Day 44, Lake Toronto to Eureka, Kansas.

There are a lot of these small ponds. A lot of them from what I understand are man made for the live stock. But many are natural and serve as a refuge for wild live.

Oh oh, a fatality..........................., I'm talking about the bicycle tire to the right. It was worn out, and had duct tape on the inside. It was one of two we saw today.

Here's a closer shot. I had to get rid of one of those about a thousand miles back. My tire had an inch long slash on the side wall.

Toronto Lake. Where we camped last night. Not the prettiest lake on the planet, but since it was a week day, we almost had the place to ourselves.

This is Richard from Florida. He's retired, and doesn't care how long it's going to take.

Down town Toronto at 7 o'clock in the morning.

Our camp site. $8.50 gets you a good sized site, a lantern holder, a picnic table, fire place, and access to water and facilities.

Late afternoon by the lake. Peaceful, quiet, and HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

Just before the sun came up this morning, I shot this. An 8 second shutter at ISO 100, set to cloudy day white balance. The long exposure allows the colors to saturate, giving it a deeper, crisper feel.

Rolling into Eureka at high noon.

A RAAM rider going for speed. One of three we saw today.



Day 44, Lake Toronto to Eureka, Kansas. "Short And Easy". 23.86 miles.

Last night at Lake Toronto, we were able to secure a spot right next to the water. We set up our tents and waited for the heat to cool down before deciding about dinner. I took a shower, but within ten minutes, was soaked from perspiration, and needed to take another one before retiring for the night. It was so hot that I slept with my towel to dry off through out the night.

We got an early start this morning to try to beat the heat. It was a short two mile ride into town where we stopped by the deli for breakfast. Biscuits and Gravy with coffee was only $2.50. It was only 7:00AM, but the temperature was already in the high 80"s and rising fast. We put on our sun screen, and headed out of town.

It wasn't long before we met an east bounder just a couple of mile out of Toronto. He was on a recumbent. We stopped to chat for a few minutes, started in San Fransisco, rode north to Astoria, Oregon to begin the Trans-America. He told us of an unfortunate situation yesterday when his bag containing his computer, cell phone and all his electronics fell off his bike. By the time he realized what happened, he was several miles down the road. He had to back track, and when he found it, the bag had broken open from the impact, and everything inside was a total loss. Bummer, but he was over it by the time we met him. We exchanged info on up coming conditions, and wished each other luck as we moved on.............................. About a mile or so further up the road, we met another east bounder. An older guy on a Trek touring bike. He was fully loaded, and was retired, and not concerned with how long his tour was going to take. We talked with him for a while. His name is Richard, from Florida. Once Lisa and I got on the Interstate leading to Eureka, it was quite nice. The traffic was light at this time of the day, it was still in the 80's, and we were moving along at a comfortable average of about 15 miles an hour. We saw three RAAM riders coming the opposite direction. They were accompanied by support vans with extra bikes mounted on them. They were moving too fast to bother with a couple of loaded tourist. RAAM is an acronym for Race Across America. These guys try to make it from coast to coast in the fastest time. Individuals can do it in about two weeks, and teams can do it in ten days. What a waste of time and energy. But who knows, I might try that next year................ NOT! (Correction, I just checked the RAAM website. the fastest individual completed the 3000 plus mile coast to coast race in less than 8 days. That's right, he averaged 15 point something miles an hour.)

We pulled into Eureka at about noon. Really, we were so surprised that we didn't know what to do with ourselves. The clerk at the Blue Stem Lodge was nice enough to let us have the room early so that we wouldn't have to wait around another couple hours. After settling in and showering, we went across the street to the bowling alley where there is a
Chinese restaurant, and had the buffet. All you can eat for $6.99. I had two plates full. We wanted to do some bowling afterward, but the computer for the scoring was out, so they were closed for the next couple of days. Booooooooo, I wanted to go bowling. Tomorrow is another rest day. Laundry, sight seeing, who knows. Bye for now, Alooooha, Ted.

Day 43, Chanute to Lake Toronto.

Fronting our camp site at Lake Toronto was the so called beach. Typical of a man made lake, the sand was brought in since these lakes are usually made by damming a valley or something. The color of the water you ask? Let's just say it's not blue, and you wouldn't want to go in with while under wear on.

I thought I saw a school of papio just off shore. If only I had my black grubs with me.

When i have the time, I'll stop at every opportunity to examine the natural setting of the area. This was one of many small ponds that form from run off either naturally, or directed by some sort of drainage system. The have their own little Eco. system in it self.

Same pond, different angle. There was a little concrete plat form I was able to get to so I could shoot this with out all the bushes in the way.

I don't know when the last time this baby seen action, but I'm sure glad I'm not riding it across America.

Down town Toronto. During the heat of the day, there's no one out side. We ended up seeking shelter from the heat in the Public Library.

Flowers are one of natures gifts to the world. There are so many different kinds, and they are all beautiful. Just like women, they get my attention.

You could get lost in one of these things. If you look real close, there is like a whole world in there all in it self.

We had Lunch at this Deli. It was the only place in town for a meal. So we thought. After coming out of there, the folks at the Senior Center offered us food, but had to turn it down cause we were stuffed.

The tallest building in down town Toronto.

This is a smart cow. He watched me perspire while he was enjoying a day at the pool.

Him and his buddies know how to spend a hot summer afternoon.

This was the only store for about 3 miles. Lonnie, the owner has been to Hawaii.

I stopped to take a you know what. And took this picture just for the hell of it.

It's funny how every road out of town looks the same. This could have been any one off a dozen towns we left.

The beach in front of our camp.

If you could only see how well disciplined and physically toned this guy is. Proof, life doesn't end at 50.


Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Day 43, Chanute to Lake Toronto, Kansas. “110 Degree Ride In The Sun”. 45.35 miles.

I never thought I would complain about the heat. And in reality, complaining doesn’t solve much, so I’ve learned to just bear it. But when the locals around here tell you you’re crazy , then maybe it’s something worth considering. Today was probably as hot as I’ve had to endure. We only did about 45 miles today, and most of that was done well before 2 o’clock. In fact, by lunch time, we had gone 25 miles. But as soon as we got on the bike again, it was scorching.

This morning I got up at 5:30, but didn’t want to get out of bed cause Lisa had set the A/C on high all night, and it was freezing. I lay there for about a half hour before having to go use the bathroom , and since I was up. I turned the darn thing off, and looked outside. It was already pretty warm out there. We took advantage of the free Continental Breakfast before packing up our stuff for the long day ahead. As we made our way through the streets of Chanute, it was only then that we realized how big this town was. We had actually been staying at the out skirts of town, not in the town itself. It took us about two miles out of our way before being able to get on the route leading out of town. Lucky for us, Kansas is pretty flat, so all this extra mileage wasn’t really hurting us yet. Out on the road we found miles and miles of straight, wide open, and lightly traveled pavement. You could see for miles, and aside from the slight ungulations in the form of the lay of the land, it was so straight, you could spot a mouse crossing the road a mile away. Roads like this can get pretty boring. You notice stuff because your mind starts wandering. That squeak coming from the pedals is now almost deafening. I’ll have to take a look at that tonight for sure. Also, you start thinking about the heat. Not so much because it’s a big problem, but because it’s there, and you know it’s getting worse by the minute. So you drink fluids. The problem with that is that the fluids are at the same temperature the heat is. Like drinking hot water while sitting in an oven. So you stop at the few shady spots along the way, and try to cool off. It helps a lot.

We stopped to rest an get water in one small town that only had a population of 98. Sorry, I forgot the name. The town didn’t have anything in it, but a park with one picnic table. Since no one was there, we got it. The park had no water, no restroom, no nothing. In fact, we didn’t see anyone except the Internet guy who couldn’t help us one bit. We didn’t get the water we wanted, but had enough to make it to our final destination for the day. A few miles down the road, we came across a bar and grill. We knew they would have cold drinks, but when we turn in to the parking lot, the sign on the door said, “Sorry We’re Closed” So on we went.

We came to a bend in the road with a fork leading straight ahead that was made of gravel. The map looked like the route was straight ahead, but was confused that it was a gravel road. We decided to take the paved road, but turned around after a half mile, cause there was no indication of what road we were really on. Even my GPS didn’t show the names of these roads. That’s how far in the boonies we are. We flagged down a truck driver coming from the gravel road. He stopped and directed us in the right direction.

We finally made it to the town of Toronto, and found a deli where we ate a real meal. As we left the deli. A lady from the Senior Center called us and said if we wanted lunch, it was free. But since we just got through eating a big meal, we thanked her and declined. People are so nice in these parts. We went over to the library to get out of the heat. They only had 3 computers, and all of them were in use, so I didn’t get a chance to catch up on e-mail and stuff.

Tonight we are at Lake Toronto camping next to the water. Nice place, but it is hot. Good night, Aloha, Ted.

Day 42, Pittsburg to Chanute, Kansas.

Click on the map to enlarge it to see where we are.

This train crossing is haunted. Either that, or somebody is having fun with bicycle riders passing through here.

How far do you suppose the road goes before it disappears?

Now these are Texas Long Horns. I know that with out even looking twice. They seemed pretty content with what ever the were doing.

This tree died some how, and it didn't even fall over yet. But by judging from the next photo. I wonder if it died from fright when the tornado hit.

Hurricane damage. But how long ago was it? Two days ago there were 1200 tornado sighting in the mid-west. Oh, oh, I think that's where we're headed.

A lot of wheat in Kansas. Makes it hard to unleash my photographic skills when all you have to shoot is wheat.

I was too lazy to stop, so I took this shot while rolling at a reasonable 14 miles an hour.

It is pretty flat around here. Too much of this and it might start to get boring.

That barn looked like the thing caught on fire and burned.

I had to take this picture. Only because I thought it unique that the trailer said TransAm on it. Get the simularity?



Day 42, Pittsburg to Chanute, Kansas, "Flat, But Hot!" 57.25 miles.

It was a good call on Lisa's part for a rest day. Although we didn't get much done: Like laundry, bowling, movie, and fun stuff like that, we did get the essentials done. We ate, and we ate again. Then when we got hungry, we really ate. Actually, it's not as bad as it sounds. We eat good, but not so much that we're pigging out.

Since the internet at the Supper 8 wasn't working, we decided to go to the Starbucks down the road a bit and see if we could use their connection. What they don't tell you, is that you need to buy the connection. I paid five bucks fro three connections, but only used two. Who knows? I might still be able to use the last one down the road somewhere. By the way, they gave me free coffee. Thanks Starbucks.

Although we got up a little late, and took our time at the Continental Breakfast, we were still on the road by 8:30AM. We knew the route would be mostly flat, but we also knew that once the afternoon sun started beating down, it was going to be hot. I'm glad that the moisture had dissipated out of the air, it was a drier heat than the previous days. I didn't sweat nearly as much. I have a personal adviser who is a trained professional when it comes to stuff like dehydration. So I follow her recommendations, and I'm back to my old, I mean, regular self again.

The miles rolled by pretty easily. By lunch, we had already gone over 30 miles. Stores and gas stations are far and few in between around here. We ran into nothing till the town of Walnut. And even then, there wasn't much. We ate there at the Walnut Express Stop, anyway, and I'll have to admit, the food was pretty good. I call my brother Ralph, who is vacationing in Florida with his wife Carol and my mom. They will be driving to Topeka, Kansas, and will be there this Friday the 26th. Lisa and I are trying to time it so that we are in Newart, Kansas at that time, so they can drive down and see us. So we are actually doing shorter days so that we meet with them.

After lunch, I loaded up on the Power Ade, and water along with the few snacks that I already had, and we were off. The heat was immediately eminent. It was like stepping into a blast furnace with a fan blowing in your face. Fortunately, the road was lined with big trees that offered shade for the first couple of miles, and by then it didn't matter cause we were already at the point of no return.

The land scape changed from farm land to ranch land, and back and forth for most of the day. A funny thing happened that left Lisa and I with an unanswered question on our minds. While we were approaching a train crossing, the lights started flashing, and the bells started ringing. Signaling that a train was only 30 seconds away. I was excited, I pulled up to the stop sign, and got out my camera. This was going to be great. We looked to the left, and we looked to the right. There was no train in sight. Then, the lights stopped flashing, and the bells stopped ringing, and the wooden arms lifted to allow us to cross. There was no one else around to witness this. After all, who knows where we were..................................? We later passed a golf course, but only saw one guy out on the course swinging. According to the weather report, the heat index feels like 110 degrees right now as I am writing this. So you can just imagine how hot it was..................... Once we crossed Interstate 59, we knew we didn't have much more to go. 15 miles to be exact. 15 miles sounds like a lot. And it is, but after riding through all the hills of Virginia and Missouri, 15 mile on flat land is nothing.

We rolled into Chanute a little before 3 o'clock, and checked into The Safari Inn. I showed the clerk my Hawaii drivers license as an ID, and he wanted to know if the Hi.(For Hawaii) was somewhere in China. I assured him it was part of the US. I'm just glad I wasn't wearing my Kamakazi Tee-shirt.

First order oif business? Laundry, yep, I used my last pair of under wear last night. Sorry, no movie tonight, the theater is in the next town 20 miles away. Aloha everyone, Thank you all for everytnig.

Below is a video clip of the Kansas flat land.

Day 41, Rest day, Pittsburg, Kansas,

This book store had everything except what we wanted. They even had Surfer magazine. We spent over an hour in there escaping the heat.

If you've been to one Wal-Mart, you've been to them all. This one was no different. It had what I wanted, but I forgot what I needed.


Sunday, June 21, 2009

Day 41, Pittsburg. Rest day.

Sorry I didn't take more pictures today. I really wanted to, and was planning to. But the heat was so bad, that being inside was much more inviting. The town of Pittsburg is quite large. With a population of about 20,000, it boasts a variety of services. It is one of only four towns that we’ve been to that has a bike shop. And one of only a handful that has a movie theater. The only problem is, that this town is so spread out, that everything is too far to walk to. From one end to the other, it’s over five miles. Even on a bike, it’s a bit much to get around.
Today Lisa and I opt. to stay in the South Broadway area where our motel is. There are several eateries in the area, as well as a Wal-Mart, and a variety of shops and chain outlets. The heat was on again today. But since we were not riding, we were able to seek shelter from the heat in various locations. Wal-Mart is always a treat to browse through. There is so much on display, and the prices are always a bargain. The trouble is, we can’t get anything, cause we don’t have any place to put um, let alone take it with us all the way across the country.
The wind here in Kansas is a bit on the strong side. I’m not sure if this is normal for these parts, but it’s much stronger than on Molokai on a normal Trade wind day. I’m wondering how this is going to affect our ridding tomorrow. The good thing about the wind is that it will make the ride a little cooler, the bad thing is that we’ll be fighting the wind constantly the whole time. The heat index tomorrow is forecasted to be 102 degrees. I’m praying for cloud cover for most of the day.
We’ve heard from riders ahead of us, that the wind is so bad, that they are only doing about 30 or so miles a day. Our plan is to see how we feel by mid afternoon, and decide weather or not to go on. Hopefully the wind will either die down, or change direction as the days progress. As the day heats up, I’ve been taking my back pack and strapping it on top of my trailer. It makes it a little cooler, but the added weight can really be felt. I keep things I need handy in my back pack. Such as my computer, jacket, baggy shorts, first aid kit, I-touch, cell phone, sun block, and soon, my water bladder for the camelbak. It weighs about 20 pounds. I’ve been able to stuff all my other stuff into the water proof duffle bag. It takes careful organizing to make everything fit. All I have left is the cooler with our food that’s strapped to a modified bike rack at the rear of the trailer. The whole thing including the trailer weighs about 55 pounds. My bike also has a handle bar mounted bag that houses my DSLR, snacks, mini tripod, and other small items I can easily reach when needed. I also have a trunk rack mounted to my seat post that contains my arm warmers, leg warmers, bicycle pump, spare tube, bike lock, repair tools, energy drinks, more snacks, sun block, extra gloves, and some emergency stuff that I can get to with out too much trouble. On my handle bar I have my GPS unit, head light, cyclometer, a bear bell, pepper spray, and my I-pod nano. I’m guessing that whole thing weighs close to 40 pounds. I really is a chore loading everything up, and a big deal trying to park the darn thing. But some how we manage.
Since arriving in Yorktown over six weeks ago, only one person recognized the Hawaiian flag I have mounted on the rear of my trailer. Everyone thinks it’s a British flag. How depressing. I was hopping that it would be a beacon letting people know that we are from Hawaii. So much for that. Good night for now, I miss you all. Aloha, Ted.

Day 40, Ash Grove, Missouri to Pottsburg, Kansas

These are how they water the crops. Looks kind of high tech. To get um to align just right and be in sync, I'm assuming the whole thing is computerized.

A nice little water fall if you can call it that. We are now in flatter terrain, so the land scape has change quite a bit.

These are the spigots around here. It took me a while to figure them out, but if there isn't a lock on it, all you gotta do, is pull the handle all the way up.

This was a neat little surprise. We pulled into this city park in Everton, a small town of about 300, to use the restrooms. Just as we crossed the train track about 40 yards back, a coal train fully loaded came by. Sorry, no picture.

All the farms folks have their own little creative way of displaying mail boxes. i liked this one the best.

We came across a little creek with turtles playing around in it. I got off my bike to take pictures of them, but as soon as they seem me coming, they all took off. I had to wait about 10 minutes just to get this one shot.

Welcome to Kansas, I was never so happy to leave a place than I did today. Missouri sucked as far as hill go.

They were harvesting wheat today. They only cut off the tops. I guess they plow the rest under to use as fertilizer or something.

We stopped at a church to look for water. We didn't find any, but we found this. A bee hive in the wall.

One of if not the last hill in Missouri. It doesn't look like much in the picture, but it was more than a thousand we climbed in Missouri alone.

This is Bret, an east bounder from Washington going to Virginia we met at the city park camp ground in Ash Grove. Real nice guy, would like to come to Molokai some day to visit.

Britney and George. Two Friends starting from Pueblo, Colorado going to Virginia. Friends of theirs told them they gotta do this, so they did.


Day 40, Ash Grove, Missouri to Pittsburg, Kansas. “Welcome To Kansas. 73.48 miles. (1701 miles total).

Boy what a difference a day makes. Yesterday I was on the verge of giving up. Totally depleted of any desire to continue. The heat had got to me in a way that I‘ve never experienced before. I was dehydrated, and I had a hard time making it any further. If it wasn’t for the promise of flatter terrain just ahead, I would have probably taken another rest day, or maybe even pay somebody to drive me to Kansas.
Today however, is another story. I felt well rested, and I knew that I had another chance at redeeming myself. We climbed our last Missouri hill today, actually there were three of them, but since we knew they would end real soon, it didn’t bother us one bit. We are now in the flat land of Kansas. We decided to take a rest day tomorrow while we are in Pittsburg. This is a large town of almost 20,000. This town has everything including Wal-Mart, a bowling alley, and a theater.
Last night the heat was unbearable. Being in a tent with the rain fly in tact, with the temperature in the 80’s, and absolutely no breeze is like being in a sauna. I didn’t want to take the rain fly off, because there was talk earlier about some rain. I slept with my towel close by, it was that hot.
In the morning, Marilyn came by to check up on us, but only George was up. I was in my tent preparing my entry for my blog. Once everyone was up, we all started getting our things together for our ride. We bid each other good luck and happy riding, while we slipped away one by one. We pulled into a café for breakfast. I ordered the breakfast special. The food was good, but was served way too much. I couldn’t finish it all. On our way out, we met a gentleman driving a custom made hot rod. He and a friend was just pulling in for some breakfast as we were leaving. “Nice car”. I said. “Thanks, where you guys headed?” he asked. From there we talked about our ride and asked him about the terrain ahead. He told us that we were just about out of the hills, and will be riding on flat land once in Kansas. We were glad to hear that. “Just one thing.” He said. “You’ve got three more big hills before coming to a bend in the road. From there on everything is flat.” He said. The sounded like he knew what he was talking about, so we took his word at it, and headed down the road.
There wasn’t going to be much for the first seven or eight miles, so we pondered on weather or not to get something for the road. We decided it can wait since we just had breakfast. It was over cast, so the temperature wasn’t quite there yet. But everyone we had talked to, told us that it was going to get hotter than yesterday. I was prepared for the battle. I didn’t take much pictures at first. We were rolling along at such a comfortable speed, that it seemed a shame to stop. I did take a few with my point and shoot while I was riding, just so I’d have something for today’s entry.
We pulled up to the intersection where the store was supposed to be, but it was closed, or should I say, “Abandoned“. Lisa thought this might be the case, so reminded me to refill all my water bottles before we left. So it wasn’t like we were out. But still, the thought of a nice, ice cold, drink was something I was looking forward to……………. We moved on, a few miles later, be came across a church. We stopped to see if anyone was around, and see if they had a drinking fountain or something. There was none of the above. As we were walking around, we noticed a very well kept grave yard out back. One of the best maintained ones I’ve seen. We rode around it (I was actually looking for water), and noticed that some of the head stones dated back to the early 1800’s. I saw one that read 1807.
We pushed on. The roads by this time became straight. I was I had auto pilot for my bike. I could have taken a nap while riding………… Off in the distance, we could see something, maybe a gas station, or store, or maybe even a town. As we got closer, we could see it was an intersection. At that point, we would go from highway Z to highway A. When we got there, we noticed that what we saw was a couple of big farming equipment supply stores. I mean big ones. We almost didn’t stop, but figured what the hell. I’m glad we did. Inside they had cold drinks, a vending machine, cold water fountain, candy, even food. We sat on comfortable sofa type seats drinking our PowerAde and talking with the owner. Come to find out, his family was one of the original settlers in these parts, and knew the history well. He told us that where the store was, used to be a town called Pennsville. William Penn’s son, came here with his 13 daughters, established the town, and gave each one of them 135 acres as they got married. There used to be stores, a bank, restaurant, etc. The town failed because they had expected a rail road to pass through there, but never did.
We ended up with conflicting reports as to how far Pittsburg was. A Missouri DOT sign said it was 23 more miles, five miles later another signs said 14 more miles, and a local that we talked to said it was only 8. We believed the local guy, since he told us he drove that road everyday. Well, he was wrong. The first sign we saw that said 23 was the right one. We knew we would eventually get there, and since it was almost flat riding, I didn’t mind at all. Even the head wind didn’t bother us too much. I think pulling the trailers actually gives us an advantage in head wind. Because of all that extra weight behind us, it pushes us when we stop peddling.
We crossed the Kansas-Missouri boarder. I was disappointed, the sign was a small one, and up pretty high, so taking a picture with us in it was not ideal. But then I remembered. We were on one of those seldom traveled back roads, so we were lucky to even get a sign…………….. We finally rolled into Pittsburg. One of the very few times that we didn’t have to climb a big hill to enter a town. Pittsburg is a lot bigger than I had imagined. It is spread out for at least 2 or 3 miles. Once entering the city limits, we rode another two miles to get to our motel. Tomorrow we get to explore this town since it will be a rest day. Aloha to you all, and thank you again for all the prayers. Aloha, Ted.