Day 35: Lakin, KS to West of Lamar, CO; Slow Climb to a Rocky Mountain High

June 9, 2015

Lakin, KS (Ken-Ark Hotel) to Sportsman's RV Park West of Lamar, CO

(Note to readers regarding the elevation profiles; the profile is calculated from Point "A" on the map to Point "B" on the map. Since I am traveling east to west on the first half of this transcontinental journey, my route of travel is usually shown on the map as being from right to left. However, the elevation profile is shown from left to right, so it must be "reversed" in your head to understand it.)

Climbing Today; 1,094 ft -- Total So Far; 84,299 ft

We were all up early and rolling at 5:48 am this morn. The usual reward is getting to watch the sun peep up over the horizon.

Notice the lonely road in the sunrise photo. The other benefit of an early start is no traffic. As the sun lit up my world, I could see forever on the west Kansas plains. Some say it's boring out here; I disagree, it's not boring at all, it's just different.

The open country has its own beauty that you learn to appreciate only by experiencing it. The grain tower barely visible over the horizon in the photo is in a town about 12 miles away. My front tire began to feel squirrely and when I looked down I saw that it was going flat; Gadzooks! Nowhere to hide from the sun, I had to change this one alongside the road just off the shoulder. Examining the tire, I noted that this was the first “legitimate” flat I have had, as I found a small shard of glass that barely poked through the tire and managed to cause a tiny puncture to the tube. I removed the shard from the tire, then put on one of my two spare tubes and stored the punctured one. I’ll repair the punctured tube tonight so I always have two spares available. Very soon I reached another milestone as I crossed over into the Mountain Time Zone.

Milestone; I've Now Cycled Across the Central Time Zone

I have now cycled through two time zones. I rarely cross that many time zones even when I fly. I think the Kansas heat has caused some of the highway engineers to become delusional, as they apparently think there are mountains out here.

The Kansas Heat Has Made Someone Delusional; There Are No Mountains Here!

Cycling on I had the good fortune to meet Mizuki Umeda, a foreign exchange student who had been studying in Durango, CO. Mizuki was cycling from Durango, CO to Washington D.C., where he planned to take a train to Los Angeles and visit a friend in Santa Barbara, and then cycle back to Durango. WOW!! It’s amazing how adventurous many of the foreigners are that I have met. After such an adventure, it’s likely that Mizuki will have a better understanding of grass roots America than many folks who live here.

Mizuki Ulmeda, Japanese Foreign Exchange Student

Mizuki was flying both the U.S. and Japanese flags on the rear of his bike.

Mizuki Flies the U.S. and Japanese Flags

He liked the hula doll on the rear of my bike and photographed both me and her. I wished him luck, and then I was off again. Today was going to be a scorcher, and I had already lost time and burned energy changing a flat tire. In Coolidge I was disappointed that the café was closed, but Harvey and I took refuge under the awning for a brief escape from the sun.

Harvey Finds a Small Spot of Shade; Unfortunately the Restaurant is Closed

The sky was quite blue and the clouds were moving rapidly and changing into wispy puffs.

The Sky is a Brilliant Blue Background For These Wistful Clouds

There was a headwind this morning which changed to a buffeting crosswind and had now changed into a tailwind, but it has died down. So I was moving along rather decently as I neared the end of Kansas.

Kansas Folks Were Nice, But the Heat and Wind Was Harsh. I'm Not Unhappy to Leave

Kansas had been interesting. I knew we had been very lucky to have not had any all-day headwinds or experienced 100+ degree heat. We also avoided most of the storms, and I said as much to Daniel and James. However, I must be honest here, and the truth was I was not at all unhappy to be leaving Kansas. Kansas can be extremely cruel, and I was happy to escape with only a taste of that cruelty. I hadn't met any cyclists yet that were unhappy to be leaving Kansas. It's not because of the people, mind you, cause the people are great and love cyclists; it's just that the sheer magnitude and potential of the cruel weather can be overwhelming. And I didn't even mention tornadoes...

So when you leave Kansas westbound you must enter Colorado, and so I did.

I'm Definitely Having a Rocky Mountain High; Glad to be Here

I was quite ecstatic to be in Colorado. I almost couldn't believe I had made it this far. It's the last state I would enter on this half of my transcontinental journey, and it held special significance to me as a Geologist. In another lifetime, many years ago, I attended geology field camp near Canon City, CO and I was hoping to exceed my original goal of ending at Pueblo and continue on to Canon City. So here's how I took the selfie using my DSLR;

The Stop Sign Gives Me a Perch to Attach the Small Tripod

The stop sign post was a convenient place to strap on my portable tripod and mount the DSLR to it. Rolling on westbound in Colorado now, I came upon this sign extolling the history of this route;

It had been another hot day. There had been a headwind early, but after Granada, CO I was flying. The RV campground we planned for tonight was a few miles west of Lamar and it was almost 5:00 pm when I rolled through Lamar. I stopped at a Pizza Hut restaurant and enjoyed the all-you-want salad bar before continuing. Rolling on, I came to our home for the night;

Home for the Night. Only Horses Can Sleep Inside?

Tent sites cost $10 here, but when I inquired I discovered that one could stay inside a trailer owned by the management for $25. James and Daniel had already set up tents and weren’t interested, but I liked the thought of not having to set up camp and having electricity to charge my gadgets. It was a mistake. The trailer was pretty basic, but I knew this beforehand. The air conditioner did not chill but it served as a fan to circulate air. There was a small refrigerator so I could start out with chilled water in the morning. The wifi was supposed to be accessible at the trailer, but it was so weak it was impractical to use. In the middle of the night the electric power went out; I suppose the constant running of the non-functioning air conditioner caused it to blow. Since I had my cell phone and other things charging during the night, I ventured outside with my headlamp for light and tried to find a switch to throw to reset things, but was unsuccessful at doing anything other than attracting numerous biting insects. I vowed to get a partial refund of my money, but of course there was no one around when I rolled out shortly after 5:00 am the following morn. Oh well; I've certainly stayed in some “interesting” places on this journey.

Today's ride: 82 miles (132 km)
Total: 2,129 miles (3,426 km)

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