June 13, 2006
Day 34: Chanute to Eureka! Kansas
On the road this morning before most of the AC bunch. They may get up early, but it takes them longer to get ready with breakfast, making lunches, and dividing group gear. An early gas station stop for drinks and an off-route detour through town (oops) and I was back on the road. Started riding with Tim, Robert, and Jacques just before a gas station stop about 12 miles down the road where I fueled up with a homebaked brownie I couldn't resist (I told you, I like this biking stuff!) before heading to the great metropolis of Toronto.
Now, a long while back I guess I was in /near Toronto, where a family friend grew up. All I remember of the trip is being told over and over about snakes in the area and (maybe) catching some catfish, which I thought was gross. There's not much left of Toronto now, but on the way there, I rode with a few more members of the group, including Helen and Toni. Tim works in Toronto, Canada and lives near there, so we had fun taking pictures of him with local signs. Some of us ate lunch there (a rather grumpy server and a really dirty bathroom sent Helen back outside to her already-packed lunch), so I got to know a few more of the group. It was nice to have company for the day and talk bike-stuff.
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We spread out in the uneventful miles to Eureka, and I got a nice warm shower at the pool when I'd just been expecting a cold one. When I got back to my bike, Alvin had arrived and was talking to the local biker gang. I joined in the banter (including one of the guys trying to get me to label him as 'sexiest man in America' on my website he's the one in blue in the middle!). Soon after, Les pulled up and started telling me about his giant saddle sore in great detail in his wonderful British accent. Keep in mind that I only met this man yesterday, wasn't 100% sure of his name, and had no reason to be hearing about his groin. At some point, he realized all this and said, 'I don't really know why I'm telling you all this.' I wasn't either, but I told him that was ok and hoped he felt better soon.
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I wasn't going to eat with the group, but Tim was insistent. Since I'd planned to do all my cooking by the 'boil water and dump it in the freezer bag' method, I wasn't really equipped to deal with real food, but my little bowl and spoon worked ok in the end. Les was hurting so badly that he couldn't sit on the bench and didn't eat much. The doctor in the group examined him and prescribed antibiotics, but he didn't look good.
Patrick got some flack for buying all diet sodas for dinner, so when he went for a beer run, I accompanied him and saved him from another blunder of buying something like Bud Light. We got some Bud Select instead (hey, it was the best the gas station had to offer) and Patrick bemoaned the complete absence of microbrew beer in small-town Kansas. Stayed up too late talking to Tim, Patrick, and Alvin (everyone else was in bed around 9), but the company was good. Tomorrow I separate from the group and go off route to meet my aunt in El Dorado, so it will be a short day.
Today's ride: 68 miles (109 km)
Total: 1,760 miles (2,832 km)
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