Day 55 – Chanute, Kansas to Pittsburg, Kansas

The Dogs are Barking

I had woken up extra early in Chanute on Tuesday due to noise in the city park.  Earlier the day before I had seen a young  cyclist cruising by on her racing bike while at one of the stores along the way.  As I was packing up at 5:30 she walked over to me and introduced herself. Her name was Stephanie and she’s going to Yorktown as well, but with the support of her friend who is driving a camper van.  Stephanie brought to me a nice bag full of all kinds of snack food for the day’s ride, which was quite nice of her.

Charlie and I were riding together again and probably will be for the next few days.  His wife is driving over from California and they will meet up on Sunday.  From there they will meet at the end of each day and eventually Charlie will head northeast, with Buffalo as the end of his ride.

Tuesday was a near repeat of Monday with exceptional weather and nice scenery. Charlie and I found that we’re both directionally challenged lately (as on Sunday) when we thought we missed a turn outside of Chanute, so we turned around and went back a couple miles.  Then we realized that we didn’t miss the turn and had to bike the two miles back again.

We arrived in the town of Walnut around lunch time. Very nice with a population of 200. There’s a bar called His and Hers and also a store. Charlie wanted a hamburger so we went to His and Hers.  You walk in and all you see are tables full of men the size of small trucks sitting around waiting for their cheeseburgers.  These guys are big. And it’s just one poor woman behind the counter running the place so the service takes a while.

While sitting at the bar looking at the map a guy came up and sat down next to us, saying “That map looks familiar.”  His name was Rick.  He’s a mostly retired accountant living in Chanute and was biking through town himself. It turns out he had done the Trans Am in stages over the years, most recently going from West Yellowstone to the Oregon coast, finishing in early September.  This meant that he and I had crossed paths with each other at some point.

The three of us had a great conversation about life on the road, towns along the way and how you need to appreciate the trip while out here, not waiting until it’s over to look back fondly at it.

Further up the road, with nothing around it but green countryside, was a Lutheran church. We had heard about this place as they allow cyclists to stay in a building behind the church.  Charlie had spoken with a woman on the phone who explained to him that the door was unlocked and to help yourself to the facilities. What a place it was. Clean and comfortable with a sign saying to have whatever is in the refrigerator. It was really too bad that we hadn’t done enough miles for the day to stay there, but we did help ourselves to some cake– with chocolate syrup poured on top (you don’t feel too bad about over indulging while riding).  I still can’t get over the generosity along the way and the fact that in places like this they just leave the door open for people to pop in and stay.

You hear stories from others about dogs along the route when you get into Missouri, and especially Kentucky where some of the backwoods types don’t keep them penned in. We’re already starting to see that.  I was chased by a little dog, Charlie as well and you’re hearing more and more dogs barking through wire fences, probably wishing they could join in the chase. So it’s going to be interesting to see how things develop from here on out.

Upon arriving in the town of Pittsburg, where the nickname of the college is the Gorillas, which I thought was great, Charlie and I ran into Marcus and Kirsty in front of a local bike shop. They are the couple from England who are finishing up a two year around the world trip. It was great to see them again as I didn’t think I would. Kirsty said “Hey, it’s like a reunion!”  Between meeting Stephanie early in the morning, Rick at lunch, the church stop and what they offer, and Marcus and Kirsty at the end of the day, you realized again that the trip is full of great things going on and great people along the way.  Fantastic day.