And the Thunder Rolls
- Jon Scott
- May 19
- 4 min read
I must start off this evening’s post with an apology. Apparently the lame site that I use as a platform for this tripe, limits me to 200 free emails per month. At the rate of 88 per post and last night being my 3rd post in May, many people did not receive the notification. Eagle-eyed IT Manager Erin noticed the problem and for the low, low price of $24/month, I have upgraded to 5000 per month. That should cover it.
There’s not much for the Bingo board tonight. This one is like the Free space in the middle and EVERYONE should have had it, if they’d read any of my old posts. I got poured on. There also aren’t many pictures again tonight. Not for lack of content, but because all the good ones came during the aforementioned rain.
The morning started off poorly as the free hotel breakfast consisted of a bowl of Fruit Loops and a couple of Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts. There was nothing warm. My cereal choices for those who are judging me were Fruit Loops or Apple Jacks. They did have OJ so I could get a little Vitamin C but there was certainly no Vitamin D available during the ride. I think if this was a book, the sky would have been described as “gunmetal gray”. All day. The sun didn’t even try. The ride itself was pretty straightforward, literally. There were a few turns here and there but I was “on the grid” here in Kansas, either going due North-South, or due East-West. There was a nice urban paved trail from Olathe (which supposedly means “beautiful” in Shawnee) up toward Bonner Springs. After a quick Star-B’s stop in Olathe to supplement my breakfast, I pressed on to the not-so-beautiful hamlet of Bonner Springs. That’s where the fun began. I had 20 miles to go to my destination, and I was about 1/2 miles into the final stretch (or so I thought), when the sky opened up. It had been threatening all day but way just long enough to make it as inconvenient as possible for me. A couple claps of thunder and about 5 minutes of rain and it was over, so not too bad. The problem, of course, is that when you’re on a bike, 5 minutes is all it takes to soak you. I thought I might just “get to the house” with no further damage, but about 10 miles to the finish line, the steady rain started coming down. Of course, I couldn’t look at my phone to see how far I had left, so I decided to make one more stop. Traffic was picking up along with the rain and I got to a busy intersection with a stop light. On the opposite corner was a convenience store so that was my target. At that moment, two young guys in a pickup rolled down there window and asked me if I needed a ride home. I politely declined, saying I was almost there. LOL. More LOL. As I got over to the C-store, it started to pour and the lightning cracks sounded like they were hitting the store. (My video is too big and won’t load. I’ll try again tomorrow). The poor clerk behind the counter had to visit with me for almost an hour - during which time it rained over an inch, according to my weather app. I tried calling for a ride from RideKC. I noted in the app that I had a bike. I get a notification that the driver is on his way and then he calls me. He tells me they cannot transport a bike (even though they can transport wheelchairs). I told him OK, thanks anyway. He told me he’d be there in 5 minutes. Forget it, WTF do you want me to do with my bike??? So I then tried Uber XXL and quickly got matched up. I put in the notes that I had a bike, and the ride was cancelled within 30 seconds. The forecast called for rain until 5:00am tomorrow. I didn’t think Junior behind the counter would want me malingering that long, so I waited until the rain lightened up a bit and made a break for it. I had 4 1/2 mostly downhill miles to go. That’s a double-edged sword. Downhill good. So much water on the road, bad. I was having to ride through deep puddles, which promptly filled my shoes, socks, shorts, and pretty much everything I owned. Also, when you’re wet and going downhill as fast as you dare, it’s rather a bit chilly. Glad to say that I made it to the hotel without further incident. In fact, the rain stopped. Until I was walking the 3/4 mile back from dinner at Bailey’s Irish Pub, where I did NOT have an Irish Car Bomb, but I did find a salad - the first green food item, except for the Enchilada sauce yesterday.
Final destination tonight was Leavenworth, Kansas - where of course there is a Sonic across the street from the hotel. 3 nights, 3 hotels, 3 Sonics I could hit with a golf ball from the hotel door. For those napping it out, I have gone SE (mostly south), then west, then north. As Fletcher so eloquently said to me in a text earlier today, I am circling the KC metro area like a turd in a toilet. Spoiler alert, I’m going east tomorrow unless something changes overnight.
Finally, I want to just say thank you to anyone taking the time to read through this and to send a comment or shoots me a text. Even if you just read these posts in abject horror and disbelief, you have my sincere gratitude. It’s all just one big adventure and it’s great to share it with others. My life is better because you guys are in it!
