Friday, May 28, 2010

Dirty Kanza 200 Training Log: Another Night Time Adventure

First off, I'm sorry there are no images to go along with this. There were some great opportunities, but I have the wrong camera for them. So, you'll have to deal with that!

d.p. suggested we go to Toledo and head east from that point. So I made the trek down and we were off and running before 9pm. The sun was setting in the West, but we were watching an awesome moon-rise in the east. The ride out of town was nice and relaxed on some rolling hills. We hit up the ridge road going southeastwards that we used for T.I.V5 and went down some rollers and gently up the other side. d.p. then stopped and suggested riding up Q Avenue. Well, Q Avenue has some really steep pitches. One right after another. Then we hit a T intersection and turned left, heading back westwards. We were still going up and down some very hilly terrain until we hit a forced left hander and then down a really steep hill where we turned right.

Now here is where it got weird. We were on the exact same road we were on coming out of town, but we didn't recognize it. Toledo is hidden from view until you are right on top of it, so we had no idea we were so close. We found a road, and thinking we were still north and east of Toledo, instead of directly east, we turned southwards. It wasn't too far until we found a barricaded road, and being curious, we went around it. The road looked as though it had just been made. We were a bit perplexed, but we were going downhill, so we just went with it. Then the gravel suddenly disappeared and the road went to smooth dirt. Then the road got so wide we couldn't see the edges of it. We realized we were in a construction zone and we guessed we were in the vicinity of the new Highway 30 re-route. But where had we crossed the road we went out on? d.p. guessed rightly that we had been on it, but this was still odd.

Then we crossed over the new four lane on an incomplete concrete overpass, then back to dirt. All the while we are coasting, still going downhill. Then suddenly the dirt ended in weeds. We stopped, blinked, looked around, and suddenly realize we were about 30 yards from Highway 30. (The soon to be old highway)

We hike-a-biked down the embankment to the shoulder and road two miles past Tama and back into Toledo from the south! Boy, was I turned around! I didn't see what we had done until I got back to the house afterward and checked out a map.

It was fun and getting slightly lost was a good time. Well, since it turned out well and all!

Hopefully on this Memorial Day Weekend you'll stop to remember a soldier, airman, seaman, or other serviceman or women that has sacrificed so we can go get lost on our bikes this weekend and whenever we want to. Go for a ride, and be thankful we're free to do these nutty things on bikes that we do!

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