midwest ride ep.2

i beat the rising river & made it into Beatrice where I quickly rehydrated

linked up with Steve at the Beatrice Public Pool p:andel

skated a ditch by the pool. p:andel

checked out the flooding by the city park along the Big Blue River

took the bike path back until we hit a blockade we couldn't get around

we were looking for a spot to camp on the trail, but the mosquitos were intense

 so we kept on moving. finally we decided to push all the way back to Steve's pad.

me shooting Steve, shooting me out on the county road

the bandana is invaluable p:andel

gravel roads before hitting the main highway into Lincoln

made it to Cortland - I'm not sure I can make it at this point

the sun set before we saw the outskirts of Lincoln

after much struggle, we made it to Steve - right next door to the state Capitol.

midwest ride ep.1

 four reasons for this bike ride.

1. I wanted to see how long I could live on my bike.

2. I wanted to visit Steve in Lincoln.

3. I wanted to see a couple of the #stayFlared demos while reducing my carbon footprint.

4. I wanted to see my home state from the seat of my bike, from a slower perspective.

parked the van in Wichita for the month and headed out June 1st.

this was my intended route

riding the back roads of Kansas

Sandy, the first cat sighting of the trip

a motley crue at the junkyard

camp #1 at Marion Reservoir where I took a swim

twilight at Marion Reservoir

groovy cat mail box... was hoping to see this cat, but no luck

swimming in Enterprise, KS

the tiny town of Detroit, KS

is he a great Pyrenese? well, he came out to visit with me on a back road

camp # 2 in a cemetery - a windy night....

terrific Kansas sunset from the cemetery

next morning I rolled through Tampa, KS

not a lot of hope in Hope, KS

ducked into this barn to avoid my 1st rain shower

rad mural in Green, KS

the citizens of Green took me in and had me sleep in the community center

saw some gorgeous old churches out in the middle of nowhere

crossing the Little Blue river

lots of rainfall had this and most rivers in the area quite swollen

Pony Express historical marker close to Nebraska

nice tribute

after a terrible night sleeping in a public bathroom, I made it across the border into Nebraska

that's a flooded field creating a new river

I had to ride through 6inches of water rolling across the highway

thank goodness there was a highway worker slowing vehicles down

This guy informed me that the BIG BLUE river in Beatrice was rising and that the east bridge into town was already closed from high water... This had me change my course to aim for the south bridge into Beatrice. I hustled to make it across that bridge to meet up with Steve who was riding down from Lincoln to meet me.

Kansas prep

Schane meets Lola for the 1st time

I meet Lola for the 1st time

Lola gets comfy

Wes is Lola's papa.

one of Schane's cats - Lucifer

the signage at Schane's new restaurant are so well done

Will at his ball game - swing & a miss

Clawed on the back porch at Jeremy's

Jeremy & his garden

Jeremy & the street axe

Lucy wanting her song

Jeremy's fine penmanship on the sign that would hang from the back of my bike

this cracks me up !

found this pic of my dad & I at my sister's pad

1st time at Kind Kravins - Wichita's only vegan food cart

the Little Free Libraries at The Anchor

mac & cheese pizza from the buffet at Garden Grille

prepping the tent that Schane located for me

bbq at Jeremy's

tried a foofy taco place downtown - Jeremy dug in

that special sauce they brought out - sorta hot

the grand pooba of the River Fest parade

Wayne White on the right - this next few photos are all his doing

- he loves making masks -

floating covered wagon

Carrie Nation puppet chases down a bottle

that bottle is in trouble

last day in town - mini ramp session with William Meyerson

and then June 1st - the bike ride began  - coming up next.