Day 35 - Sunday, June 14
Start - Ash Grove, MO
End - Pittsburg, KSMiles (on the route) - 67.5
Miles (total) - 74.85Avg Spd - 13.4mph
Max Spd - 35.0mphTotal Ride Time - 5:35
The tire was mostly flat in the morning, as I figured it would be, so I changed out the tube. I found a small piece of metal stuck in the tire that was definitely responsible for the flat. It gives me piece of mind to be sure of the cause of any of these problems. It's the mysteries that haunt me and keep my mind occupied while riding. And I'm finally getting better with changing the tire and perfecting the tips the mechanics have shown me along the way. There was a public pool in the park and they leave the bathrooms and showers open so I was able to get cleaned up for the day. On my way out of Ash Grove I came across and eastbound rider, Adam who was averaging about 100 miles a day! He started days after me from Astoria and was on track to finish in less than 45 days! A bit different from my trip.
The day's ride saw the terrain slowly shift from repeated hills to stretching inclines and declines, and short hills. There was less hill climbing, but the temperatures climbed into the mid 90s and I was feeling the sting through the long stretches in the afternoon. Not much in the way of towns on today's ride. On my way into Golden City I again noticed a significant loss of pressure, started getting a bit of bounce in the ride. I was able to ride it into town and I got a snack at the local grocery store before inspecting the tire. It was going flat so I changed it again, not finding anything stuck in the tire but noticing what looked like a new puncture on the tire. I couldn't be sure, but I suspected I picked up something on the road again. I checked the tape on the rim and found a small metal shaving underneath. Not good. But it didn't seem consistent with the holes I was finding on the spent tubes. Regardless my second flat in 24 hours had me a bit suspicious. It seems a bit odd for riding a kevlar belted tire. This was going to nag me so I planned on getting things checked out in the morning at one of the bike shops in Pittsburg.
I finally crossed into Kansas this evening and made it into Pittsburg, a sizeable town of over 19000 people. A cop directed me to the city park to camp for the night and told me of some other cyclists there already. There I met Kaleb and Andy who were from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and going east on the transam. They were also averaging big miles and were right behind Adam whom I met earlier. We talked for a bit that evening and they shared there biking knowledge with me and what to expect from the territory ahead. Many people intuitively expect winds from the west in Kansas, but as I've heard before, it's almost always from the South and occasionally from the southeast. They had slight headwinds more than tailwinds and thought I should be in better shape going west. I also got an amusing story about a guy travelling west just a few days ahead of me who has gained a bit of transam fame. Apparently he starts riding around 6am each day and only does about 40 miles. He relaxes through the afternoon in his tent watching movies on his laptop. They call him "Netflix Guy" because he has Netflix send movies to towns ahead of him every couple days. They had been told of him by several westbound riders, and when they finally came across him they eventually realized it and proclaimed, "Oh my God, you're Netflix guy!" This was much to his surprise as he didn't realize how unique he was in his style of touring or that many others knew of him. I hope I stumble upon this guy!
A storm moved in and dropped some rain while we were safely camped under the park pavilion. The humidity and heat stayed so high it mad for an extremely uncomfortable night's sleep, where you just laid there with a film of moisture over your whole body. You just hope for a slight breeze that will provide some cooling relief just for a moment.
The tire was mostly flat in the morning, as I figured it would be, so I changed out the tube. I found a small piece of metal stuck in the tire that was definitely responsible for the flat. It gives me piece of mind to be sure of the cause of any of these problems. It's the mysteries that haunt me and keep my mind occupied while riding. And I'm finally getting better with changing the tire and perfecting the tips the mechanics have shown me along the way. There was a public pool in the park and they leave the bathrooms and showers open so I was able to get cleaned up for the day. On my way out of Ash Grove I came across and eastbound rider, Adam who was averaging about 100 miles a day! He started days after me from Astoria and was on track to finish in less than 45 days! A bit different from my trip.
The day's ride saw the terrain slowly shift from repeated hills to stretching inclines and declines, and short hills. There was less hill climbing, but the temperatures climbed into the mid 90s and I was feeling the sting through the long stretches in the afternoon. Not much in the way of towns on today's ride. On my way into Golden City I again noticed a significant loss of pressure, started getting a bit of bounce in the ride. I was able to ride it into town and I got a snack at the local grocery store before inspecting the tire. It was going flat so I changed it again, not finding anything stuck in the tire but noticing what looked like a new puncture on the tire. I couldn't be sure, but I suspected I picked up something on the road again. I checked the tape on the rim and found a small metal shaving underneath. Not good. But it didn't seem consistent with the holes I was finding on the spent tubes. Regardless my second flat in 24 hours had me a bit suspicious. It seems a bit odd for riding a kevlar belted tire. This was going to nag me so I planned on getting things checked out in the morning at one of the bike shops in Pittsburg.
I finally crossed into Kansas this evening and made it into Pittsburg, a sizeable town of over 19000 people. A cop directed me to the city park to camp for the night and told me of some other cyclists there already. There I met Kaleb and Andy who were from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and going east on the transam. They were also averaging big miles and were right behind Adam whom I met earlier. We talked for a bit that evening and they shared there biking knowledge with me and what to expect from the territory ahead. Many people intuitively expect winds from the west in Kansas, but as I've heard before, it's almost always from the South and occasionally from the southeast. They had slight headwinds more than tailwinds and thought I should be in better shape going west. I also got an amusing story about a guy travelling west just a few days ahead of me who has gained a bit of transam fame. Apparently he starts riding around 6am each day and only does about 40 miles. He relaxes through the afternoon in his tent watching movies on his laptop. They call him "Netflix Guy" because he has Netflix send movies to towns ahead of him every couple days. They had been told of him by several westbound riders, and when they finally came across him they eventually realized it and proclaimed, "Oh my God, you're Netflix guy!" This was much to his surprise as he didn't realize how unique he was in his style of touring or that many others knew of him. I hope I stumble upon this guy!
A storm moved in and dropped some rain while we were safely camped under the park pavilion. The humidity and heat stayed so high it mad for an extremely uncomfortable night's sleep, where you just laid there with a film of moisture over your whole body. You just hope for a slight breeze that will provide some cooling relief just for a moment.
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