64.55 miles (Total: 1722.26) Avg Speed: 12.3mph Max Speed: 28.5mph
The England game worked our perfectly for me this morning, because kick off was 9am which meant I could watch it then ride. After qualifying with the US me an Joe hit the road all smiles. It was flat again but the odd hill kept cropping up much to my annoyance, this is Kansas I demand flat roads.
England - Slovenia
Another hill, I feel robbed.
District 9!
After making it to the small town of Toronto we found the only place in town with any food. A small store with a table and chairs, the only problem is they have no AC and its probably warmer inside than out. We look in the fridge with our throats closing up from thirst, its practically empty. The guy explains his truck is broke so he hasn’t been able to restock and the soda fountain is broke due to lightening damage! So we are left with a big bottle of fresh orange which we both down in seconds, everything else in the store was near boiling point. He actually makes us some really good sandwiches but due to the heat and thirst we can’t manage much and get them wrapped up to go. After laughing at our predicament Joe asks me with a straight face if I want a hot coffee and I began to cry with laughter.
We were a few weeks early for Toronto Days
Unimpressed.
TansAm?
We rode only 5 miles up the road to find Terry at a really nice Cafe, but we didn’t care, our lunch in Toronto would be memorable at least. We took another short break from the heat then headed out towards Eureka. We were chased by a storm cloud the whole way and at one stage we could even see a wall of rain crashing down the road just ahead but we were only blasted for a minute until we eventually reached town and found Terry in the city park.
There were no showers but they did have a pool which was closed. We all stank and had no clean clothes for tomorrow, we had to take a dip in that pool! It was bordered either side by two small baseball fields with games going on, we figured when it gets quiet we could hop the fence and take a dip.
Joe went first, then me and Terry. Each sneaking over then slithering into the pool briefly before hopping out. Me and Joe went into town for food at a bar whilst Terry cooked himself food on his stove. When we returned Terry was sat with a wry smile. He explained right after we left the local sheriff pulled up, a young 5ft nothing cop packing a gun, baton, tazer and the usual rubbish these power trip cops have. He interrogated Terry for about an hour about hopping the fence after a local in the empty park had somehow spotted us. He threatened Terry with jail for the night and lectured him over and over. We all went right round the back of the pool and were only in for around 10 seconds each.
The Pool
Drama over we decided to all sleep out tonight as there were no bugs and it was so humid. A lightening storm way off in the distance lit up the skies which I watched for around an hour until going to bed.
The England game did me a favour this morning — kickoff at nine meant I could watch the whole thing and still get riding. England scraped through with the US, and Joe and I hit the road grinning about it. The land was flat again, mostly, except for the odd hill that kept sneaking in uninvited. This is Kansas, I kept telling it. I was promised flat.
England - Slovenia
Another hill, I feel robbed.
District 9!
The small town of Toronto offered exactly one place to eat — a store with a table and a couple of chairs, no air conditioning, and an interior somehow hotter than the street outside. We opened the fridge with our throats already closing up from thirst and found it nearly bare. The owner explained his delivery truck was broken down, so no restocking, and the soda fountain had been fried by a lightning strike, so no relief there either. What we got was one large bottle of fresh orange juice, which we finished between us in seconds, and sandwiches good enough that we wished the heat had let us enjoy them properly instead of just wrapping them for later. Somewhere in the middle of all this Joe asked me, dead straight-faced, if I wanted a hot coffee, and I laughed until it hurt.
We were a few weeks early for Toronto Days
Unimpressed.
TansAm?
Five miles up the road we found Terry parked at a proper café with air conditioning, which stung a little, but Toronto had earned its place in the memory regardless. We took another break from the heat before pushing on toward Eureka, chased the whole way by a storm cloud that let us see, at one point, an entire wall of rain crashing down the road just ahead of us. It caught us for barely a minute before we reached town and found Terry again, this time in the city park.
There were no showers, but there was a pool — closed, unfortunately, for the summer. We stank, we had no clean clothes for tomorrow, and there was really only one solution. It sat between two baseball diamonds with games still running, so we waited for the crowds to thin before making our move.
Joe went first, then Terry and I, each of us sneaking over the fence and sliding briefly into the water before hopping straight back out. Joe and I went into town afterward for food at a bar while Terry cooked on his stove, and when we got back he was sitting there with a look on his face. While we’d been gone, he told us, the local sheriff had shown up — a young cop barely five feet tall, weighed down with a gun, a baton, and a taser he clearly enjoyed having — after some local in the otherwise empty park had spotted us going over the fence. He spent the best part of an hour interrogating Terry, threatening him with a night in jail, lecturing him in circles. We’d each been in that pool for about ten seconds.
The Pool
With the drama settled, we decided to sleep out under the open sky — no bugs, and far too humid for a tent anyway. A lightning storm flickered somewhere off on the horizon, and I watched it for the better part of an hour before finally giving in to sleep.
1 comment from 2010
I feel sorry for the poor people who had to use that pool the next day! Gross!! ha!