Food Sourcing on the Transamerica

 I have what I call a very clean diet. I eat lots of salad with lots of fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, multi grains and lean meat. I usually steam or boil my food and I don't use many sauces. This adventure has opened my eyes to "new" ways of getting food.

Here are 4 ways we get our food supplies. 

1. Convenience Store (CS in bike tour lingo!) Food:   I am still shocked by what I will now buy at Dollar General or a CS - Top ramen, Knorr soup mixes, peanut butter, tuna and chicken packets, canned green beans, tortillas, instant oatmeal packets and trail mix. I don't even like peanut butter, but there is no such thing as almond butter in Dollar General. The one time I asked a store manager if they had hummus he didn't even know what it was. 

2. Hotel food:   When we do stay overnight in a hotel that has a free meal, the breakfast buffet is a foraging event. Everything is part of breakfast. Every salt packet, every pepper, every creamer packet, every butter packet. We eat everything we want and can. Then we pack up everything we want and can take. This usually consists of bananas, apples, oranges, extra biscuits that we make into sandwiches with any leftover eggs, sausage, bacon- anything. 

3. Restaurant food:  This is somewhat similar to hotel food except that we order what we want to eat and then we pack everything else we can take. We always ask them to fill all of our water bottles and coffee cups.  All creamer, napkins and packets go.

4. Grocery Store:  This the jackpot and also where our eyes are bigger than our panniers. Carrots, fruit, packaged ready-to-eat meals, fresh sandwiches, fried chicken, fresh vegetables, watermelon have all been loaded in our panniers or tied on.

Day 32 June 18 Hutchinson to Great Bend, KS

3:45 start time allowed us to enjoy 65 degree temperature this morning. We had our fastest day at 13 mph.  The route was through mostly prairie.  Kansas so far has not shown me as much corn as I was expecting.  When we didn't see any cows we were perplexed until we realized we were riding through Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. By the time we got breakfast in Great Bend the temp was in the 80's.  At the local coffee shop, Great Bend Coffee, we met the morning "men's group".  They became our answer to lodging.  We had none as we rode into town.  Dave, one of the locals, owns the hotel we are now staying in.  Our hotel room now is a pleasant 70 as the temp outside is 94.  The Spokane 4 went to the Handlebar, a biker vibe bar for salads and street tacos then later to the DQ for shakes and blizzards,orange julius,fruit smoothies.  Had a nice ride around downtown area. It has an old Steam locomotive wich seems to be common in many towns here in Kansas.  It also has a large court house, water park and zoo.  The group continues to comment on the width of downtown streets in Kansas. They are uber wide.  The next day is planned. We are hoping for light wind and wide sholders.  Dinner will be in our room a homemade Jetboil version

 

Day 31 June 17 Newton to Hutchinson, KS

Our destination each day now depends mostly on where we can find shelter from the heat. Today we did 46 miles to end up in Hutchison, KS before 10 am.  The temperature is 94 degrees so if we are in a park it will be too hot to sleep.  We are in a church hall that is also a bike hostel.  We have AC, beds, showers, a kitchen, and internet.  It also has the only real bike shop until Publeo, CO.  There was also a town pool and library - necessary to beat the heat.  Dollar General is nearby!

 

Day 30 June 16 Eureka to Newton, KS

This was our 3rd day of starting before the sun rises. If you look at our pictures you might see why we really like the early start.  Sunrise, other riding groups, early morning animals and quiet, beautiful country are suprising every time. Eric had a deer pass right in front of him. Tom likes visiting with the cows.  I was thrilled with huge herd of horses I saw.  I found out later they are a protected herd of mustangs.  We have been challenged and rewarded during our early starts in the midwest. Covering 74 miles in 7 hours still meant heat and wind.  We found no place for breakfast so it was oatmeal with our jetboils at a empty pavillion along the way. Our reward came later with a dip in the city pool.  Complete with slides and a lazy river, it was perfect.  A little time is now being spent at the library to catch up on communications.

Never Have I Ever: From Privilege to Road Hobo

Never Have I Ever shopped at a Dollar store for anything other than holiday paper goods before this trip. Now I think Dollar General is a gleaming edifice of bounty and all things good. So much delicious food! Tuna, peanut butter, Knorr rice packets, ramen, canned beans and vegetables and if you are lucky, some fresh fruit. Walmarts are in bigger towns but these little Dollar General gems are in every little podunk town. 

Never Have I Ever thought Bud Light beer was so very delicious. We were at a Homewood Suites in St Louis one night and they offered happy hour: a piecemeal dinner to include pasta and complimentary wine and beer on tap. Leisa scrunched her face and reported that it was Bud Light (eeuuuww). She went back to our room and I proceeded to pour myself a draft anyway because that's how low we now go. I took a glugg and found it to be a cold, refreshing draft of delicious nectar. What? I reported this experience back to Leisa. She in turn went to the dining room and poured herself a draft and also found it to be amazingly delicious. So now, Bud Light is the official beer of choice for the Spokane TransAmers after a day of riding. 

Never Have I Ever had such a simple skin care regimen. Back home I have a morning and evening skin care protocol that involve myriad antioxidants, exfoliants, humectants, moisturizers, fortifiers in the form of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, hyaluronic acids, glycolic acids, copper peptides, green tea clay masks, niacinamide, retinoids, etc etc. Since this trip started, I wash my face with hotel bar soap, use sunscreen in the morning and a simple moisturizer at night and my face is pretty much the same. 

Never Have I Ever felt so connected. To my country, it's history and the people in it. We are in the heart of the Bible belt, the Red Zone and we have found people to largely be kind, generous and without horns. 

Never Have I Ever been so unfussy and grateful for places to sleep. We have slept on the floor of fire stations, churches, city park pavilions, a restaurant dining room floor and beds in mid-level and budget hotels. We cram five people to a room with all our bikes and gear. We endure each others snoring. We dress and undress in front of each other. We have learned that pitching a tent on the concrete floor of a park pavilion is preferable to grass because ticks and earwigs are everywhere, and the dew will make your tent wet for seemingly forever. We have stayed in peoples homes where they are what we would consider abject slobs, tiptoeing around the clutter and the mess and we are grateful for the hospitality and shelter. After all, we are just hobos.

Day 29 Jun15: Iola KS to Eureka KS

Last night we stayed in an AirBnb in Iola Kansas [I. O. L. A. Iola! (sung to Kinks song)]. A charming little midwestern town that touts that their town square is the largest in the nation. Some have compared the vibe to Hill Valley in Back to the Future, complete with a clocktower and expansive brick architecture. The fellas were able to stock up on tire tubes and repair kits in the bike shop on Main St.

The cute bungalow AirBnB itself was heaven. A blast of air conditioned air as you opened the door, a real bed with sheets for everyone, fluffy white towels, Wifi, laundry and a Keurig coffee machine. Oh how we appreciate these things!! We set off at 4:30a to beat some of the heat and the predicted winds coming from the south and southwest. It's proved to be such a joy, these early starts; less traffic, seeing the moon set and the sun rise. Right off the start the wind was formidable. Bill pulled us the first 15 miles and we kept the paceline tight. 

Stopped in Yates Center for "second breakfast" at Casey's General Store, a chain of convenience/gas stations. A big shout out to Casey's!! They have these fancy industrial automated coffee machines that fresh grind for each individual cup. AND they make homemade donuts, breakfast burritos and sausage biscuit thingys. We call this FUEL and eat with impunity. 

Then onward to Eureka, the last 35 of a total 50 miles. It is not my intent to use this blog as a forum for complaining, but I have to put it out there; it was windy as hell. We were on a highway shared with trucks and semi's and every time one went past us it was unnerving, scary even. By the time we rolled into Eureka we were pretty frazzled. We have a big day tomorrow, so today was an intentionally shorter day and we were done by 10:30a. Woohoo freedom! Bill and I went to the FABULOUS Cake Batter Batter restaurant for lunch and had salad and sando's...more on that later. Leisa, Tom and Eric went to the grocery store and got killer panini's for $3.99. I took a hobo shower in the library sink and am chilling in the library until they close, enjoying the AC, Wifi and extreme hospitality. The librarian made me a cup of herbal tea! Bill, Eric and Tom are at the public pool swimming with the rest of the children and enjoying a little bit of attention: OMG! You biked all the way from Virginia!!?? Anyhoo, the plan was to free camp in the city park (permission granted). But as we were having lunch at Cake Batter Batter, the owner Deanna invited us to sleep in her restaurant tonight! Since the wind is horrific and it's hot and muggy at night, we unanimously agreed to take her up on her generous offer. The restaurant is a bakery and ice cream parlor also. We will be sleeping on the restauant floor and she said we can help ourselves to any baked goods and ice cream. Can you believe it!!?? Like kids in a candy store. People are so nice.

Day 28 June 14 LaCygne to Iola, KS by Eric Erickson

We got another early start because of the heat and wind.
Nice to see the moon, and things are much quieter on the road.
This the Court House in Garnett...this downtown area is charming and does look somewhat like the set of Back to the Future.
After second breakfast in Garnett Kansas we immediately got on the Prairie Spirit trail,  a very nice rail to trail very flat and has signage about local plants and animal info.
Got to see a large bird, Hawk perhaps grab a large snake off the trail. also saw baby deer and rabbits and cows in a pond.
Day ended in Iola at a bungalow.  Thanks Angie!!

  

Day 27 June 13th Clinton, Mo to La Cygne, KS

We did it! On the road at 3:38 am.  See the pictures at the bottom of us riding in the dark.  It allowed us to get in 25 miles without traffic or heat.  We stopped in a little town, Butler, MO. and met the owner of Mo-Kan Livestock, Jim Herzog. He directed us to his restaurant through his stock yards. See us in the auction ring. Breakfast was all home cooked. Lunch was equally as much fun.  At McBee's Bratwurst we met the owner's son-in-law, Jason, who was running the store. The store smelled so good from all the brats they make and cook. As we ordered one brat a piece for our dinner along with baked beans and potato salad, Jason proceeded to load us up on 3 more packages of brats along with pepperoni sticks and summer sausage.  We had to figure out how to carry it all - we did!
It was hot by the time we finished at 1:30 pm with 57 miles under our belts. We stayed in the cabins you see in the picture. They were originally built for workers from a coal-fired power plant about a mile away.  Now they are rental AirBnB's.  Our dinner was amazing.  The man working on cabins gave us charcol and lighter fluid.  Our adventures continue.

Dorothy, we’re home! Clinton, MO crossing into Kansas

Today was super fun starting with a 3am wake-up and 3:30am departure. The early start was key since our area is experiencing hot weather, high humidity and headwinds for the day. What the early departure delivered was 82 degrees, no wind and very little traffic. Oh yes, and also a Strawberry Super Full Moon. It was beautiful riding as we set up a great pace line out of Clinton. We then had two very memorable stops along the way. The first was 35 miles down the road in a little town called Passiac where we met the owner of the Hertzog meat processing plant, who also owned the MOKAN cattle auction and adjoining MOKAN Cafe. The cafe served reasonably priced delicious food and we struck up a conversation with one of the locals. 

We then proceeded towards LaCygne, KS but had a unscheduled stop at McBee’s Bratwurst shop in Amsterdam, MO. We were a bit early for our Airbnb checkin so needed to kill some time and ended up bumping into one of the finest Bratwurst shops in the state. The owner actually came out to greet us, had us take a picture with him inside his store and then set us up with a care package of an assortment of brats and other delicious foods made there. Needless to say we ate quite well this evening as Bill and Tom manned the grill.

Lesson for the day is to slow down and soak up what the area has to offer. We’re discovering that when given a chance, people provide unexpected acts of kindness, and most love to share their stories and enjoy hearing ours.