Day 14

Liberal, KS to Boise City, OK – 132.5 miles

The overcast skies we enjoyed all of yesterday opened up shortly after we unpacked the bikes for the evening. It was a hellacious storm with blowing rain and good lighting. At one point I thought we were going to witness exactly why the area is called tornado alley. The storm made for some good sleeping and we woke up ready to tear our way to Colorado. We got on the bikes to head back into the land of straight roads and I soon had a feeling we weren’t in Kansas anymore. 

  
After a short ride on pavement we were back to the off-road experience. We soon figured out that today was going to be especially fun because dirt roads plus a lot of rain equals one giant mud hole. The solid roads with an occasional sand pit we had gotten used to were now made of mud the consistency of soft modeling clay. What looked to be a good line to ride would spin your bike like a Ferris wheel on acid without any notice. The maneuver was a success if we were able to hold on to the ride.

  
Our average pace of 30 mph was reduced to about 10 and our hopes of making the next state turned into hopes of making the next car wash. We picked our way alongside the empty crop fields that were divided into square miles and spent more time stuck or creeping along throwing rooster tails of mud than making miles.

  
We arrived in Boise City around 6:30 pm and immediately found a place to scrape the mud off the bikes. It took us over an hour to fully clean all the crevices even with the high pressure water spray. We found a place to stay and checked the weather for tonight…looks like more rain.

Today’s lesson: It takes longer than expected to clean all of the places the sun doesn’t shine. 

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