A Typical Day

A typical day on the Transamerica Bicycle Trail begins at sun-up, or about 6:00, rolling up sleeping bags and air mattresses; suiting up in my cycling clothes; eating breakfast – which usually has consisted of an egg salad sandwich made by Denise, a banana, yogurt, a protein shake and some dried fruit. 

We may have woken up in a campground, a hostel, or the floor of a church fellowship hall, but the daily chore of packing up the car and getting me ready to ride is the same – drink bottles are filled, snack bars packed, maps, suntan lotion, sunglasses, etc., all in preparation for the day’s ride.

If I’m lucky I can get on the road by 7:00, but usually it’s between 7:30 and 8:00.  Denise hits the road in the car, usually a little later as she takes care of final packing details.

And I ride.  

Denise will meet me about 20 – 30 miles out and I’ll have a snack and refill a drink bottle, and I’ll ride some more.  Then we’ll meet again at 40 – 50 when I’ll have a lunch of peanut butter and jelly.  And then I ride some more.  Denise has also helped out by going ahead and scoping out the places where I need to make a turn to a new road.  Some states are better than others at marking their roads.

Mostly I ride.  If the road is lonely I can enjoy the sights along the way, but sometimes the road has light to moderate traffic, as in the last few days, and I have to keep my eyes on the road.  This is especially true here in western Kansas during wheat harvest time.  Caravans of harvester farm equipment-for-hire are travelling from field to field.  Riding a bicycle as they pass by can be a bit intimidating.  Thankfully, they have typically given me a wide berth.  Denise was filming one such caravan in Ness City as they slowed to a halt for the town “four way” (intersecting highways.)  She was surprised to see who was riding along…

I’m usually finished by 2:00 unless I got a late start, or I’ve gone especially far.  Then comes the work of finding and settling in to whatever place will be our overnight accommodation.  We try to get a shower if possible, rest a bit before supper in whatever restaurant we can find (and in some of these smaller towns, that can be an adventure in its own right).  But there’s always more work to be done to plan the route ahead for the next day or two, locate accommodations and get whatever groceries on which we are running low.  Denise does laundry, or I wash out my cycle clothes in a sink.  Denise prepares meals for days ahead, boils eggs for breakfasts and, if we have a wifi signal, she downloads pictures (which Denise has been taking all day long), and we blog :)

Then we go to sleep, early if possible, since we’re getting up early, too.  Speaking of which . . . yawn . . . good night all.  We appreciate your love and prayers.