Day 32 Wednesday June 22, 2005, 76 miles (123 km) – Total so far: 1,831 miles (2,947 km)
76.4 Miles and 6:48 Pedal Time
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I got up late, finally rolled outta bed at 6:30am. I was up late writing journal entries and talking on the phone. I wasn’t very prepared for the morning. I finally got on the bike around 8:30.
The wind came out around 9:30 and it was blowing to the north. I got lost for about 6 miles and spent an hour looking for a highway that didn’t exist and had to back track. I was worried about hitting unpaved roads if I didn’t ride back to where I got lost.
I rode north in a strong tailwind for about 15 miles. After my tailwind was over I popped a spoke. While I was fixing my spoke a 2 east bounders on trek 520’s rode by. They gave me some tips on a detour I am going to take a few days and told me where they got a free lunch.
It was about 95 degrees out all day long. I stopped at a restaurant called ‘Lizard Lips’ and ordered a cheese burger. From the minute I walked in everyone there was happy to see me. While I was eating 2 more cyclists came in. They were riding cross country but they weren’t following the Trans am, just hacking their way across with state maps. Another gentleman showed up who lived close by, but he also rides long distances. The 4 of us hung out for a while talking about touring and riding bikes. I was at lizard lips for about 2.5 hours just hanging out. I didn’t care it was so hot out and I was having too much fun talking to everyone.
The gentleman from the store informed me that the bicycle race across America will actually be passing through the road we were on this evening.
After I left the store I rode pretty fast to Eureka the next town and I was at 75 miles for the day. I stopped at the edge of town and sat there for a few minutes debating if I should go further. The next place to camp was about 35 miles away and it was getting late. So I turned around. I would have ridden it if I didn’t get lost and get a late start.
I found the city park and the 2 guys I met at the store were there. We sat around talking and telling stories about all the crazy shit that has happened to us on our trips. I ate a tuna fish sandwich for dinner and they gave me some of the taco concoction they had cooked.
I unpacked my tent and it was disgusting. The last time I packed it up, it was a little moist and I haven’t opened it in a few days. (I kind of forgot about it) My tent poles looked like they were about to explode, but I managed to get the tent set up with the broken poles. I should have my new tent poles tomorrow that are if I don’t beat them to the post office.
The bugs were horrendous and all 3 of us were getting destroyed. I was in the tent by 9:30. There were bugs in the tent but I tried to forget about it and just go to sleep. I don’t even care about the bus bites anymore. Just cover me already. It was humid and sticky but luckily I had my Coleman tent fan keeping me cool.
I haven’t had time to look at my pictures from the day. I’ll upload them onto this page another time. I’m probably going to edit this post later with my pictures.
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Click Here to Visit Previous Page: Day 31: Golden City MO–> Chanute KS
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