Prime Kansas Prairie
After a horrible night of barking dogs, constant driving around by the neighbors, a almost skunk intruder and more wind, we hit the road with me feeling rather weak.
The winds started the day from the north and moved around rather quickly to the east. So not only was I feeling weak but we were battling headwinds all day. After 72 miles, we stopped but Sean wanted to ride so I gave him my bike and Catherine and I drove another 30 miles to Norton where we found a nice campground alongside a reservoir. The winds were dying down and we were feeling pretty good when we saw Sean ride in. As he got within about 100 feet of our site, he hit a pile of loose gravel and went down. There was plenty of gore and Catherine did her best to clean up the wounds. Sean was a real trooper and didn't cry at all!! Fortunately for my bicycle, SEan took most of the impact of the fall and my bike survived with only a couple of new scratches.
As the evening fell, a thunderstorm moved in along with huge winds that lasted all night. We did't get much rain but we did get a pretty good show of lightening and thunder.
So here are the promised statistics.
May 21 - 43 miles (Late Start)
Oliver - 4.5 miles per amp
Catherine - 3.08 miles per amp
Cross winds at 2 to 3 o'clock
Terrain - Rolling hills with some steep short climbs.
May 22 - 66 miles
Oliver - 5.67 miles per amp
Catherine - 3.23 miles per amp
Strong cross winds. Occasional tail winds due to road direction heading north. Terrain -HIlly with smaller hills than yesterday
May 23 - 72 miles (Oliver started the day tired)
Oliver - 3.75 miles per amp
Catherine - 3.26 miles per amp
Winds light the first hour becoming strong headwinds throughout the middle of the day and dropping off later. (After we stopped riding)
Terrain - Rolling hills some steep climbs.
So for you folks who like data, here it is. As you can see, rider variability is the key. Not just strength but how tired the rider is.
Prairie Schooner
Thinking of trading in my ride
Bottom section of a wind tower - Notice the access door
Dedicated turbine hauler - Good to see!
Sean's gory leg
Posts
Poor Sean, I hope he's okay!
ReplyDeleteAre the bikes Oliver and Catherine are riding identical, or do they pull different amounts of energy? We've got plenty of wind over here today, too. Keep your heads low and spirits up! Nearly half the way there soon!
Too bad about Sean's leg injury. Hope it heals quickly. Sounds like a bit of torture that you've been through the past few days. Hang in there! May the force be with you. http://levonneandjohnscaliforniaodyssey.blogspot.com/
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