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It's amazing how much something like wind can affect your mood. It was a bit hotter today, and I got two flats, but it was a fine day, because we weren't fighting a headwind. We're halfway between San Francisco and New York. Of course, we're not going to New York, we're going to New Hampshire. Our halfway point for days is tomorrow, and our halfway point for mileage is Friday, July 4. When I was growing up, a "halfway house" was where they put people who didn't need to be institutionalized, but who weren't ready to handle mainstream living. I think it's called a group home now. But I'm free-associating here, and don't mean to imply anything about Kansas. Andy I took an unscheduled side trip to Pawnee Rock, the halfway point on the Santa Fe Trail. It's also the highest point for probably 100 miles, so it was a natural landmark. Kit Carson is said to have shot his own mule here one night, mistaking it for a Pawnee Indian. Over the years, it was quarried down to half its original size, but now it's protected, along with its 100-year-old graffiti. I got two flats today. The rear tire is really pretty chewed up, and I think it's letting Stuff in. When I got to the hotel, I tried to swap in one of the spare tire that I've been carrying around for the last 1700 miles, only to find that it's too tight. I fought for an hour to get it on the rim, and ended up giving myself a pinch-flat in the process, so it had to come right off again - another 15 minute process. I really don't want to be doing that at the side of the road in 100 degree heat. So, unless someone else can use them, those brand new tires are going in the trash. My emergency tool kit includes a decent length of duct tape, so I booted the tire with duct tape. English translation: I put a small piece of duct tape on the inside of the tire, everywhere where it had been penetrated, or I thought it was in danger of penetration. This tire now sports 13 pieces of duct tape. Fortunately, no one can see it. I also rotated my tires, since the rear tire carries more load, and has taken far more damage. The relatively intact tire goes to the back, the Franken-tire goes to the front, and I pray that it all holds until I can get to a decent bike store, maybe in Topeka or St. Joseph. After dinner, Andy and I walked over to the Wal-Mart to buy some necessaries - toothpaste and sunscreen for him, conditioner and batteries for me. Andy was somewhat taken aback to realize that he was in a Wal-Mart in Kansas. I think it was just too American an experience for him. One thing I can't get used to is the presence of sandpipers. There's one squawking outside my door right now. I mean, I like them, but that has a lot to do with them being shore birds, and Great Bend, Kansas is nowhere near the shore - any shore. While I'm being random, John (our dear, departed roommate) once observed that, when the three of us settled in in the afternoon, it looked like a consumer electronics fair - 3 laptops, 3 digital cameras, 2 cell phones, 2 PDAs, and a GPS. The other thing that sticks from that period is Nap Time - after getting in in the afternoon, you'd find us all sacked out. Bike hard, sleep hard. Francie called - just back from Strider's wake. We talked for 35 minutes, after which I needed to be with a) people and b) beer. Andy, Dan, Suzanne, and Dutch John were just leaving the sports bar, which they had drunk out of Corona. So we went to the completely deserted hotel bar, and drank that one out of Corona too. They just don't stock much. Only later did they tell me that the sports bar had Fat Tire - I would have gone there alone, or dragged Andy back there, because he'll drink anything. |
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