The Cycle Ride

And just as I surmised last night, I was too excited to sleep very well.  I awakened at 3 AM thinking it was time to get going.....  only to see that it was still the middle of the night.  Sleep didn't come back to me very easily after that.

But, of course once it was time to get up, I had fallen back to sleep and needed the alarm to shake me back awake....  I showered and dressed and slipped out of the house without waking the grand kids, but I think Loyce was awake by the time I left.

I buzzed over to the bank to get some cash, as this ride is also an auction of motorcycle stuff at the end to benefit the High School, and sometimes they have a few things that I would really use.  And then I stopped by McDonalds for a biscuit.  As a diabetic, you have to have something when you take your pills, and we wouldn't be stopping by a restaurant for a couple of hours yet.

Once over at Ben's house, I found him all packed and ready to head out.  We traveled the 10 miles down to the small town of Spring Hill where the ride begins.  It was cool and the sun hadn't dried the dew from the fields.

We were early, and hardly no one was out front of the sports shop.  So we hung around as people began to drift onto the main street.  The owner of the shop arrived and opened the door.  His helpers set up the registration table and the dice toss.  A dice roll at each of the locations is the main feature of this ride.

Stories were swapped and everyone milled around looking at each other's bikes and the additions that were new since last year.  Eventually the town policeman went thru  a safety briefing as to how we were to ride staggered and keep three seconds between ourselves.  And with that, we were off!

In the past, I have tried to take a picture or two, but have been disappointed with the photos of a bunch of bikes in the parking lot.  It is impossible to take any pictures as you ride, and you can't break formation and just stop along the way.  So I have given up on pictures during an organized ride.

The first leg of the ride was headed into the Eastern sun for 17 miles to the town of Lewisburg.  By now the dew was gone from the freshly harvested wheat fields.  Farmers were out bailing the remaining golden wheat straw into those gigantic round bales.

At Lewisburg we rolled the dice again, and ordered those small little cinnamon rolls that are 6 inches across and 3 inches tall.  They serve them on dinner plates with frosting dripping over the sides onto the table.  I stuck with an Iced Tea.

The ride progressed as the day began to get hotter.    La Cygne is 25 miles down the divided highway at 75 miles an hour.  Lunch was at a bar and grill that has the best hamburger and fries.  Then 10 miles West to the Prairie View High School that is out in the middle of the country.  This is the farthest away point, and it was now 1 PM.

We headed North back to Osawatomie some 18 miles farther where our leader took a wrong turn out in the country and we ended up at the Kansas State Hospital.  It is located out in the country North of Osawatomie and is secluded on a big campus with fences all around and large trees....

And a Sheriff that came bounding up behind 40 motorcycles stopping our entire brigade. Discussion ensued and it wasn't long, and we were all doing U turns in the middle of the road going back to the interstate.  Move it on down the road folks!

Seems that this hospital was a prize awarded to the town during the civil war because of the settlers being abolitionists. And as you probably have guessed, it is a mental facility.  Missouri and Kansas really had a large rift between them during that war.

Once turned about, we went 8 more miles into Paola, Ks, where we were scheduled to stop at a Mexican cantina called La Tapatia.  There are restaurants all over the country by this same name but they are not related to the one in Paola Kansas any way.  The beer began to be a popular order by now since it was well into the 90s.  I stuck to my Iced Tea.

The last leg was to the North over the Hillsdale reservoir dam, where folks were busy boating and floating in the waters of the lake.  By now, I would have just driven right into the water given half a chance.....

The last 25 miles brought us back to Spring Hill and another restaurant on the outskirts of town.  BB's where we had the entire back room reserved.  The auction of the many cycle related items commenced and we also rolled the dice for the last time.    I did poorly all day.  That's OK because I won the entire deal last year and someone else needed a chance this time.

Ben and I both enjoyed this ride, even though it gets quite hot by mid afternoon.  I fell sound asleep for a couple of hours when I made it back to the recliner here at the house..........  Total mileage including the commute to Spring Hill from South Overland Park and back,  133 miles....

Retired Rod