Day 29: Pick Your Poison

Monday, July 1st, 2024

Osawatomie, KS -> Council Grove, KS

100.54 miles, 3,251 ft elevation (for some of us at least)

Every week or so, one of our hosts would ask us what we would do if there's a storm while we're biking. And every time, we respond with a shrug of a shoulder.

Well, today we found out what we would do (disclaimer: do not try this at home).

The day started out like any other, waking up at around 5:30 am. With a warm breakfast and freshly fitted bikes, we were escorted to the Flint Hills Trails by our lovely hosts Jeff and Sarah.

all smiles at the start of the day

It was lightly raining when we first headed out, but the rain quickly started to pick up on the trail. The trail turned muddy, and we sluggishly pedaled through for a few miles. It was agonizingly slow, so we decided to hop on the highway. However, the rain started to become heavier, visibility became low, and we started to see flashes of lightning in the sky. Worried, we pulled back into the trail. JD and Hank zoomed off (still on the road), and Sophia went further ahead on the trail.

Amulya, Rebecca, Jess, and I were struck with decision anxiety. We contemplated for a good 30 minutes about what we should do -- go on the highway with cars and the terrible rain or go on the muddy, slow trails with trees that could fall on us if lightning struck.

Great options as you can see.

Time was quickly running out by this point, and we had only completed 7 miles. We decided to forge ahead on the trail for a bit. Then we changed our minds, again, because 1) we didn't know what we were doing in this situation and 2) we were going so slow. We took more time to reroute, and ended up hopping back on the highway.

This quickly began to turn into one of the most stressful rides of my life/Spokes. We were on the KS 68, which had no shoulder, with huge semi-trucks passing us, showering us with heavy water vapor in addition to the pelting rain. My shoulders tensed up. I was hoping my brakes would work and my bike wouldn't skid and I had to remind myself to breathe. In fact, one semi got so close to me that I panicked and pulled over. Jess and Amulya pulled over with me.

Again, we discussed if we should get off the highway and back on the trail, but that required even more mileage. And so, because we were delusional, we decided to forge ahead.

I thought I was absolutely going to lose it at this point. For obvious reasons, I didn't take any pictures during this part of the ride but here is a diagram that I drew in crayon (dramatized for effect).

Me, Amulya, and Jess fighting for our life on the chaos that is the KS 68 (wrongly drawn in the picture oops)

Unfortunately, the storm got even worse and sheets of rain fell upon us. We pulled over as fast as we could and went into a cafe. We were soaked rats at this point, shivering, wet, and slick with road grime. We met up with Rebecca and tried to revitalize ourselves with warm drinks and treats. We decided to wait out the rain before heading out on the highway again.

Soaked to the bone

Saving myself from a break down with this cinnamon roll the size of my face.

Huddled in the bathroom for warmth

Rebecca contemplating whether we start new lives at Zelda's Cafe

There were still many miles to go. I was terrified of the semis at this point, but there was no option but to move forward. I put on some Bad Bunny and tried to distract myself from the negative thoughts bouncing around in my head.

Although we had a strong tailwind to our advantage, the miles didn't melt away as fast as I had hoped. I was fuming at myself, KS 68, and Kansas the entire way to lunch. I was in such a bad and sulky mood by the time we met up at lunch, which was an absolute first for me in Spokes. We met up with JD, Sophia, and driver Cleo (Hank went off on his own adventure). Needless to say, we were all in the trenches to some extent.

While we ate, we got this text and video from Hank.

Great, just the thing we needed! Yay! Sophia decided to head off and see if a different route would work. The rest of us vegetated for a hot second and then also got on the same route.

Rebecca vegetating

We biked on the 56, I was listening to Fearless by Taylor Swift. I was trying to enjoy the rolling hills, but the 91 degree sun had other plans and decided to torture me instead. My bike computer started to beep alarmingly, and I briefly looked down to see texts from Sophia: "call me ASAP". So, we all pulled over and hopped on a group FaceTime call to see this:

As you can see, not a very bike-friendly road.

Sophia attempted to cross the same flooded trail that Hank did, but it had gotten much worse by that point. There was no way we would be able to cross it.

At this point, we were all developing our own plotlines. So here are some quotes from our fellow Spokes members:

• Amulya: "I wish my bike had windshield wipers."

• Rebecca: "This day was one of the first days I thought 'the only way out is through'. And so I just had to accept my bad situation. I got scammed on a bagel sandwich but I didn't even care."

• JD: "I fell in the rain and the gravel reroute hurt my hands."

• Hank: "I hate swimming but wading through a knee deep flood carrying my bike was kinda reinvigorating."

• Cleo: "I went to 2 Walmart super centers."

• Sophia: "Sometimes you don't know the danger you're in until afterwards. And that's spooky."

• Jess: "This ride made me realize everyone on the team is delusional."

And delusional we were. We decided to bike 10 extra miles on a gravel road to avoid the flooded trail.

I thought I had lost it earlier today. But I almost really lost it this time.

Again, for obvious reasons, I have no pictures of us biking on the gravel road because it required all my concentration. But here's another crayon illustration (dramatized for effect) of what went down.

Gravel: 1. Me, Amulya, Jess, JD, and Rebecca: 0

The only thing getting me through the long bumpy ride was a Kacey Musgraves playlist. And there were definitely parts of the trail that were more rocks than gravel. I will say that I feel like I have gotten better at gravel riding, imagining my body as a sponge that soaks all up the shock. The intense focus on keeping my bike upright and constructing the easiest path through the gravel made the 10 miles fly by unusually quickly.

Then there was only one thing standing between us and Council Grove: the last bit of the 56. It was honestly one of the most beautiful rides of the summer -- long, gradual rolling hills against blue skies with puffy clouds. And Beyonce playing in my ears (it didn't match the vibes, but I needed motivation ok?)

the rest of the ride, which was actually quite gorgeous

I felt like I was biking through the old Windows desktop

I rolled into our accomodation for the night, Cottage House B&B. Hank, Cleo, and Sophia were frying tofu outside and cooking rice on our stove. The sky was soft now, forgiving after a harsh day.

I was more than relieved that the day was over. I was also a bit disappointed, twinged with guilt about not having the best attitude throughout the ride. But growth in any case is never linear, and oftentimes, that growth is impossible without the support and encouragement of the people around you.

I grabbed a plate of tofu rice and leaned back against the hood of Chrissy (our beloved car). I looked out at the rest of the team, animatedly chatting, screaming, and laughing about the chaos of the day. With them, I realized, the bad days were never that bad after all.