this ride was supposed to be an epic 100+ mile trek. it was supposed to be my first ride through the gypsum hills between coldwater and medicine lodge. it was nothing it was supposed to be.
i woke up at jeff and lori's house in greensburg before my alarm went off. i shaved my face and got everything ready to ride - water bottles filled, clothes laid out, food ready to go.
shortly after 7:00, jeff and i headed to the green bean to get some breakfast. jeff's van was covered in a fine, wind-driven mist as we wound our way to this popular coffee shop. it was only 51 degrees. when we arrived i ordered a tasty ham, egg and cheese croissant and a bottle of minute maid orange juice. jeff chose a cranberry bagel and coffee. when it was all ready, we enjoyed our food over great conversation.
at 7:40, our meal done, we paid then headed back to jeff's. eric and doug were supposed to be there by 8:00. eric was on the front porch when we pulled up. he was dressed in street clothes and he was not excited about riding. he whined about it being too cold and windy. poor baby. he also reported that doug was having car trouble and wasn't sure he could make it to greensburg. he would call back soon.
since we weren't going to leave without doug and eric was not ready to ride, i took the trainer baby to the green bean. he thought hot coffee sounded good. we sat there and talked about this and that until doug called. he asked eric's opinion - not mine! - about riding and the epic ride was postponed.
now, eric and i had a dilemma. what were we going to do? i was geared up to ride, but knew the conditions would have to improve if i was going to get my companion to come with me. i suggested we check the river in kingman, 60 miles to the east. maybe it would be better there. eric was on the way to wichita anyway, so going east made sense. the weather channel predicted high winds, but no rain in kingman. we decided to check it out. we drove back to jeff's and i loaded up all my stuff and headed out.
a little over an hour later, we both pulled up in front of my sister pam's house. it was still misty. the wind was still howling. i hopped out and walked back to eric's suburban. when i saw the look on his face, i knew i would be riding alone today. eric begged off. said he'd live to ride another day. then he drove away. i stood and watched his taillights round the corner and disappear.
what to do? i had a couple of options. drive home and ride or ride old highway 54 east of kingman. i chose the more interesting of the two. i can ride in argonia anyday, so i took my stuff into pam's upstairs bathroom and suited up.
the ride was way more pleasant than i had imagined it would be. the wind was strong, but not in my face on the way out. i cruised along at near 15mph. not fast by any measure, but fast enough on a day like this. i turned around at 120th avenue and headed back to town.
the trip back was awesome! i picked up my speed a bit, riding at or above 17mph most of the way. i powered up a couple of hills at 20mph just because i felt like it.
i rode back into kingman and decided i needed a few more miles, so i pushed on past my turn off and headed south on main. the wind was in my face now, so i didn't ride far. i skipped and hopped over the brick street and the climbed the hill out of town. at the top of the hill, i added an illegal u-turn to my rap sheet and rode back to highway 54. i rounded the corner there and rode back to my turn off and to my sister's.
i put my bike away and then went inside for a shower. sometime during my clean up, pam came in from the school for lunch. we talked and ate together and then i drove home.
bummed that i didn't get to ride the gyp hills. sorry eric was such a weinie. glad i got out to ride. (27.92 miles @ 15.6mph)
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