Morning Everyone,
Our pedalsome protagonists have been on rare form with their multimedia communications in the past two days. Emails (see below), text messages and even a couple of phone calls have helped me get up to date, so consider this a comprehensive post which should answer all your nagging questions and more.
Bottom line is that despite some bad luck on the weather front, the boys are using brute force and canny route improvisation to make steady progress and will soon be done with Kansas, allowing me one last Wizard of Oz reference.
Note: I also found the 'bold' function on the toolbar and figured out how to insert photos into different parts of the text. What will they think of next?
From Thursday overnight:
" Howdy (as they really do all say here) DC,
We're feeling a bit sorry for ourselves tonight. Been a bit scupperred by the weather.
We set off from Scott City planning to head east but were hit by strong (up to 40 mph) easterly headwinds all day. It was virtually impossible to cycle into so we made the bold decision to change our route and head north. We have to go north a bit anyway to get up to NY eventually but this wasn't the route we intended.
We watch The Weather Channel ( Now part of the impressive NBC Universal media portfolio) now as keenly as the Kansas farmers. We met some farmers at a lunch stop and a very engaging guy called Chip told us all about his underground irrigation system for his 2000 acre corn and wheat crop. Given the alternative was resuming cycling against a strong cross wind, we suddenly became phenomenally interested. Chip was a huge guy who looked like he's been on my current diet but without the exercise. He's a great guy and seemed perfectly comfortable not knowing where Wales is. "Hell I'm a Kansas redneck. Why should I care what Wales is?" Perfectly reasonable I thought.
You'll be relieved to know that the Kansas corn and wheat crops have been excellent his year. We made it to Oberlin and found the delightful Landmark Inn (the landlord, Gary keenly read through the blog Dave and was most complimentary') and a bar next door run by a bloke desperately trying to look like Hulk Hogan. Of course being in Kansas, our waitress really was called Dorothy. I asked her where her red shoes were and she was distinctly unimpressed.
The Landmark Inn, Oberlin, KS.
We'll be heading directly east on route 36 in the morning.
Cheers,
CT and Bugs"
Apparently Gary from the Landmark is the latest contributor to the 'Random Acts of Kindness' clique, as the following morning he drove several miles to catch up Buggy & reunite him with his gloves that he'd left behind at the hotel.
I for one was stunned that Paul would have committed such an absent-minded gaffe as forgetting an important item of clothing. If any of his friends and family out there have similar tales of f-wittedness that they would like to share, please get in touch.
Update at time of writing; On Friday they again had high winds to contend with, but battled hard to get ~100 miles done and came to rest in Smith Center (or Centre as you crazy Brits might say), Kansas. Sounding tired but upbeat, Chris was already asking for route advice for the Indiana leg of the trip, which is coming up soon... He had to cut his call short as Buggy was apparently toweling off in the hotel room and asking him for advice on whether to wear undies or 'go commando' ... I have spent the last few hours trying to unsee the mental image that was prompted when I overheard that question. Sorry, I think I just passed it on.
Believe it or not, I actually received the following question from the Lads... How those Kansas evenings must fly by...
"1 other thing.
Help. We spent all day yesterday trying to think of the name of the character played by Christopher Biggins in Porridge. The guy who worked in the kitchen. Its driving us crazy. Can you tell us?"
Well fellas, the answer is of course Lukewarm. Here's some background according to www.sitcom.co.uk/porridge
"Named in dubious honour of his cooking skills, Lukewarm is Slade's best-known 'iron hoof'. Opting for a quiet life with his knitting, his contributions to illicit schemes are usually limited to his skills in the kitchen. Away from his work, he fusses around cellmate Blanco, ensuring he's looking presentable for his parole appearances."
Finally some long awaited reader contributions;
" Lance Armstrong my ar$e ... these two really have got balls!"
M Sibley, London, England.
"Guys, Best of luck with your ride, the cycling community salutes you"
L Armstrong, USA Rising above the cheap jibes.
PS - Happy Birthday Rory Crossen!!
BREAKING NEWS: Saturday Lunchtime, Belleville (Surely Belvoir?- Ed) Kansas.
For proof that they can make friends, see this picture> Nice of these two younger blokes to stop & check on the Lads. Note that the geezer on the left with the Chelsea away kit is riding some sort of foldaway bike - now that's impressive.
