Kansas!

Day 32 - July 5,
87 miles. Richmond, MO to Lawrence, KS

Everyone has been looking forward to Lawrence for a while. I mean when you're doing three 90 mile days in a row you better have something to keep you going. It didn't help that since i had done the town facts research for Lawrence I jumped up on a chair in the morning to eagerly announce my findings. Seriously listen to this town and how it oozes hipness:

"Lawrence is known for a thriving music and art scene; Rolling Stone named Lawrence one of the "best lil' college towns" in the country. The New York Times said Lawrence had "the most vital music scene between Chicago and Denver". Locally owned bar and music venue "The Replay Lounge" was named one of GQ magazines top 25 bars/venues in the country in 2007. The Lounge is also apparently a Pinball SHRINE!"

I rode with Carlie all day today and it was most fun. She is quite possibly the most chipper and enthusiastic girl I have ever met. Her happiness and positive energy is so contagious in the best way. I think most of us have been falling into the rhythm of riding entire days with the same group of people and it seems to be a much more fulfilling sense of accomplishment and bonding this way and i think i like it more than switching it up at lunch. The best part is that we all start off more or less together and sort of just randomly settle in with whomever which is nice.

The first 5 miles of the day were marked by this bizarre mound of dirt rising above the ground that Doug, Carlos and I stopped at. Of course, its climbability was like a magnet to our testosterone. Did we get ridiculously muddy? Yes. Did we conquer victoriously and claim eternal glory? Oh yeah.

Among our many musings, we somehow stumbled onto the concept of water balloon bike warfare. Again, 90 miles daily = craving for on the road entertainment. But seriously, water balloons on bikes, who would be silly and crazy enough to do that...

Well within 30 minutes we had secured 100 of them from the dollar general store and I created Handlebar satchels out of bandanas while Carlie filled them up. At 1300 hours primary bombardment of the lunch spot commenced, but collateral damage was minimal due to firing malfunctions(so maybe a few exploded in my hand...). All was good as we restocked atfter lunch to show other riders how we had been keeping busy. All in all, it was safe to say that victory had been firmly achieved at day's end and our waterballooning forcers biked on with triumph. Victory of what or over whom i dont know yet, but victory nonetheless. Just like my acquiring red velvet, I absolutely love when random amusing thoughts can turn into reality through sheer willpower. Kinda makes you wonder what else is possible next time you have a fun idea.

First of all, Kansas is not all flat. Lets get that straight. Coming into it over the Missouri river was pretty exciting as Kansas is literally the middle of the country and it really makes our "cross country" trip feel that much more real. Odd how there are two towns called Kansas City right across the river from each other. Also, apparently the Kansas City Royals baseball team is actually from Missouri. So crazy!!!

Along the rolling hills going through a populated boulevard, I heard a sedan honking at me. Great I thought, someone wants to either yell at me or run me off the road, AGAIN. As they approached i noticed three pretty tough looking gangster dudes in the car and was less than excited when they started slowing up next to me. And then my world got rocked. I looked over, they looked over, and they all flashed a peace sign and were like "Hey man" and then drove off.

An actual car full of non-cyclists had slowed down just to say hi to me. I think you can figure out who felt pretty damn cool right there and then. Awesome, i think yes. In general, I have rarely felt more like a celebrity than when i am riding with that spandex and jersey on. Waving to people we pass and getting hellos back is kind of intoxicating. Everyone needs to feel a little cool now and then i guess, right?

Going into the last 20 miles of the day, the impossible happened. Yes, we finally had a slight tailwind. We all agree that it was pretty much the best riding of the whole trip. We were all doing 20 mph without much effort and the rolling scenery and fields were just gorgeous.

If hip and cool had a baby city, that city would be called Lawrence. Its a wonderful college town that has a great main street, zero sprawl, local business, young folks, and TONS OF BIKERS. Honestly though does being a hipster really mean you have to look like your in a 70's workout video. Lawrence is to Hipsters what light is to mosquitos. Seriously, these dudes make Brooklynites look boring and mainstream. It's all good though and totally cool, just not what i expected so deep and random in the country. In honor of it, Larry will henceforth be referred to as Lawrence for the next two days per his request.

The Habitat Chapter here is basically the greatest ever. They've arranged six rooms for us at a riverfront Marriot Hotel. Room Service? Continental Breakfast? Jacuzzi? Not sleeping on the floor? We might as well be bathing in lavender scented silk ribbons also.

We had a great dinner at Johnny's Tavern, legit THE place in Lawrence, and the pizza and corn was awesome. Finally getting to eat some of the latter after riding through a million miles in it was pretty good. But even better was the fact that the TV was playing the tour De France. Aside from bowls of guacamole i have never ever been so fixated on something. We were all just totally mesmerized by all the crazy cyclists and speeds. They were legit averaging 40 mph which just shouldn't make sense. I so wish we could watch more of it on the trip. Its crazy how much more you appreciate somehting after having done it. It totally showed my skyrocketing level of appreciation for cycling and the mentally unstable athletes who actually choose to participate in it. Watching the Tour def pumped us up for more cycling. It may also may have given me a reality check for understanding our own level of 15 mph hardcoreness.

At night we checked out the Replay Lounge and by checked out I actually mean pillaged. It was pretty cool and hip. Lets just say Doug's mohawk wasn't the only one there. Though I doubt their dance floor has ever been rocked as hard as by the 32 of us. Some locals joined in but most couldn't get past their amazement of our grooving. Sometimes I can't help but laughing inside at the first glimpses of confusion whenever we roll into a new town.

Lawrence is a great cozy town to be in for 2 days and we're so excited to spend two days here. It'll be great to really affect our build site and to get to know the town. Def looking forward to raiding the funky book and clothing stores. Hopefully no womans sweaters will tempt me this time...