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The crippled Kansas legs 8 & 9


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Well we had a few tribulations getting the baton across Kansas.  But I assume that the baton and bag have now made it to Castle Rock.

Our fun in Kansas:

  • All ready to go on time from the meet point on time Friday morning.  We get 8 miles down the road and Brent signals me to pull over, we're missing Itchy.  I had forgot about him as he was staying in another hotel.  After about a 45 minute delay trying to track him down and talking to his wife a couple of times, we decided to meet him on down the road a short ways.  We get to the hoped for rendezvous, but no Itchy.  Another 15 minutes and another call wife his wife, we go on.
  • At the meet point in Topeka, Itchy pulls in as we're getting ready to leave.  He found us by the "Spot" tracking.  We believe all to be good and make our two planned stops in Topeka.  But we couldn't leave Topeka without losing two riders.
  • We stop in Wamego to view the eagle memorial there, I ask as we park where are Bill and Charlie?  I am told we lost them in Topeka.  Huh?  I can't quite figure out why nobody sped up and let me know.
  • We stop to fuel up after the eagle, HotWheels pulls away from the pump and heads back to town.  I ask what's going on?  She is going back to look for a glove that GravelFinder lost as we left the eagle.  OK, it's a small town, shouldn't be long, but another 10 minute delay.
  • We get to the lunch stop 1.5 hours late, no biggie, it isn't a long leg and we only have about 100 miles to go after lunch.  Bill and Charlie show up as we are about done with lunch, good to know they're alive and well.
  • Two minutes after leaving lunch, I get flagged down again.  Itchy is missing.  Huh?  Itchy pulls up, he has lost his mufflers.  He has lost his mufflers.  They fell off.  They fell the fuck off?  He says he is going back, and for us to go on, he will meet us in Wilson.
  • We are going to historical society museums in Ellsworth, as they expect us to stop every year.  The ladies really are very nice.  They have iced tea, lemonade, brownies and cookies waiting for us.  But this simple stop can't be simple on this day.  Brent doesn't see my turn signal and brake light, as I start to make my right turn, we just about collide.  I swerve left, he applies brakes hastily.  He hits sand, rear tire locks up, bike fishtails, Brent goes down.  Couple of bumps and bruises, and a broken right mirror.  GravelFinder and HotWheels get the bike off of Brent, and he is back on his feet right away.
  • Thursday night and Friday morning are marvelous, Paul and Tina hosted all of us at their lake home.  We sat on the deck watching the sunset over the lake Thursday evening.  Tina prepared us great breakfast this morning.  Looks like Friday is going to be a better day.  But wait.....
  • Paul mentioned that his radio and dash were blinking off occasionally, GravelFinder and I both said check the connections at the battery.  He got them tightened up Thursday evening, but he has bigger problems, bike started missing and not starting Friday morning out by Goodland.  He decides he had better stop where he is, and passes the backpack to GravelFinder to take to Castle Rock, problem solved.
  • Paul gets a call from another rider they were to meet at Limon, CO asking if everything is OK, "Spot" hasn't moved in two hours.  Shit!  Spot is in trunk, backpack is just about to Limon.

And all of you thought nothing happens in Kansas.

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As I posted elsewhere, Spot is gonna take a plane ride in a FEDEX box out to Carson City, I could send to ELY but figured "what if" it didn't get there in 1 day. I've tried for 2 years to do this and something keeps screwing up. Trailering the bike back from Goodland was kinda deja vu from last year but at least I wasn't looking in the mirror at a wrecked bike like last time. The problem seemed minor at first but was a full blown no-start/or keep running and I barely got to a motel.

 

Sorry for not getting Spot in the backpack!!

 

 

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Sitting here wondering if it's ok to laugh.....but my stupid hormones are making tears. Age!!!! So glad Brent is ok. Glad SPOT will at least make it to SanFran. It's not like anyone 'meets up with us' going across Nevada....it is THE LONLIEST HIGHWAY!!!!!!!!!! Well, ok, one guy from Reno was possibly going to meet us in Austin for lunch....hopefully he's able to work things out.

 

Thanks for the story. I'll be sure to share it on both ends of my leg in case anyone has missed it. Would hate for that trip to remain secret. LOL

 

Hugs to all!!!!

 

 

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Except for my bike giving up on me, yesterday was perfect. Everyone was ready to go at all the stops, waited for Randy to meet us while we ordered lunch; left Wakeeney an hour ahead of schedule so decided to make the route a little longer by going to Sharon Springs instead of staying on interstate. We were ready to leave Goodland at 2pm mountain time and had only 182 miles to go and 4 hours to do it. I fought the bike for half an hour then decided to throw in the towel. Tina and I were happy to have hosted the riders and shown them that Kansas is not all flat..

 

 

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Oh yes and MCI forgot to mention that he delayed us a little longer....because he gave one of the sweet ladies from the historical society a ride on his motorcycle. She was absolutely thrilled. I will post pics this evening when I get home from work.

It was a ride I will not forget.

Oh and Itchy...Gravel and I are taking care of the muffler situation. We had a spare set just laying around. LOL

 

 

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Paul,

 

Sorry you didn't make it to Castle Rock. Your room was ready, beer was chilling in the frig., and we even have a big bottle of Jack if you prefer! Maybe in two years we can try again! Our venture on west was pretty uneventful with the exception of some angry hail that fell from the heavens to torment us!

 

Chris

 

 

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OK..whats going on this year?? The ride from Nor Cal seemed to non eventful until I pulled up to the Gold Dust Casino in Carson City...rear brakes are mush. Must have air in the lines. I give Reno Cycle a call, Bill tells me to come on in. It's a 22 mile ride there at 85 mph with no rear brakes. They take care of right away..freakin' excellent customer service. Now I'm back on the Hwy to Carson City doing 85 mph when the inspection cover in front of the seat flies off and goes sailing...I pull over..brakes workin' real good now...and I run back to retrieve it. Two freakin' cars run over it, yeah with their tires. I wait for a breke in the traffic, run out and get it. Scratched to shit but not broken.

Slap it on and head out...just in time to get rained as I'm pulling into the Gold Dust...WTF!!! Well OK, Gonna meet up with Wildpew in the morning and head out to Ely to meet the V2V for Legs 13 & 14...hope things go smoother the rest of this ride.

 

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