Discussion: Spike, can you report anyth...

Spike, can you report anything about biking on the back roads of Kansas (unpaved). somebody told me they were more sand and dirt than gravel, and therefore hard to ride on. but Kansas is a big state, not sure what part of the elephant they were describing.

I'm thinking about detraining 'somewhere in Kansas', and continuing to Colorado by bike.

There are plenty of paved roads. You can check the Biking Across Kansas web page (especially the archives) to find lots of maps:

http://www.bak.org/index.php

The paved roads will be busy.

If you go west across the state, you'll almost certainly be dealing with a steady headwind.

Kansas has loads of dirt and gravel roads. The condition varies tremendously. In the northeast part of the state, they seem to be fairly reliable (i.e. they match existing maps and bridges are in place). I've heard that they become less reliable as you get to the middle and west part of the state.

You should check with Mean Gene. He might have more info. He'd also be more likely to have some specific contacts you could check with for more info.

How does the fearless biker deal with softball sized hail, especially when facing steady headwinds and unreliable bridges in the middle and west part of the state?

If you saw Rudy hop back on and finish the race after his cyclocross crash 2 years ago, you'd know he's plenty tough enough to deal with such trivial impediments.

What cyclocross crash? The only crashes i remember are road crashes!
thx Spike. I will check with the Mean man.

The one where you bent your neck back so bad we all thought you might not walk again.

http://attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_290/period...

Your excellent write-up does make it seem real scary. I do remember it now, my helmet was ill-fitting and so my forehead caught the dirt directly and bounced back. Do your yoga, folks.