KANSAS

We can't get out of Dodge. Seriously.

My mom swears someday this will be funny but right now it is downright irksome. We have been trying unsuccessfully for three and a half days now to get out of Dodge City, Kansas. Apparently there is some kind of curse on this place that makes it impossible to exit its bovine perfumed premises.

Last Friday Ryan's bike finally broke enough spokes to make us realize it was pretty messed up. With no bike shops between us and the Mississippi we were forced to scoot to the nearest town with a train station. The plan was to hop (perfect train verb) aboard with the bikes and take them to Chicago. There we'd get them fixed and then take off to Vermont or the Great Lakes' parks for our last two weeks of freedom. Nice plan but one catch- it was Memorial Day weekend.

Hope ya'll had a good one. Ours stunk. (Literally. Remember the cows? They don't just feed them here, they also slaughter them. Mmm.) We tried bus depots, the train station, rental car lots and unicycle shops but everything was closed up good. The train that came through at midnight everynight would take us but Not our bikes, we'd have to ship them home. But what reputable FedEx, UPS or post office is open on Memorial Day weekend? The answer, in Dodge City, is none. I suppose we're lucky we even found food to eat or a place to stay. We had just mailed all our camping stuff home a day earlier. Of course.

So, you get the picture. We've rode around town, read a lot of books, watched some C-SPAN, and slept a bunch. In a way, it's a nice opportunity to mellow and transition from the bicycling part of this trip to the visiting friends section. It was just frustrating to feel stuck at other's mercy when we've been the boss of this trip for so long. Fate had to knock us down a peg I guess.

So that's my update from Dodge. We took apart the bikes and shipped them home today. It was a tearful farewell, I even kissed mine goodbye. Now we're on foot in a town that hasn't discovered the miracle of sidewalks. Train to Chicago tonight, where everything changes. No more bike shorts or helmet hair! How bizzare, I'd become attached.

I miss you all! Thanks for following along. I'll write again if adventures continue, as they undoubtably will, in our new, urban, bike-less environments.

love, kai
xoxo


Flats repaired: 7
Spokes broken: 7
Last Day: 60 miles
Total Mileage: nearly 2,200 mi!!!! Yahoo. Can't wait to do the second half next year. Anyone interested in joining me?

Photos!!!

Big news: I posted photos of our trip! Finally.

To see them click on a photo in the photo collage to your right under "Links." It should take you to my flickr photo page. Click on Bike Trip photo set and then either click on Detail or Slideshow. Email me if you have difficulties/questions/rave reviews.

And that's that. Enjoy!

Love, me in Denver

PS Don't forget Ryan's page with the photos taken with the nicer camera. www.rockomo.com

COLORADO

We're in Telluride, CO. Not by choice. Ryan's red racer broke down as we flew down Lizard Head Pass in SW Colorado so we couldn't make it to cheaper territory. Don't get me wrong, Telluride is adorable in a yippie huppie, Port Townsend meets Whistler meets Portland's pearl district meets 20 somethings with trustfunds sort of way. Everyone on bikes drinking microbeers and walking their dog Blue in the park. I could live here for a few months, it's not a bad vibe but Ryan can't wait to get out of here. Maybe because he footed the ludicrious motel bill. Ouch. $$$

All in all, Colorado is a nice change of pace. More water, more trees, less mini-mart dinners. (When did rural america start eating so poorly?) Utah was truly spectacular, experiencing the parks by bike was eye-opening to say the least. I could finally keep up with Ryan because he stopped so often to take photos of the heart-quickening scenery. Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef were my favorite. We had time to hike in the freezing sunshine through the pinnacling rock which was a trip. 10 steps down the trail and you leave the flocks of noisy tourists behind. Doesn't anyone wonder what's beyond the lookout point? More peace and quiet for us I suppose.

The wind has been a force to reckon with but it changes directions often as do we. As the pres says, it's either with us or against us, more often the latter. We've been pondering the behavioral psychology of people who honk at us. I think now we can tell who's friendly (short honks after they pass us and a wave), who's nervous (one honk before they pass which startles us off the road) and who's a jerk (series of long honks and yelling out window "get a job!") We've become continental breakfast snobs- what? no fruit?- but we're camping more anyways as the weather warms up. I've become quite adept at fuzzy math and mileage manipulation, which will certainly not help my GREs this summer. But it's just too tempting to round up here and round down there and say, Look! only 10 more miles to go! Speaking of miles, we had our hardest day yet, 88 miles through 90 degree desert from Lake Powell to the border of CO. No shade, long sleeves to protect from sunburns, conserving water incase we didn't make it. I'll admit, my mood was not pretty midday. Let's just say I wasn't of my sweetest temperment. But we did it and now we only have a few more days of mountains and then it's free flying flat farmland until our time is up and we hop on a train. Cross your fingers that we'll get to dip our front, well-loved, well-patched tires into the great Mississippi. Then we'll feel like we at least made it somewhere!

Hope all is well with all of you. I am sad that cell reception has been very nonexistent, I've fallen out of touch. Hope to make it up to everyone this summer! Come to PT! I might be guiding kayak tours. What?

Miss you.

Love, Kai

P.S. I have the most hilarious tan lines ever. Good thing I'm not in Maui, they would shun me for sure. But among cyclists, it's a badge of cool. I'm in the club.

Miles today: 68
Miles total: 1,503
Number of flats: 7 (mostly mine)
Broken spokes: 4 (all Ryan's)
Feeling of summiting a 10,000 ft mountain: priceless

UTAH

We're in red rock Mormon country now. It is a stunningly beautiful blue sky day. The weather reporters were Wrong. We should have pedaled out of Cedar City, UT today. Oh well, we'll leave tomorrow, early. We went to a thrift store and I bought clothes I neither need nor have room for in my panniers. But it feels so great to be wearing something different! I'm getting a little tired of the same three shirts.

When we rolled into this town I thought we had landed in cyclist hell. Cars honked at us, ran us off the road and some kids even airhorned us, nearly knocking us off the tiny shoulder. Then to top it off some guy on the Other side of the road, four lanes of traffic away from us honks to get our attention and flips us off. Nice to know you're welcome in a town. Jeeze. Happily, things have gotten better and everyone we've met since that first fateful evening has been very nice. Fatigue and weather has kept us here for a day or two but now it's on to the Parks!

We have rendevouzed here with a cyclist we met in Baker, NV. He's on the same route as us for the next few days and we share not only awkward helmet tans but also political beliefs which is rare to find in these parts. We are enjoying his company and wackiness and look forward to visiting him in France next spring. Traveling is the quintessential networking tool.

We've become known among the other cyclists as the "couple from Oregon" on this popular west-east route. We know the cyclists who are a few days in front of us and those behind us are sure to catch up soon. It's a neat community, news travels fast up and down the path. Ryan broke three spokes and his wheel looked all bent to heck. But it's fixed now. Nothing can stop us! We hope.

Time to go carb load for our ride tomorrow. Thinking fondly of all of you! Stay in touch.

Clif bars, dried apricots and warm water bottles,
Kai

xoxo

P.S. What the heck is China up to? Are we really going to pull troops this fall? And who are YOU going to vote for President 2008?