Day 3 BAK

Ok so it’s the end of Day 3 of BAK and I’m not actually dead yet. Yeahh! Here’s our list of firsts and what we’ve learned: 

First: Ol’ Thelma, the trusty RV, had her first blowout. What we learned: Sometimes the people that AAA dispatch to repair your tire don’t actually know how to change tires. (But hey, was a very nice person.) 

First: Ol’ Thelma got pulled over by highway patrol the very first time. What we learned: it’s illegal to drive 37 on I-70, yes even if you’re limping your RV to a tire shop. Its also illegal to drive on I-70 with flashers on, even if you’re trying to let other drivers know you’re a large slow moving vehicle. Who knew?

A very nice man at the tire shop named Julio fixed our tire in 45 minutes, but after a 5 hour delay from the very nice man who didn’t know how to change a tire, we rolled into Goodland on Friday at 9pm and had our very first day of BAK in which we did not actually do any biking. 

By the time we started our first morning of biking on Saturday, I had changed two flat bike tires, I had a nervous gut, and we were starting 18 miles behind the rest of the pack. We were out on the road and rarely saw another biker, which was discouraging! The day got hot quick. At every stop the food was almost gone. We were grumpy. Tears were shed. We wondered why we ever signed up for this. 

We rolled into Colby exhausted and emotional. We showered at the city pool and took a quick swim before it was time to head to Saturday evening Mass. The church in Colby was packed with BAKers, but I felt like I was the only one that could hardly stand. I was pretty sure I was going to pass out. I went to the bathroom of the church and chugged some water. After mass there was a tornado watch and a thunderstorm. I wanted to write but my brain hurt. I mostly wanted to go home.

Also when I was trying to sleep all I could think about was that there was no pie yesterday so someone lied to me.

This morning, after I changed *another* flat (which probably happened because I was doing something wrong the first times I changed it) we decided to start fresh. We prayed as a group, and we each committed to offering our frustrations today for a different cause.

It was 50 degrees, and windy as all get out. But we had a great day. We bee bopped, stood on the pedals, and shook our booties for 67 miles. (Mostly because it hurts to sit). An old guy said “I’ve spent a lot of money and time in entertainment establishments in my life and I’ve never been as entertained I have been the last 2 miles following the four of you.” 

There are people all around us who don’t look physically fit, or who look to be in their 70’s... it’s true that Biking Across Kansas is at least 50% mental. And we are mental so....  we got this.

Today was a very good day. Even though the pie stand in Hill City, Kansas RAN OUT OF PIE. 

Rude.