Kandango K2r

What an adventure! I biked, laughed, made new friends, and learned some life lessons along the highways of central Kansas. I learned it’s a small world, there are some wonderful people in that world, and sometimes you have to let the world go on while you sit this one out. 

I ALMOST had the flashiest jersey that day.

Kandango K2r is a three and a half day ride starting in Hays and ending in the little town of Brookville. It passes by  typical Kansas farm ground,  lots of beautiful churches, and along some of the lesser traveled highways in the area. Small towns dot the route and buses and trucks carry gear to the next overnight stop on the tour.  It sounded like a great time so Kate, Amber, and I signed up and started making plans. Maybe actually training on my bike should have been one of them. 

I’ve not been comfortable in the saddle for some time so I bought a new seat thinking that would help. It did, but not much. Long rides of over 20 miles were not fun and my, shall we say, lady parts were really not happy. I thought more miles would toughen me up so I just kept riding, but the longest ride I managed was only 38 miles. Oh well, that would have to do. I would rely on adrenaline and good company to get me through.

The ride started with meeting at the end town of Brookville and leaving my car there so it would be there for me on the last day. From that point we were to load our gear on a bus and ride to Hays. Kate and some of her friends she rides with were to meet there and Amber was meeting us in Hays. While I waited for Kate I met some wonderful ladies and we started the get-to-know-you process. I truly believe it’s a small world and there is a connection between everyone. It’s the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon phenomenon.  Mary, Cindy, Margaret, and another Patty were so friendly. Soon Kate and her friends Ann and Barbara showed up. Two new friends to add to the mix. Soon the Sandstone Saloon (home base for the ride) was packed with people and chaos was the rule as we loaded bikes and bags and grabbed a quick lunch before heading to Hays. Truly one of the best parts of going to any event like this is meeting so many nice people. 

At Hays we got stowed in the hotel and passed up the first half day ride because Kate and I had done

The churches were beautiful.

this particular route before and we wanted to save our energy for the next day’s 58 mile ride. PLUS the wind was blowing at 20 mph and it was 90 degrees and I’m a pretty big wimp. Those who did the ride said it was brutal but the tailwind back into town was great.

Amber, Kate, Ann and I met at 7:00am for the Friday ride. The forecast of hot and windy wasn’t welcome but it is what it is and you make the best of things. There was a lot of confusion about what color string to tie on your bags to get them to the right destination. After getting three different answers I opted for a brown string. It’s a simple system but somehow it got very complicated. We took a lot of pictures and then climbed on our bikes and headed out. Amber and I had already decided to take all the shortcuts we could because neither of us was properly prepared for this ride. Amber is a runner and bikes just enough to get by in a triathlon. 

The miles flew by and we stopped and looked at the churches in the area. Breakfast was in Victoria and somehow riding makes food taste amazing! The next leg of the route was 11 miles out and back, straight into the wind. We hadn’t planned on doing this but seeing everyone else head that direction made me think we could do it too. I was wrong. After peddling what seemed like hours I told Amber I was ready to stop and head back to Victoria. When we turned around I couldn’t believe how close we still were to town! We had only gone 3 miles! Pathetic. But we turned around and enjoyed a too brief tailwind ride back to Victoria.

Most of the ride was crosswind so the rest was relatively easy and we arrived in Russell in time for a late lunch. Amber and I camped out at a Subway shop and cooled off and relaxed. Kate and Ann were doing the route that I wimped out on so they would be doing 16 more miles then us. We found them as they pulled into the hotel and we went to Sonic to get slushy cold drinks and relax. Then the fun began. 

Before and after with Amber!

When we got to the hotel Kate and I had no luggage. Figures. The confusion about the color of string to use sent our bags elsewhere. I called the emergency number and Shannon “Marshal Taco” came to help us and a few others look for our bags. We piled into the car and soon found out that Shannon and I have a few mutual friends. It’s that small world thing again. We found some of the bags at the other hotel and mine at the campground. My bike pump was AWOL but I somehow knew it would show up eventually. Then it was back to the hotel to clean up for the BBQ that evening. By “evening” I mean 5:00. Most cyclists go to bed early so they can ride at the crack of dawn and miss some of the heat and wind later in the day. Everyone was still in good spirits and looking forward to the next day. It was scheduled for 79 miles but if you didn’t take the extra loop it would be more like 62. There was a century option but because of the high heat and wind they were discouraging anyone from going that distance. We made our plans and picked up Kirsten, a solo rider we had met earlier in the day. It was off to bed and an early alarm so we could head out at 6:00am. 

By the time we hit the road it was 6:20. Kate, Amber, Ann, Barbara, Kirsten and I started out with

On the road before sunrise.

Cindy, Margaret, Mary, and the other Patty riding just behind us. We had fun along the way riding beside different people, visiting and passing the time. The miles started piling up and my discomfort in the saddle started ratcheting up as well. I had to stand up quite a bit and took every chance to get off my bike. I was not having a good time and cringed every time I had to put my bottom back on the saddle.

Then the road got bad. I mean really bad. As in it looked like they spread out the new asphalt but didn’t bother to smooth it down.  A rocky gravel road might have been smoother. Ten miles of this pounding had me in tears. I couldn’t stand up to peddle the entire way and sitting was agony. Add some hills, high winds, and rising heat and I was failing fast. We made it to Ellsworth. Looking at the map I knew we had 26 miles to go, and 20 of them would be over very tough big rolling hills. My heart sank. This day was going to suck. 

Barbra, Kirsten, Kate, Ann, Amber, and I at Kanopolis.

The next stop was Kanopolis and a really good Mexican food restaurant. We sat and cooled off and prepared ourselves for the final 20 miles of big hills complete with one lane road construction just to make it interesting. I warned the girls that I was going to be slow, stopping at the top of every hill. And then, like a sign from God, one of the buses pulled up outside the restaurant. It reminded me of the story about the devout man drowning in a lake. A rowboat came along and the men asked him if he needed help. The drowning man replied that God would save him and waved them away. As he stood at the gates of heaven he asked God “Why didn’t you save me?”  God replied “I sent men in a rowboat, what more did you need?”  I looked at Kirsten, who was struggling like me and said maybe we could take the bus back. The other Patty heard me and the three of us knew we were to get on that bus.

It was at once the easiest and hardest decision to make. I’ve never given up on a race or ride because of my physical abilities. Mechanical difficulty, yes, but never because I just couldn’t do what was in front of me. It wasn’t even my RA that was holding me back. My body joints felt as good as I could hope for. But I could not put my seat back in that saddle for another mile. I felt bad leaving the group. I wanted to finish this challenge. Quitting doesn’t sit well with me at all. But I know the difference between aches and pain and this was pain. I had to stop.

Patty, Kirsten and I got on the bus with several other people and headed down the road to Brookville.

Celebrating with a (root) beer.

We looked ahead at the road we would not be riding and knew we had made the right decision. It hurt deep inside and it was all I could do to not let the tears fall. For the first time in my life I wasn’t going to finish.

We three waited at the Sandstone Saloon for the rest to finish and prayed they would make it safely. As they rolled in and celebrated their accomplishment I was happy for them but dying inside. Failure is new to me and it doesn’t sit well in my stomach. 

There is no hotel at Brookville so buses again shuttled riders to the next overnight stop, Salina. The last ride was 44 miles from Salina back to Brookville in a roundabout route.  Since my car was in Brookville I drove to Salina and would leave for home from there the next morning. Amber and I had already decided we were not riding Sunday so missing that ride didn’t bother me. I totaled 86 miles for the two days but will always remember that I’m 20 miles short of where I should have been. But the blood on my chamois let me know I made the right decision. 

Cindy, Margaret, Amber, Ann, Kate, Kirsten, Mary, Patty, Patty, and Barbara

This ride will be remembered for a long time. I met so many wonderful people, many of whom I now call friends. I learned that sometimes the road gets rough and you just have to make the best of it. I’ve learned that my body isn’t entirely mine to control and when it says stop, I must stop.  I learned that God does work in mysterious ways. That bus was like the rowboat to the drowning man. Divine intervention at its best! Until next time, happy riding.