The Road Not Taken...
...is freakin' hot.
I drove across the entirety of Kansas today. The terrain in the east was rolling prarie, followed by flatter prarie, then some real flat prarie, with the occasional bit of flat prarie thrown in for variety. At the exit for a town called Sylvan Grove, I got off of Interstate 70 and drove a short distance north, just to get an idea of what it would've been like to ride along the endless, straight roads of the heartland. I parked the van and got out.
One of the unexpected disadvantages of the trike is that, in addition to the heat from the sun, you also catch heat coming up from the road surface, baking you on all sides. It was about 12:30 in the afternoon when I stood looking down that road, with the full heat of the day about two hours away, and I could feel it squeezing me. That's now, in mid-July. In August, when I would've hit the plains, my sunblock would've been the oil in which I fried. Any remaining wistfulness evaporated right then and there.
After some uncertainty yesterday, I'm feeling good about the decision I made...there's nothing stopping me from making another cross-country attempt, after all. One that starts at the proper time, and after proper conditioning. But now, what's in front of me is a speedy drive through the country I would've traversed, and then a long, epic ride along its western shore. I'm looking forward to the drive and the ride.
Right now, I'm in a motel in Limon, Colorado, about ninety miles from Denver. I'll reach my dad's place early tomorrow, and I'll stay there on Saturday. I have a few practical things to take care of: a package of my mail will meet me there, I've got some equipment to shed and mail off, I need to grease my pedals, and I'll set up the solar panels to charge the big battery in the Black Box. But mostly, I'll just be visiting.
One of the ways I can tell that I've made the right move is that I'm actually excited about what's next. It's as though I used Virginia and Kentucky to train up for my ride down the west coast, so it's like I'm starting another trip. This time, I'm in better shape and a bit more experienced.
I'm still on the road! It just looks a little different.
