Day 22 – The Big Adventure!

The Kansas sky was filled with a beautiful cover of clouds. The temperature was perfect for biking and the wind was out of the south, nice since we would be going west almost all day. The threat of rain was only 10% so we were not too worried about that even though at times it looked quite threatening and twice actually spit rain on us for a few moments but nothing really enough to mention.
A typical day is broken up into three groups of rides. The morning ride consists of about 40-50 miles. At the end of this we try to get a small snack (preferably Dairy Queen). The noon ride consists of about 25 more and at the end we eat lunch. This leaves about 35 miles left to finish the day off.

Today was no exception. We planned to ride 38 miles to the city of Nickerson, KS where there is a highly touted Sunshine Café. A few people in their cross-country journals have made mention that this place has wonderful pies. That was enough for Dad and I. This would be the place we stop for our morning snack. We set off and made good time. The roads were easy to find and they were mostly quiet good surfaces. We got more and more excited with anticipation of the pies. We pulled into town at 11:00. Perfect timing.

CLOSED MONDAYS!!! This is just the thing that we have been running into. For the second week in a row we have had an anti-climactic morning snack. So instead we had to be happy with a large muffin from a gas station. I felt like my wife, who reads everything, as I read the back of the package that the muffin came in and found that it cad 555 calories and 28 mg of cholesterol (this would come in handy later). Looking over the map brought us the sad realization that the next city where we would be able to get food was 55 miles away. This is a long time as the day is getting hotter and the clouds begin to evaporate. So the rest of the day we conserved our fuel drink, water and electrolyte tablets. I did buy a package of Fig Newtons, which would have to serve as our makeshift lunch.
The miles went by quickly and we even passed a man whom we assumed to be doing a self-supported cross-country ride. The miles almost became mundane and monotonous when we came across a sign that told us that the road was closed ahead.

According to Dad, these type of road sign are almost entirely ignored by cross-country riders. As if we are some sort of gods. Not at all. Nonetheless, we pedaled on, maybe to our peril. Another warning sign was in the road but could be easily ridden around so we did. The thought began to cross my mind that we would have to go back these same miles if a 10 foot wide raging torrent of a river had washed out the road and was still carving a new river bottom to the great Mississippi River. The third “Road Closed Ahead” sign was passed with no trouble and we continued pressing on. Then up ahead we could see the final sign, but this time it had changed. It now read “ROAD CLOSED”. There was no longer an easy path between the signs but instead we had to go off the road to get around them, almost like those who put the signs there didn’t want us to go past this point. But we did!?! Then I could see the reason for all the signs. The flooding had washed all of the gravel away under the road around two 4 foot culverts and the 16 inch thick asphalt had given way and had created a 20 foot gap in the road with water so deep that we could not see the bottom. What now?
This was not as simple as climbing onto a train, loading our bikes on, climbing down and unloading the bikes again. There was no way around. We were in the middle of a 32,000 acre wetland that had just been flooded with weeks of rain that Kansas had just received in the first week of June. This is what is called, to put it mildly, a predicament. Normal people would have taken the loss, gone back the five miles and gone around, but not us. Thankfully for us, we were not the first ones to have gotten to this point and not wanted to backtrack.

Someone BEFORE WE GOT THERE (this is important to state since it might be illegal what they did), had taken the planks off the warning signs and had used them as a bridge to get across the culvert.
We dismounted our bikes, took off our shoes (they are not suitable for walking on flat ground let alone uneven ground that might give way and land you in who know how much water), threw them to the other side and Dad, who is much more adventuresome and fearless than I am, went across first. He made it and stayed dry. While Dad was making his way across the plank, the cows in the field decided to come and see the show. They must have had a good laugh. I then wheeled the bikes across the plank to where Dad could reach and he put the on the other side.

All of the stuff made it across dry. Then it was my turn to venture across the plank. I, who was a certified lifeguard in high school, can swim but I like to see the bottom of where I am swimming. I hated going across and it felt like a I was balancing on a piece of dental floss rather than a nice wide plank.

Everything made it across dry! Thank the LORD! This has now become the greatest adventure of the trip so far (and I shudder to think what could top this one)!
We continued to the destination stopping about every 10 miles for drink, electrolytes, and fig newtons. We decided to go 1 mile out of the way, each way, and stop in Seward, KS for something quick to eat. As we entered the town and the pavement stopped in every direction I doubted that we would find anything.

We were directed to Mom’s Bar and Grill where, as we pulled up we saw two trucks pulling off, leaving the parking lot empty. We then read the sign on the door, you guessed it, CLOSED ON MONDAY!

Thankfully one of the men in the trucks that was pulling away owned the joint. He had mercy on us and let us in to buy a Gatorade and Klondike Bar. It was just the thing we needed to get us home. We pulled into the campground and agreed that today was a great day! A quick dip in the pool was a nice end to our most adventuresome day yet!!!