The past two days

Today Topeka, KS to Cameron, MO 120 miles

Nothing much happened today. We woke up this morning, and it was pouring rain. We checked the forecast, and we found out that the rain was supposed to be done around 9:00. We went back to bed after a little breakfast until about 8:30. When Dad woke up, he was bragging about how it only took ten minutes for him to get ready. I asked for his autograph...he didn't give it to me. We had an uneventful ride all day, and after our Pizza Hut lunch, we got a little crazy. We ventured off our map route and took a different highway. It worked out well, and the shoulders on the way to St. Josephs, MO were great. St. Josephs was supposed to be our stop tonight to make it an 89 mile day. However, tomorrow was supposed to be a 145 mile day, so we decided to see if we could extend today's ride by about 30 miles or so. We did it, and we ended up here in Cameron. There is a tornado watch for the area approximately 25 miles northeast from here, and the sky is pretty dark. Oh yeah, and Dad's bike can shift now, and he was bragging about it all day. I asked for his autograph again with about 15 miles to go, and he said to wait until we got to the hotel...I still haven't gotten it.

Yesterday, Abilene, KS to Topeka, KS 109 miles

This day started off a little crazy. We got all set to go, and we went down to eat some breakfast. There was this weirdo girl working the breakfast that kept talking to herself, and Dad thought it was pretty funny. I found it funny that Dad was doing the same exact thing, except he was laughing at his own jokes. So...about ten miles into the day, we had to cross some railroad tracks. No biggie, right? That's what we thought. Let me just tell you, if synchronized bike falling were to become an olympic sport, Dad and I would be gold medalists. Yep...we both went down hard at the exact same time without running into each other. I can just hear the commentary now..."Well, Bob, the Anderson family is coming up to the tracks today doing about ten mph, and I must say, they look quite impressive in their matching outfits! Yes, Dick, I was noticing the same thing, but enough about that, they are approching the rail...well, they both jumped the left one, and here comes the right...Wow, Bob, amazing! They opted for the "digger to the right with their foots still clipped into the pedal!" Amazing! The right wheel is stuck in perfect sync, and with the gracefulness of two sumo wrestlers trying to figure skate, they hit the pavement hard! Wow, Dick, they gotta be happy with that one! Let's see what the judges say...perfect ten, and they are bringing home the gold!" Yep...that was about it. When we hit the ground, I started laughing immediately. It's not everyday that you get to see someone fall on a bike, let alone your Dad...let alone a mirror image of yourself falling perfectly in unison. It was priceless, folks...I seriously wish we could have gotten it on camera. I would have watched it over 100 times by now for sure. Well, enough about that. We ate lunch in this cafe in a town called Elksridge with a bunch of super weird people, but the food was good. When we finally made it to Topeka, we went to this interesting bike shop. It was called Jerry's, and Jerry sure has a story. The bike shop is placed right in the middle of a bunch of apartments, because he refused to sell his property to the private developer. He has been fighting this for five years, and he is on his 8th lawyer. He is now dealing with a big lawsuit from the private developer (who told Jerry he "has no principles") for "being a hassle." He has no restroom or heat, because his gas and water lines were damaged during the building process. As a result, he has a wood stove and a porto-potty outside his place. Jerry, I wish you the best of luck, and I hope everything will work out ok for you. Anyway, Jerry knows more about bikes than all the people put together that we have visited on this trip. Dad's gears are finally shifting, and he is pretty pumped up about that. And seriously you guys...we need something to do out on the road. We have stooped to the level of trying to scare herds of cattle that we pass on the side of the road. Every once in awhile you will get a bunch of them spooked out and running the other way...great fun (Dad has even suggested that we stop and get some fireworks to do some real damage to their minds). Ok...bedtime. Goodnight.

Blake