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I've Got Something to Say
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| Ride Stats |
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Time: 08:13:55
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Distance:
117.13 miles
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Max Speed:
34.50 mph
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Avg Speed:
14.20 mph
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Route:
PAC Tour Central Transcontinental
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Weight:
0
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Category: training: general -
solo
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Terrain: Road: Hills
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Bike: Fuji Newest Road
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| Club: Commuter Cycling Century |
| Weather Conditions: |
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Well, first, let me say today was a successful and satisfying day. I was able to ride my bike all the way from Winfield to Parsons. I had no issues with my rear tire! The wind was from an eastwardly direction, and was not much of a factor until the last dozen or so miles – part of that could have been fatigue on my bodies part, too.
As many of the cyclist eluded during our arrival in Winfield, Kansas is getting much prettier to look at and I would agree with that assessment, from what I saw during my ride today. The terrain was more of rolling hills and less of just wide open prairie – buffeted by strong winds.
Before we left the hotel this morning, a few of us were able to talk to some owners of a couple classic cars. They were staying at our hotel, and participating in a car show in a near by town. We were awed by them & their hobby, and they were awed by our endeavor.
Our route today took us through several small towns – a couple of which actually stated that they were unincorporated. We rolled through Burden, Cambridge, Elk Falls, Longton, Oak Valley, and Sycamore, before getting to Parsons. One thing the queue sheet did not state was an eight mile stretch of road that had recently be ‘chip-sealed’ – basically, fine gravel dumped on the road, which overtime is pushed aside or into the asphalt by the cars that drive over it. Some of us were warned of it, because one of the support vehicles was making its way to its rest stop location (rest stop #4 at mile 101) and called back to the lunch stop (mile 74) to give who ever was yet to pass through a heads up. Well, thanks for the warning, but we still had to navigate through it all, and the added rolling resistance slowed down everybody’s pace by at least a mile or two per hour. For me the most scary point of that stretch was a down small hill that curved almost 90 degrees at the bottom. I was afraid of going to fast and thus loosing traction as I negotiated the curve. But, on the other hand, as I went down the hill, I didn’t want to squeeze the brakes to hard and lock up either of my wheels, thus causing them to skid and lose control during the descent. All in all, I think everybody made it through safely – there were only a handful of people to go through there after I did, and the crew at rest stop #4 stated that all that had preceded me made it through safely.
I had started the day riding with Dan – the honorary captain of Team Turtle, but he soon ran into some fatigue issues and gave up the ride upon reaching rest stop #2 (mile 54). Anne Marie had been feeling ill most of the night and did not ride at all today – once I arrived in Parsons, she said she was feeling better, but would have to make the call in the morning whether she would be riding to Springfield or not. I rode by myself up to the lunch stop. There, I left with April, and we rode together for a few miles, before we became separated. Then about three or four miles before rest stop #4, I caught up with Susan (PAC Tour co-owner) & Don (crew member). We made it to the rest stop, enjoyed some Pepsi (needed a little caffeine boost), refilled our bottles and then headed out to complete the last 15 miles of the day. We had a good time, taking turns pulling through the wind, climbed a few hills, shared some cycling stories and rolled into Parsons.
I did take a few pictures today. Somewhere between rest stop #2 & #3 I was passed by about 8 motorcycles that were out for ride. They stopped at the gas station in Longton – and I passed them – so a few more miles down the road they passed me again, but this time I was ready and got a picture of them leaving me ‘in their dust.’
For dinner tonight, Howard & I walked about 4 blocks to a bar-b-queue place called The Hickory Hole. That was a smart choice – they had an all-you-can-eat buffet for $8.99 , and we had all we could eat!
I am not going to try and access the internet tonight, so this & the pictures should get posted on Sunday – along with Sunday’s stuff. It looks like we might run into some rain (the outer bands of Rita) as we make our way into Springfield – that would be a new experience on this trip; we have not had any rain (other than a few sprinkles at breakfast in Pratt) on this trip. I wish that stat would not change, but we will see.
Got on the bike starting at 8:05 A.M. CDT – we left later than normal, because our hotel in Parsons had just had a construction crew check-out, that had stayed for 2 months while completing a local project, and the mileage was a shorter day to allow such a schedule change.
Got off the bike at the hotel in Parsons at 5:30 P.M. CDT
Total travel time: 9 hours 30 minutes
Distance traveled: 117.13 miles
Amount of climbing: 2,000
Actual time on the bike 8 hours 13 minutes and 55 seconds
Average speed (on bike): 14.2
Max speed attained: 34.5 mph
Total Time on the bike: 93 hours 40 minutes 36 seconds
Total distance traveled on the bike: 1425.14 miles
Total overall average speed: 15.22 mph
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