A Wet and Cold Day in Liberal, Kansas.

Since the forecast called for rain, Thom and I had not set a meet time for breakfast this morning. We both slept late and met as we left our rooms at 6:30 am. The Wichita TV station news was on the TV in the lobby. There was a story about the new baseball stadium in Wichita. The former Mayor showed a painting of Lou Schwcheimer who oversaw the construction of the stadium. Lou was the former General Manager of the Pawsox and a neighbor of ours in North Kingstown. Lou passed away from Covid last year. He and I would talk when we ran into each other walking our dogs. Such a nice guy.

During the ride, I have thought about two friends who passed away this past year. Joe French was the County Attorney when I worked in Boulder in the early 70's. Joe, Bob and I would go for runs most days after work. Joe was incredibly smart, caring and ethical. He taught me the importance of balancing family time, exercising and work in your life. His family posted a nice tribute to him on Facebook on his birthday last week.

Roger Walsh was the Fire Chief for most of the time I was the Town Manager in North Kingstown. Roger could always boil down a situation into the core issue. Some people would call what he had "street smarts", I'm not sure those are the right words. I just considered Roger to be a wise man. He knew what to say and when to say it. His family also posted a nice tribute to him on Facebook on what would have been Laura and his wedding anniversary.  

Twice in the last few days someone has said to me or us, "Are you enjoying yourself?" or "What do you enjoy most?" They are surprisingly difficult questions for me to answer. While I am riding I don't think about how wonderful a time I am having. It's not the same as going wine tasting or other "fun in the moment" activities. You know you are having fun then. 

Here are a some fun moments for me:

• Winslow Arizona - It was silly but having our picture taken "Standin on the Corner" was fun.
• New Mexico Continental Divide - Thom and I were on back roads in beautiful scenery. Though we took and posted some pictures the beauty could not be captured.
• Cows grazing - I usually moo at the cows. If Thom is ahead, when one of the cows see him and starts to run and then the others start running, it makes me laugh. Until you have seen cows run, you think they are sluggish animals. They are surprisingly quick and watching a calf look for it's mother can keep me smiling for a while.
• The climb into Mojave, CA and Williams, AZ were both very difficult. I was pleased with myself at how I handled them and still felt like riding the nest day.
• Our drive through the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert was special.
• I enjoy telling people what we are doing, when they ask us at rest areas.
• I have to admit I enjoy all the "numbers" about the trip. While I am riding I enjoy looking at my GPS and seeing how far I have to go, how far I have until the next turn and how fast the last 5 miles have been. At the end of the day, I like to look at the spreadsheet to see how far we have gone and how much we have climbed. I just like numbers.

I really think we have to look at this with a wider lens and view the overall accomplishment if we make it. I can still remember the first time, I rode 3,000 miles in a year. This is a long haul. Hopefully in a few weeks to a month I will be able to look back with a big smile.

People also seem to want to know how I am feeling. I feel fine. Yes, after some days I am sore but not that much. I really have no complaints about how my body has reacted to the exercise. Of course there are days when I wish I was stronger but it really doesn't matter. This isn't a race. 

I will admit to the last two days, heading into a headwind with nothing much to see, as being a little boring. I have been to Kansas enough to not expect much of a change of scenery for the next few days. Even Jerry at Jerry's Head Quarters where I had my haircut today said there isn't much to see here.

Jerry's is now the official barbershop of the Bay 2 Bay Bike Ride.

By the way, another thing I am enjoying is knowing that people all over the world are following our adventure. Here is a map I can get from Google about where the views are occurring.

Today Claudia and I visited the Seward County Historical Museum, Dorothy's House and the Land of Oz. They are all in one location. I expected to be doing that more. I can't say I need to. Here is a picture of a bike advertisement they had on display. Did you know that Seward County was once a premier location for broom manufacturing?

Last I want to mention my folks. I spend a fair amount of  time wondering what they would think about this adventure. We had fun on long car rides during family vacations would they think this is an extension of those trips or would they just think I was crazy. Who knows? I know if they were still with us, I would call my mother every night and my father would want to hear all the stories.