Joanne's 55th Class Reunion is this weekend, so we came to Wichita today. Separately, as usual -- Joanne's got two sisters here and she always stays and helps them with things around their houses. That gives me an excuse to ride while she drives.
I woke up this morning at 6:15 (after my usual 3-4 hours sleep on the night before a ride) and looked out the window to be greeted by very thick fog. I packed my stuff and decided I'd wait a bit before i headed east. Joanne left a little before 8AM and called me from Kersey, a own just south of the North Platte River, about 15 miles east of our house, to tell me that it was clear there. So, I piddled around a bit and got on the bike at 9:20. Sure enough, it was clear to Kersey, but I could see low-lying clouds east and south of me. BTW, if you want to follow my Spotwalla track for this trip, you can access it with this link: https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=16ab559d70a6297075&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes
When I got to Brush, about 60 miles east of our home in Greeley, I turned south on CO-71 and headed for Last Chance, where 71 crosses US-36. About 10 miles north of Last Chance, I rode into heavy mist that quickly turned to fog. From Last Chance to Cope, visibility was down to 1/8 mile or less. It was also cold and very damp. I had cleverly chosen not to wear my heated jacket because the sun had been shining at home. And, since I was losing altitude, I figured it would warm up. Well, it did, but not for another 100+ miles.
I finally got to Burlington, the last town in Colorado on I-70 and made my first gas stop. While I was doing that I took off my 'Stitch so I could attend to pressing biological needs. When I put it back on the long zipper came apart. I fiddled with it for over half an hour before i figured out that it started at the top and all I needed to do was put the slider on the right-hand side of the zipper and then just not go all the way to the bottom with it.
Riding across Kansas was decent, with wind from the NE until about Oakley, when I crossed a frontal boundary and the wind switched to the SE. By Russell, and my second gas stop, it was hot. I unzipped my vents, which meant that within 40 miles, I was riding into rain again. Actually, it didn't rain on me till Newton, but the road was wet. At Newton it started raining and it got dark. My driving lights seemed to be doing weird things, too. I slowed down and finally got into Wichita about 1/2 hour after official sunset, and it was dark, wet, and traffic was thick. My trusty GPS, Shirley, led me to the site of the LaQuinta where we're staying, but there was no LaQuinta here. I had made our reservations just a bit over two weeks ago. I wandered around, looking riding on streets that had lots of water in low places and, thankfully, was going slow enough to hear my phone ring. I stopped and answered and she told me that she had been driving around in circles, too, for nearly an hour, before she learned that the LaQuinta isn't the LaQuinta any more. So, we are at the Garden Inn and Suites in the old LaQuinta building.
I learned that the reason my driving lights were doing weird things was that the left one's mounting screw had backed about nearly 1/2 inch. I'm luck it didn't back all the way out!
We had a good supper and now we're decompressing from our travel. Joanne had been in lots more rain than I had in Kansas, but had missed the mist and fog in Colorado.
570 miles for the day, and I'm 64 miles from the 125,000-mile mark!
Reunion stuff and visits with the sisters tomorrow and Saturday. On Sunday, I'll visit the sisters some more and then ride down to Winfield (about 60 miles south of Wichita) to visit a cousin and his wife and his mother, my favorite surviving aunt.
Then I'll ride home on Tuesday. Sounds like I could get wet again and also like I'll be appreciating my Warm'n'Safe jacket.
I woke up this morning at 6:15 (after my usual 3-4 hours sleep on the night before a ride) and looked out the window to be greeted by very thick fog. I packed my stuff and decided I'd wait a bit before i headed east. Joanne left a little before 8AM and called me from Kersey, a own just south of the North Platte River, about 15 miles east of our house, to tell me that it was clear there. So, I piddled around a bit and got on the bike at 9:20. Sure enough, it was clear to Kersey, but I could see low-lying clouds east and south of me. BTW, if you want to follow my Spotwalla track for this trip, you can access it with this link: https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=16ab559d70a6297075&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes
When I got to Brush, about 60 miles east of our home in Greeley, I turned south on CO-71 and headed for Last Chance, where 71 crosses US-36. About 10 miles north of Last Chance, I rode into heavy mist that quickly turned to fog. From Last Chance to Cope, visibility was down to 1/8 mile or less. It was also cold and very damp. I had cleverly chosen not to wear my heated jacket because the sun had been shining at home. And, since I was losing altitude, I figured it would warm up. Well, it did, but not for another 100+ miles.
I finally got to Burlington, the last town in Colorado on I-70 and made my first gas stop. While I was doing that I took off my 'Stitch so I could attend to pressing biological needs. When I put it back on the long zipper came apart. I fiddled with it for over half an hour before i figured out that it started at the top and all I needed to do was put the slider on the right-hand side of the zipper and then just not go all the way to the bottom with it.
Riding across Kansas was decent, with wind from the NE until about Oakley, when I crossed a frontal boundary and the wind switched to the SE. By Russell, and my second gas stop, it was hot. I unzipped my vents, which meant that within 40 miles, I was riding into rain again. Actually, it didn't rain on me till Newton, but the road was wet. At Newton it started raining and it got dark. My driving lights seemed to be doing weird things, too. I slowed down and finally got into Wichita about 1/2 hour after official sunset, and it was dark, wet, and traffic was thick. My trusty GPS, Shirley, led me to the site of the LaQuinta where we're staying, but there was no LaQuinta here. I had made our reservations just a bit over two weeks ago. I wandered around, looking riding on streets that had lots of water in low places and, thankfully, was going slow enough to hear my phone ring. I stopped and answered and she told me that she had been driving around in circles, too, for nearly an hour, before she learned that the LaQuinta isn't the LaQuinta any more. So, we are at the Garden Inn and Suites in the old LaQuinta building.
I learned that the reason my driving lights were doing weird things was that the left one's mounting screw had backed about nearly 1/2 inch. I'm luck it didn't back all the way out!
We had a good supper and now we're decompressing from our travel. Joanne had been in lots more rain than I had in Kansas, but had missed the mist and fog in Colorado.
570 miles for the day, and I'm 64 miles from the 125,000-mile mark!
Reunion stuff and visits with the sisters tomorrow and Saturday. On Sunday, I'll visit the sisters some more and then ride down to Winfield (about 60 miles south of Wichita) to visit a cousin and his wife and his mother, my favorite surviving aunt.
Then I'll ride home on Tuesday. Sounds like I could get wet again and also like I'll be appreciating my Warm'n'Safe jacket.