And the bags come off....

Today I learned the same lesson as the buxom woman who runs a marathon: It's good to be supported. Today was my first day without my bags and I had close to a 18 MPH average. However, I only biked a little over 40 miles. After lunch Mom and I decided to head up to Mount Rushmore. I know Nebraska is famous for its corn, but seriously at one point we had corn for at least five miles in every direction. It was one of those sights that make you feel insignificant; like standing at the bottom of a skyscraper or on the floor of the Grand Canyon. We made it as far as North Platte, before stopping for dinner and a place to stay for the night. By some strange alignment of the cosmos, we found Penny's Diner to eat tonight (For those of you who don't know, my mother's name is Penny). Tomorrow, we cross into the Mountain Timezone and on to South Dakota to see some really big presidents. Until then.....

PS: I have been taking pictures, however, I am having issues finding the cord to transfer them from the camera to the computer, I will add in the pictures to old posts when I find the cord.

A Kansas State of Mind....

After meeting up with mother last night, we headed on to Wichita and the Wichita Art Museum. They had an interesting exhibit on Meso-American civilizations, however since they only allowed sketches (And I am no Picasso) no pictures from the museum. After that we tried to add me as an authorized driver on her rental car, however due to the bass-ackward practices of Dollar rental car, it would have been cheaper to rent an entirely new car for me than to add me to the exhisting contract. After that we decided to head closer to the trail and for us that meant Hutchinson, KS. We decided to go see a movie, ironically, this movie is about a blogger named Julie. She works her way through Julia Childs' cookbook and in the process improved her life. Watching the movie inspired me to finish this journey of which I am halfway through. Tomorrow I am trying to push some extreme miles, so we shall see how it goes. Until then...

Kansas...A lot of pastures

For the past two days I have been rolling through the rolling plains
of Kansas. There is really not much to see however I find riding
through this land very enjoyable. However even though I have taken pictures of this, I think this is an experience that "is better felt than telt". Tonight I stopped in Eureka, KS to wait for my support driver, and she finally arrived. She is known by many names but I call her: Mommy. Tomorrow we drive to Wichita to enjoy some of the big city
culture after that we push on with the biking.

Across State Lines...

After waking up and checking the weather, it looked like I would once again be riding through a downpour. However luckily I only went through about 20 minutes of moderate rain. One thing I did encounter today something new, unpaved roads. Google maps apparently doesn't take these mundane things into account. However I did learn that dirt roads are much worse than gravel for bike riding. I did manage to avoid the worse of the two. Gravel does manage to make pedaling much harder. After passing into Kansas I was able to stay on paved roads the whole time. While I was stopped at a gas station, a Jehovah's Witness came and had a chat with me, I swear, I go halfway across the country and they still manage to find me. For my first day back I think I managed to do pretty well. Although I am wiped, I think I am still a little run down from yesterday. I think it is time to get some rest and try this all again tomorrow; until then....

I am really getting sick of Kansas City....

Or I guess the true phrase would be "I am really getting sick IN Kansas City". I don't know what I ate or when I ate it, but something hit me hard. I am leary about being stranded out in the sticks on my bike without provisions within reach. So in the interest of self-preservation I have rented my motel room for another day. My new found friend Pepto and I are going to spend an intimate day together. Luckily a bike trip lends itself to this kind of to recouperation, gallons of Gatorade, a box of saltines, a warm bed, and a TV. Anyways, I have returned my car, so I am going to be within 300 yds of this bed all day. Until tomorrow....

On the Road Again.....

I can't wait to get on the road again. Well during my week at the Jersey shore, I spent time with my family and friends relaxing. During our two trips to Atlantic City I saw two comedy shows with comedians including Jeff Dunham, Dom Irrera et al. After the week down the shore I heading to the wedding of my friend Traci. The wedding and the bride were both beautiful, and I ended up having more fun at this event than I ever thought possible. And then a mere twenty-four hours later I am sitting again in Kansas City getting ready to take on the world once again. Today is going to be a series of logistical events. First and foremost, picking up a car and grabbing my bike. After that it is time to deal with my COBRA benefits, because as the letter dated August 14th informed me, my insurance lapsed on July 31st. Then a drive south to get back on the trail. In an exciting bit of news, I will be joined by a support car in about a week. The identity of this mystery driver will be revealed in the next few days.

The Ol' Kansas City Shuffle...

(Yeah that guy was staring me down as I rode by) Well after another short day of biking (about 40 miles) I called Enterprise to work out how I was going to get to my flight on Friday to make it home for the wedding and Jeff Dunham show I found out that if I didn't take possession of a car post haste, I would be stuck about 200 miles away from the airport. So I rented a car and drove up to Kansas City. Got here about 11:15 PM CST last night. After waking up this morning, I headed to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. After browsing through the collection I wandered outside where I saw the most recognizable item of the day, Rodin's "The Thinker". Wanting to compare St. Louis BBQ to Kansas City I asked the locals where to go. The unanimous recommendation was Oklahoma Joe's. So I made a quick trip across state lines to give it a try. If the line out the door was any kind of indication, I was in the right place. As the line wrapped around this convience store/gas station (no joke), I read some of the multiple accolades of the store. June 2009 Men's Health ranked it in its list of 13 places to eat before you die. So with that and Katz's deli in NYC I have at least 2 down. Well the wait was worth it as the meat litterally peeled right off the bone, and the sauces were delicious. After that it was on to the library of the 33rd President of the United States of America (Harry S. Truman). Relaxing before dinner. Talk to you all later.