Sometimes it is Worth the.........Wet

I have been meaning to get away on a couple of overnighter’s recently to only be shut down by other obligations, weather or I must admit a little laziness. One of the local destinations that I have been meaning to ride to is the Cedar Valley Reservoir which is to the west of Garnett. I had heard some great things about the lake and after mapping out a route, I decided that it would be my destination this weekend for an out and back, bike packing trip. So after working Thursday night, and sleeping much of the day away on Friday, I packed up and headed north at a little after five o’clock in the afternoon.

 

 

Having previously ridden the majority of the route just a week ago, I figured with the wind at my back, I could cover the twenty six plus miles and arrive well before dark. The ride north was great. I rode north on Kentucky/Idaho until I reached 1350 Road in Anderson County until reaching Indiana Road just north of Mont Ida. I then rode north on Indiana until I reached 1500 Road. I followed 1500 Road to the east which ends at the entrance to the lake.

 

Having never been there before, I decided to do some exploring and followed the road to the south hoping that I could find a secluded campground. I was in luck. I found a great site off in the woods and right next tot he lake. There were plenty of fire pits and wood for small cook fires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After setting up camp, I decided to take a little swim to cool off. The water was great. After drying off, I decided to start a small fire. PBJ, cashews and a cup of tea made for a decent meal. After my brief dinner, I cast a line for a while and caught a couple of small bass. I have heard that the reservoir is a pretty good fishing lake. I was surprised that there was no one else around. There were no boats on the water and no loud obnoxious drunks to keep me awake all night. It was actually quite peaceful. Once it got dark, I sat down on a nice rock ledge next to the lake and finished a second cup of tea.

 

Tent sleeping for me is more like tent relaxing really. If I slept at all I would be surprised. There were some trains in the distance at times and the wind was pretty consistent but I have no complaints. It’s just me. It takes me a couple of nights to settle in when camping. And the two cups of tea probably did not help any either. When it came time to rise and shine, however I felt pretty good. I started another small cook fire and got some water boiling to fix up some eggs with bacon and tea for breakfast. For dried food, it tasted great.

 

 

 

 

I fished for a little while with no luck and decided to go ahead and ride out early. The weather was looking like rain and I chose ride in it rather than pack my gear wet. I loaded up and headed out. I caught my first storm within the first mile of leaving camp. It was a gully washer with some light hale. It continued the down pour for about a mile and then let up. For the next twenty plus miles the pattern of rain continued off and on. As I passed Hwy 58, west of Colony, it brightened up for a while but by the time I reached Carlyle, it was raining again. The road was pretty slushy which made for some muddy legs. On a positive note however, there was very little wind with the rain and what there was seemed to be out of the west rather than the usual frontal assault when riding southbound in our area.

 

 

 

 

I was able to make it home around eleven this morning and took some time to clean my gear and hang up the tent and sleeping bag. After spraying the mud off of my legs I took a warm shower which felt great. The garage looks like a locker room with clothes and miscellaneous gear hanging everywhere. Fortunately I left early enough to miss the bigger rains this afternoon.

 

 Overall it was a great trip with some great scenery including the beauty of freshly cut wheat fields and newly baled hay. There were no dogs to contend with and the traffic was almost non-existent. I will do this trip again. It makes for a great out and back overnighter through some beautiful rolling hills. I am so glad that I did not let the weather detour me from some long sought after solitude which is simply sometimes worth the………wet.

Enjoy the ride.

Two Marines Riding For A Cause

Hey everyone. I wanted to do a short introduction to a couple of great guys that I met last night and was able to become better acquainted with this morning. Alec and Tobin are riding across the country to raise money for cancer awareness. Tobin is from D.C., and Alec is from New Jersey. They met in Marine Corp Boot Camp and became very good friends. Alec did one tour in Iraq, and spent five years teaching English in China. Tobin continued his military career for eleven years, five of which was in the Army. He did multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Following his time in the military, he completed a Bachelors degree in film making and moved to L.A., to later work construction and other miscellaneous jobs.  

 

I stumbled across these two travelers when I received a phone call at work. Alec told me that he and a travelling companion were riding a bicycle across the country to raise money for cancer awareness. He said that they were just looking for a place to sleep for the night and wanted to make sure that it was alright to sleep in a certain area of town. He told me that they were military veterans and informed me that they had gone to boot camp together. He also said that they were riding because their mothers had died of cancer and they just wanted to do something to draw attention to cancer treatment and research.

 

After speaking with Alec, I decided to head down to the area that they had requested to roll out their sleeping bags in and meet them personally. When I arrived, they wanted to make sure that they could just sleep in their bags where they had laid them out in the middle of the outfield of a ball field just outside of the park. It was my view that as U.S. Military Veterans, having sacrificed and fought for the ground that my children freely play ball on, they could sleep on it if they wanted to. After speaking with my lovely wife, who is always so accommodating, I later invited Alec and Tobin by for breakfast in the morning.

 

 
 
After speaking with them the night before, I went back to meet them in the morning and found them not sleeping so soundly. We headed to the house where we enjoyed their company and they enjoyed a good breakfast.

 Being an avid bicyclist, and former Marine, I had a great conversation with them. They had started out on two bicycles, one of which was pulling a trailer, when they left L.A. Just outside of L.A., one bike fell apart. They were close enough to L.A. that they decided to head back and pick up an old ragged Honda that they would then use as a chase vehicle. They alternated between driving and riding until they reached the Wichita area. Sadly, once reaching central Kansas, Alec got word that his mother in New Jersey was succumbing to cancer. They then drove to New Jersey where he was able to spend a couple of days with his mother before she passed away.

 

 

Once things had settled, they were able to get back on the road and drove back to Wichita where they continued their trek. They said that they were going to be taking the Katy Trail across Missouri, and I was able to give them a couple of helpful tidbits, having ridden the trail last year. We talked of family, travels, and many other things over biscuits and gravy, fresh strawberries, and banana bread. Although their service to our nation was mentioned, it was not talked of much. I did not expect it to be. Men that see such things rarely speak of them. There is a silent understanding between these men that have lived through such times. I am proud of the limited time that I served my country. I am more proud to be able to support those that have given much more.

Following breakfast, it was time to ruck up (short for rucksack) and go. Alec and Tobin graciously thanked us for the hospitality and we said our goodbyes and good lucks. The last time I saw them, their bike was strapped across the roof of their dinged up Honda, and they were headed down the road to accomplish another mission. Semper-Fi boys and God’s speed.

You can follow their journey on Facebook at “Cross Country Cruise Against Cancer." All money donated is being directly given to the cause through a direct link on their site. They are completely covering all travel expenses themselves. Photo's courtesy of Cross Country Cruise Against Cancer.

To Roads End

Have you ever just wanted to head down a road to see where it ends? With the girls in Arkansas, and the boys in various parts of the world, I decided to take a little time and just see how far 1600 Rd., went northbound out of Iola. It was a great ride. I left a little later then I would have liked and I travelled with my overnight gear for two reasons. First, I did not know how far the road would go and I knew that I might have to find a spot to camp should it get too late. Second, I have been riding with a good bit of gear lately to see how the bike handles on gravel and dirt in preparation for another up and coming trip out west.

 

 

 

 

As I road north, I passed through Carlyle, which is a quaint little community just to the north of Iola. The gravel was pretty loose in spots but overall it was a pretty smooth ride. As I continued to ride north, I passed a number of farms and enjoyed the view of numerous corn and wheat fields. I even had a shallow low water area to ride through that was left from all the rain we have had in the last couple of weeks. I later came to an unknown creek where I stopped and grabbed a picture and a drink. Not from the creek but from one of my water bottles. I continued north and eventually crossed in to Anderson County. Once in Anderson County, I rolled on until I saw a sign ahead. It was a yellow sign that had an arrow pointing both to the east and to the west. Apparently I had reached the roads end.

 

 

 

Given the time of day, I decided to go ahead and wind my way back to the southeast and hope to eventually reach Welda and pickup the rail trail there. Knowing that it was going to get dark before I got back home, I figured it would be safer on the trail rather than the road. As I wound my way back to the southeast, I discovered a small community with a few homes, a church and the Mont Ida Meat Company which I previously new nothing of. I eventually made it to Welda after stopping to take a picture alongside a row of hay bales somewhere on 1100 road.

 

 

 

 Following a water refill I headed south. I arrived in Colony just after the sun set. After a short stretch I pressed on. It was a beautiful night and the wind died down a bit after darkness began to fall. Two deer, a raccoon, a turtle, a snake and several rabbits provided occasional company throughout the ride.

 

 Somewhere south of Carlyle, my legs began to cramp up a bit so I decided to walk for a while after crossing Twin Trestles. Shortly after I began to walk, I saw a light approaching from the north behind me. The light was bright enough that at first I thought it was an ATV or some other type of vehicle. As it got closer I could tell it was another cyclist out for an evening ride. I was delighted to discover that it was Randy Rasa peddling back from an extended excursion on his newly purchased single speed. We talked for a couple of minutes and he made sure that I had some lights to finish out my ride in the dark (thanks Randy), and he headed on down the trail. I walked to Rhode Island and then saddled up and completed the remainder of the forty eight mile trek home. After closing the day with a bowl of pasta I slept the night away. It’s a good life.

 

Enjoy the ride.