can be so petty.  I moved on...

And shortly before getting to Cassoday, KS, we crossed over I-35.  Its been a while since we've been on one of these.  Can't say that we miss it.

And shortly we were in Cassoday, KS.  According to the sign at the city limit, "Population about 100 - more or less."  I'm gonna go with less.  But importantly, when one heads South out of Cassoday, one exits the Flint Hills, as the sign indicates.

Rosalia, KS was next up on the hit parade and I was glad to get there.  It was getting hot and I was soaked.  I knew I needed some time to cool down, and Susan had arranged to meet me at the school parking lot there.  She took this action shot as I pulled in.  The reader will note my "hot face", and the glistening sheen on my arms.  I hear that in the cosmetics industry such a sheen is desirable in certain cases.  Well - no need to go to Wally World and buy those expensive (small) containers of sheeny stuff - just ride a bike 30 miles in the Kansas summer heat.  (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)

I was glad for Susan, The Rig, air conditioning, and my Oreos when I got there.  (Yes - in that order.  Stop it!)  I've heard from many readers (OK - maybe two or three) that Double Stuff Oreos are the cat's meow.  I was dubious, thinking it bordering on hedonistic to put all that sugar in one cookie.  The double "stuff" might obscure the taste of the chocolate cookies on either side.  So I decided to play it safe and combine a double stuff Oreo with a normal Oreo thinking that if the double stuff was over the top, the normal Oreo would make it taste better - like it does with everything else.  It worked - tasted pretty good to me.  I may have to do my part to rid the world of double stuff Oreos using this method.

Did I mention the air conditioning?  There was also a fan.  It was kinda like a cool tropical breeze.

And playing her part as cabana girl, Susan woke me from my nap and brought me ice cream with fresh blueberries.  She calls this her, "You're gonna eat ice cream at 1000 in the morning?" look.  (The reader should note the clock on the wall.)  I was just sittin' there minding my own business when she accosted me with this stuff.  Hey - I didn't say hedonism doesn't have an up side, I just don't prefer it in my Oreos.

And after my ice cream snack, it was back to the road again.  But being out of the Flint Hills now, we started seeing more row crops.  These are soybeans.  Note the elevator leg in the background just above the trees.

From here on it was a slight downhill to Eureka with the previously mentioned tailwind.  Can't ask for a better combination than that.  It was just too fun to stop for pics.  Great way to end the day.

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 2 Day 58 - Newton, KS to Elbing, KS

Monday, August 5th, 2019

Ride Report: 13 Miles, 2,504 Total Miles, 19.6 Avg. mph, 240 Ft. Climbing, 1,085 Calories.  Note to the reader: these are the 11 miles I didn’t do yesterday when we stopped in Newton to get The Rig checked out.  More below...

So - let’s deal with The Rig first.  As it turns out getting The Rig back up and running wasn’t a big deal.  It took most of the morning, but fortunately the transmission just needed serviced.  I consider this a learning opportunity.  For example, I learned that transmission fluid for The Rig costs $14.99 a quart.  Yup - me - a life long learner...  When the guy was done we headed back to the Dillons parking lot so Susan could get some milk there (less per gallon than transmission fluid by the quart) while I headed to Elbing with Delta - which was our original destination yesterday.  The reader may have two questions.  1: “Elbing?  Elbing?” (This counts as one question.)  2: “So why didn’t you ride more than just 11 miles?”

First answer: Yes there is such a place as Elbing, KS - population 208.  As was made apparent in the ride report, it’s about 13 miles East of Newton.  The town itself sits maybe a half mile North of E. 1st Street which constitutes the ACA route hereabouts.  More importantly from our perspective, the Crossway Bible Church has a driveway and a large parking lot immediately off 1st St.  And they were willing to let us set up shop for the night.  Perfect.

Second answer: I rode to Elbing and arrived at about noon.  Once past Elbing the ACA map has this warning, “NOTE: no services on route for next 40.5 miles.”  Given that it would soon be afternoon in Kansas (with correspondingly high humidity and temperatures in the mid 90s) the answer was obvious.  Just gain back the lost miles from yesterday, chalk it up as one wasted day between yesterday and today, and move on.  So here we are in, or almost in, Elbing where we had planned to be last night.

I hope the reader will forgive the brevity of today's post.  But gimme a break, it was 11 miles and there's not much in the way of scenery out here.  Let me put it this way, when Susan suggests that I ought to have stopped to take a pic of a dead armadillo for the blog, you know we're jonesing for some scenery.  (Google it)

So - here we go.  And if you're one of those people ("those people") who are just here for the entertainment value, go directly to the end of the post...

While it was still exceedingly humid today, at least there was no fog.  Of course, this may have been aided by the fact that we didn't hit the road till maybe 1100.  Speaking of the road, this is pretty much the same road upon which Delta and I rode during that miserable day South of Quivera National Wildlife Refuge - shame on Stafford and Reno Counties.  However, on this occasion my compliments to Sedgwick and Butler Counties.  Since shaking the proverbial dust from our pedals as we left Reno County, the road has been in excellent condition. 

More of this.  On this occasion there is a medium sized box culvert under the road.  But I can't believe that this is the typical condition of this field.  It appears to me that this spring's rains washed out a substantial portion of this field and turned it into a de facto pond.  Ouch.

At this point I think it bears mention that Newton is a railroad town.  Susan and I figured this out last night in between rounds of young men (Do young ladies drive cars like this?) roaring up and down the street in front of Dillons until about 0200.  First, get a job - surely going to work at 0800 Monday negates the positive aspects of staying up till 0200 that same morning.  Second, at what point in time did it become cool to take a car with a motor the same size as one finds in a typical blender, and remove the exhaust in its entirety?  I don't care how loud it is, its still a blender motor - not cool.   Put a muffler back on it and get your testosterone surge somewhere else.  Don't get me wrong, I'm fan of cool sounding engines.  But the subset of cool sounding engines is limited to V8 motors.

Forgive the rant, back to Newton being a railroad town...  In between bouts of kids driving blenders up and down the street, trains passed by every 15 minutes.  Apparently they must deliver to Dillons from tracks located immediately behind the store, because it sounded like they were that close.  Suggestion to all the kids driving loud blenders, park 'em on the RR tracks.  Both problems solved.

So - when we made it to the Crossway Bible church parking lot today, we did so in the anticipation of a good night's sleep tonight - no blenders and no trains.   

This is The Rig set up for the night.  The reader will have to forgive the sweaty, if colorful, riding apparel drying on the trailer. 

Fifteen minutes later we realized we were half right.  The cursed things follow us like a plague of locust.

But enough of our problems.

It is now time, readers, for the first annual Thin Blue Ride suntan contest.

Contestant #1.

Contestant #2.

The observant reader will note that I have omitted the contestant's names.  Rather than being an inadvertent error, this was intentional.  We here at The Thin Blue Ride want to ensure a fair and equitable contest - and having the contestants remain anonymous is the best way to do that.  Readers should post their selection for the winner of the contest at the bottom of this page.  Once The Thin Blue Ride's accounting department has tabulated the totals, the winner will be announced in a future post.  Readers have until 2300 hours Sunday, August 11th to make their selection.  Vote early, vote often.

BTW - don't cheat and try to call Susan to figure out who the contestants are.  She's clueless and will just be confused, having been napping when I took the contestant's pics.  I'm sure she'll be fine with it...

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 2 Day 57 - Nickerson, KS to Newton, KS

Sunday, August 4th, 2019

Ride Report: 47 Miles, 2,491 Total Miles, 17.3 Avg. mph, 630 Ft. Climbing, 3,281 Calories, 1 frustrating end to the day...

As to yesterday's encouragement that readers skip yesterday's post if they weren't in the mood to hear me whine...

The reader will have to forgive my lugubrious mood.  It’s difficult to draft this post because The Rig is once again having difficulties.  It still runs, but it misses, idles poorly and has thrown codes (A little mechanic talk there - for obvious reasons I’ve picked it up as of late.) which set off the “check engine” light.  Not wanting to find ourselves stranded in the middle of nowhere again, we got to Newton and decided to call it a day there.  We’re currently in the Dillons parking lot at 12th and Main (right on the route, BTW) awaiting tomorrow's opening bell for the auto repair shop right across the street.  I’ll make a prediction concerning the issue: when installed in Hays, the Discombobulator (an electronic part) decided not to play well with the other electronics on The Rig.  We shall see.  I really don’t imagine that this will be a huge issue to resolve since The Rig runs, even if it acts like the proverbial 96 pound weakling in doing so.

However, just to be on the safe side, I asked Susan to do some back-channel Teamster Talk with the Auto Mechanic's Guild (AMG) and see if she could move things along.  She told me that there's no such thing as the AMG, just a bunch of independent shops with no organization to run the show.  I know better, I saw one of 'em wearing a guild ring one day that looked sorta like a skull and bones society ring, this isn't it exactly, but it's close...

So we'll see.  It may be that despite our 40 years of nuptial bliss, there are still some things she's not authorized to tell me.  Or I suppose there's the off chance that she may be telling the truth.

Anyway, until then, the day was going relatively well, if a bit foreshortened by The Rig’s ambivalence concerning our trek thru Kansas.  You would think that if it were gonna act up it would have chosen a foreign state like California - or maybe waited till we made it to the liberal bastions of the east coast.  Then again, The Rig and I have never discussed politics, maybe she’s really a closet Democrat.  I wonder if the secret squirrel boxes that mechanics have can pick up a code for that?  I shall inquire.

As for the day, it started off much like yesterday - humidity aplenty.  At one point early in the ride, Delta inquired as to why I had brought him out in “this crap” and suggested that I return him to The Rig, then swim to our destination.  I’m gonna have to talk with Susan and see where he’s picking up this salty language.

But while a bit crude, his observation wasn't too far off base.  It looked like this...

And this was after waiting 45 minutes for the fog to lift.  However, just two miles down the road it hadn't lifted and was still quite foggy.  I decided to pull off and wait a bit longer.  Susan was right behind me in The Rig, so I retired to its comfortable interior to wait it out.  I'm gonna guess it wasn't more than another 15 minutes and we were back on the road.

Beside which we observed this washed out part of a tilled field.  While it looks like a river must run through here, there's only a 3-4 foot drainage tube under the road.  This is a huge washout.  And the reader is only looking at the left half of it.  The rest is out of the cameras view to the right.  There must have been a prodigious amount of water thru here earlier this spring.  Given the small drainage tube and the size of the washout, I can only conclude that water ran over the roadway to cause this.  And note the interesting pear shaped little "island" it left behind.  I don't even know how the guy who owns this land will try and repair this - or if it can be done.

The wind was a factor again today.  From this the reader should make two observations concerning the trees in this pic.  One - I was glad to see 'em as they kept the wind off me for several miles.  Two - we're back in that part of the Great State of Kansas with enough water to support actual trees instead of the shrubbery they call trees in western Kansas.

Then I tried to take this pic of a soybean field and Susan photo bombed me with The Rig.  Some people will do anything to get in one of my posts...

But back to the soybean field...  This part of the state also has enough water to support soybeans.  Given the whole China embargo thing, I was surprised to so see many of these around.  What with China putting tariffs on 'em, I thought the price was low enough that maybe not many would be planted.  Guess I was wrong. 

We also passed right by Buhler, Kansas today.  It's quite well known in certain circles.  Well, OK - I had never heard of it till Kelsy married Parker.  Turns out he's from Buhler.  Hey Parker - it's still there!

I know this is a screen shot, but I passed right by this place today and a pic from the road wouldn't do it justice.  Whoever this guy is, he has tons of old (but not ancient) combines all parked in an orderly fashion and sorted by manufacturer.  Some of the combines appear to have been partially disassembled.  There are also row upon row of rims in one area.  From this I was left to conclude that the owner of these wayward machines figured out that at a certain age one could buy up old machines and strip them for parts to keep other old machines running.  Genius.  This is what makes America great.  That's right - combine graveyards.  Hey - it's either that or this is where old combines go to die, sorta like that thing elephants do.  "I dunno Earl, they just keep showin up.  Lord only knows how they find the place."

So - given how the day turned out with The Rig and all, there was only one thing to do...

Go go dinner at Billy Sims BBQ with the prettiest girl I know, and eat a lotta meat.  OK - that's three things, I was making a rhetorical point.  Regardless, I felt better afterward.  Whether it was the pretty girl or the meat I'll leave to the reader's discretion.  I know where my vote is going.

Till next time.