April 15: Liberal to Meade, Kansas
Before I left on my ride today, I realized I hadn’t seen another cyclist since I left Durango, Colorado. That was about 900 miles ago. I did see someone riding a bicycle yesterday though. I’m not sure he would call himself a “cyclist” though. He was dressed in overalls, boots, and some kind of jacket and he had a mug of coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
Today’s ride was 45 miles to Meade, Kansas. An easy ride, right? Wrong. Man, the wind can blow around here! I was headed basically northeast. I was on highway 54 which headed northeast for about 17 miles and then I cut due east for about 19 miles. The final 8 miles was due north into Meade, Kansas. I started at about 9 AM and by 10 AM, the wind was blowing, as predicted, from the west (maybe a little bit from the south) at 30-33 miles per hour with gusts to 46 miles per hour. So for 36 miles, the wind was my friend. I recall a couple times coasting along on a flat stretch of road at about 25-26 miles per hour and actually speeding up!
Then I made that turn to the north for the last 8 miles into Meade. This was a dangerous situation. The wind was blowing so hard from my left that I couldn’t ride a straight line. There was no shoulder, so the safe place to ride was about 3-4 feet to the left of the white line. Just to ride straight ahead, I was leaning over to the left against the wind by an alarming amount. If a car passed me going the opposite direction, there was a blast of wind that would push me dangerously close to the edge of the road. If a car passed me going my direction, there was a brief moment in the wake of the car in which there was no wind (or at least a lot less wind). For that brief moment, I was leaning hard to my left except there was no wind to lean against. So, I would veer suddenly towards the center of the road. Not a good situation.
So, after a couple cars went by, I decided to stop everytime a car approached. Of course, there was no shoulder on this road, so often I had no place to stop except on the white line. Fortunately, there’s not a lot of traffic and drivers that I do encounter have been very generous and often give me the entire lane.
I finally arrived safely in Meade, Kansas. I covered the first 36 miles in about an hour and a half. The last 8 miles took me an about 45 minutes.
Below are my blood sugar readings from today:
| Time: | Blood Glucose | Notes: |
|---|---|---|
| 4:15 AM | 110 | nighttime |
| 115 | 6:43 AM | fasting |
| 8:32 AM | 73 | At about 7:30, I had 3/4 of a bagel (45 grams of carbohydrate) and bolused 5.0 units. This is my pre-ride test. This is still low even after changing my carb. ratio from 1.0 unit per 6 grams of carbohydrate to 1.0 unit per 7.5 grams. |
| 9:48 AM | 85 | After testing I decided I could have something else to eat. I had two bananas and 30 minutes later I had half an energy bar (about 22 grams of carbohydrate). |
| 12:01 PM | 53 | Just after finishing the ride. I got low because while I was doing that difficult stretch with the crosswind, I couldn’t do much except try to stay upright. I didn’t drink any water or eat any food and I was too busy to notice the usual signals of a low blood glucose. I ate the remainder of the energy bar that I opened up earlier. Then, at about 1 PM, I had some lunch — a half a bagel, three fig newtons — and then it was off to see the Meade County Historical Museum and Meade’s major tourist attraction, the Dalton Gang Hideout. |
| 2:37 PM | 112 | one and one half hours post-lunch |
April 17th, 2006 at 8:32 am
Hi Pat and Pete,
You are not misssing much here. Second April snow storm going on today in Salt Lake City.
Stay safe in that wind!
Lawrence
ps. Denise, Bob and Marsha say hi!!