Day 2: June 9, 2002 Pamona Lake to Council Grove, KS

This morning I was awakened by the "bird alarm". The bird alarm is set for 5:30 AM. This is first light so all the birds are waking up. The first thing they have to do is to establish their presence with the other birds by calling out to each other. No chance to oversleep very much unless you are camping in a trailer and shut off from the outdoors. (I.M.H.O. Why bother?)

I eventually crawled out of my tent, broke camp, loaded the bike back up and rode back out to the highway. My legs were a little sore from yesterday, but as soon as I warmed up to riding they were feeling better. Not 100%, but better.

When I arrived back to highway 68 I noticed that the restaurant was packed. The next town, Osage City was about 15 miles away so I rode on. This was Sunday, so traffic was pretty light. The wind was still blowing hard, but now it was at my side. The test now was to keep the bike going in a straight line. Especially when the occasional truck passed me. The wind wash from these trucks hit the bike pretty hard each time one of these guys passed me. At the end of the day, my arms were almost as tired as my legs.

It took a little over an hour to get to Osage City. When I arrived there, I spied a Supermarket on the edge of town. If I couldn't find a place to eat, I could always buy provisions. No restaurant was to be found. I went back to the supermarket, bought bananas and some more cookies. I then decided to ride to the other end of town before returning to the supermarket and settling for a deli sandwich for breakfast. At the end of town I stopped at a Texaco Gas and Food store. I figured they would at least have frozen breakfast burritos or some such thing. Biscuits and Gravy, cool! The biscuits were in cellophane, the gravy in a Crock pot, 99 cents for one, $1.59 for two. Breakfast ended up being orange juice and B & G. I went outside to eat and one of the locals followed me out and sat down to talk. He asked where I'd come from, where I was going, and how my trip was so far. He told me that he and a friend rode motorcycles from Colorado to Osage City when they got out of the Army after WWII. It was nice to have company for breakfast. I thought that I'd be alone on this trip. That's not quite true. Even though I am traveling alone, it is very easy to strike up conversations with people along the way.

I had originally planned to go south on 170 from Osage City and follow it to 99, but the strong south wind convinced me to go on 56 to Council Grove. I've been on this stretch of 56 before on the Cottonwood 200 so I was familiar with it. It's not too heavily travelled, but there is no shoulder until just before Council Grove. There isn't much in the way of places to get water, etc. until Council Grove. The only towns Miller, Admire, and Bushong do not have any services. It's right at 40 miles so make sure you have plenty of water and a snack before starting out. Just after crossing the intersection with KS 99 a group of cattle started running along side me. They stayed with me for about half a mile until their pasture ran out. They didn't seemed to be scared, they just started running. I've had horses do the same thing so I guess it's some sort of reaction to a similar sized object moving at a slower speed than the usual motorized vehicle that they usually see. If there are any animal behavior specialists out there who could tell me what is actually going on, I'll add it to this account.

About 2 miles from Council Grove, a four foot wide shoulder appears. Very nice. As you enter Council Grove LOOK OUT!. There is a bike trapping drain grate that runs the width of the road. There is room to go around, just don't ride into the grate. I arrived in Council Grove at about 1:30 and stopped at Sonic for a cheeseburger and fries. There were some motorcyclists from Topeka there as well. We talked as we ate. They were astonished that I'd started yesterday in K.C. and was now in C.G.

Council Grove Lake is a U.S. Corps of Engineers Project and is about 3.5 miles north of Council Grove. The road is sort of hilly to the lake but nothing like Pomona. I rode up to the lake to reserve a campsite for the night. The attendant put me in a sheltered spot next to a little rise. There were supposed to be storms that night and they thought I would be safer if I was out of the direct wind. Very nice. This camp sight was about 300 meters from the lake. It's much quieter away from the lake. No boat noises. Much better. I got everything unpacked, set up camp and took a nap. No leg cramps today.

In the early evening, I got cleaned up (These campsites have showers) and took a leisurely ride back into town for dinner. After a chicken salad, I had an ice cream bar at Dairy Queen and then went to a city park and wrote down the notes of my trip. I then returned to the campsite and called it a day.

Day Summary:

1. Camp away from the lake, it's much quieter. Also get close to the showers and water station. Watch water drainage.
2. Mileage for today: 72.29 (includes 7 miles back and forth from the lake town)

Les Sires 11/30/2002

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