BABY IT'S FRICKIN COLD OUTSIDE

    When you are about to head out on a bike ride and it’s 12 degrees and you get the following advice “Make sure to stay warm”, the first thought is usually snarky. Something like, “Oh yeah, I should probably wear some clothes”. Or “Wow, I thought you need to be cold”. But you know people mean well and at the same time it does afford me a laugh at the obviousness of such an utterance. Kidding aside, riding for 4 days in temperatures from 12 to highs of 30 has a numbing effect on muscles and motivation. Bicycling in high heat has an exhausting effect that usually takes a few hours after the conclusion of a ride to regain ones normal function. But cold has a variation on that and bike touring adds another level of concern. When you know your daylight hours are being spent almost exclusively outdoors and that any over exertion can lead to sweating which leads to moisture gathering inside, you play a balancing act of trying to keep moving and not have your clothing become a wet towel. Ventilation helps but when you’re faced with an artic chill in the wind your windbreaker is makes it bearable but creates an internal environment that builds up moisture, ugh. Then the most formidable issue is keeping your hands and feet warm. For many this is so elusive it prevents many from even going outside in the dead of winter. I managed to fashion some decent hand and feet coverings to keep the cold at bay. Duck down mittens topped off with a waterproof shell accompanied with 2 handwarmers in each (one in thumb pocket). Feet had a thin wool sock, foot warmers, thick wool socks a plastic bag, shoe and a neoprene booty cut up to be large toe covers. With these along with adding and shedding base coverings, I stayed good for most of the time and at worse got a chill. Never did I feel I was about to turn into Frosty. But there is an after effect of being exposed to cold for long periods on a bike. Every night it got harder to feel your normal warmth. You have that chill that sits on you and in the morning, it covers you as a reminder of what lies ahead. Another day of the same fight to stave off the bitter, stinging temps. I will admit as each blustery day came up, the will went down. Moving really was the only real choice anyway.

Starting in 10 degrees is rough

    Why not take more time and enjoy some small Americana towns? There is this romantic picture often painted of the quaint little town in the Bible belt of brick face downtowns with locally owned shops and friendly people that have a simple life free of many modern worries. There is some of that, I’ve enjoyed some of the open farmland, but it is not the norm. Slow was once the lifestyle, now it’s the pace of mortality. Most of these little towns were staving off the eventual death. So many of them had a classic main street the once had windows of goods for locals and tourists to admire but now those storefronts are boarded up or the remaining glass has become a crystal ball that predicts the end times. Then the roadside voyage outside of these decaying towns are littered with abandon houses or trailer parks that resemble a war zone that nature is bombarding. I can’t even begin to know the economic realities that have led to many of these dying towns and I have even less understanding of what would keep someone living in this situation.

Small towns with a lost history, much like the the indigenous suffered 

   The other perplexing aspect along the roadside that never fails to cloudy my mood, is the amount of refuse littering the most remote areas. All those SoCal homeless would hit the motherload along Kansas and Oklahoma. For sure Bud Light is the watered down beer of choice in OK, as the blue cans could lead little red riding hood to the next watering hole. If this is God’s country, as so many churchy billboards made reference too, he sure likes garbage to be used as a confetti to signify his sacred land. As of this the 13 states of ridden, Kansas takes the trophy for how to dispose of your trash not using a disposal unit. Though it had overall worse, by far, the most disgusting area wasn’t even a road and not in Kansas. The OK tourist commission has proud signage of the wonderful Osage Prairie Trail as I entered it in Skiatook. At first it was what you  would want in an off the beaten path bikeway, tree-lined and quaint. But in a couple of miles the clean woodsy feel was replaced with a trail through a dump. I’m sure it wasn’t intended to be so defiled with residents waste, but never, NEVER since the 1970’s have I’ve seen such a vile display of utter disregard of basic local stewardship. There really aren’t enough negative connotations and euphemisms I could use to describe this embarrassment. Well maybe, SHITHOLE! For shame, OK. Colorado and Oregon should be consulted by Kansas and OK as to how they might manage to have the opposing environment.

Miles of garbage lined the Osage Prairie Trail

    Life on the road has it's characters and a reminder that bike touring is one the best ways to draw them out. The sight of a some giant guy riding a fully loaded, a camel on two wheles, draws not only many looks but if you're lucky, it draws some courage from locals to ask 'what the heck are you doing'. Nothing better than proving that you are a bit crazy but it's due to your love of life. I wish it happened more and in those small eating establishments it would be welcomed. Most often you enter, a short silence hits the air and then the banter of local issues continue. Eavesdropping you can most often tell that many conversations have had many revisits and you can't help but think that maybe there really isn't much else interesting happening in their lives. You would assume that I should draw more attention. Maybe I need to rethink my entrance. In Ponce City, OK I did have a guy tell me not to have any pot on me as the local judicial system doesn't like us Californians bringing our weed to OK. He also told me how he keeps his hidden. Life is hard in cow country for a pothead. But one thing is true for all bike tourists, the one conversation that happens more often than you would admit, would be with the local livestock and wildlife. I never pass an opportunity to say 'hello' and a lot more to the nearby beasts. Sometimes a conversation will continue in your head long after their bewildered looks leave your field of view. It is astounding that motorized traffic doesn't make them flinch, but some poor folk on a bike amounts to a human encounter with a space alien. On my way into Powhuska I started two stampedes due to horses get startled among some cattle. The commotion was welcomed by me. 

  

Roadside company

    I’m currently taking some time with a friend in Tulsa to learn more about the area. A future post will view the landscape and history of Tulsa. For now some well deserved brew and leg rest. I also need to find a solution for a nerve pinching in my neck that causes numbness in my left arm. I can relieve it for short periods by stopping or looking down, of which is not recommended for long periods.

    Till next time, CHEERS!