BAK 2018 Day 1

This is how I felt after 74 miles today!

We rode from Johnson City to Montezuma via Hwys 160, KS 144, and 56. As bike rides go, it wasn’t terribly exciting. We saw wheat, wheat, and more wheat. And some corn. I found a neat barn, not my usual style, but the flag made it cool enough to stop for a pic.

My favorite SAG (support and gear, where we refill water) stop was, of course the famous Sag Hags. They’re always in costume and always having a good time. This is Donna who has been sagging for BAK for 25 years!

I had a slight mechanical to take care of today on Speedy (that’s my road bike, shown here leaving this morning at 6:00am). Her Aero bars were malfunctioning because of a missing springy thingy. So that bothered me during the ride. I removed her bars for the first time ever today. Between me and about 6 other people, I got it done and moved my Cateye and headlight mounts as well. Which brings me to friends…

On BAK we’re all friends. We help each other, we support each other, and we make some pretty cool friendships. Take for example my Bike triplet brothers Tyler and Kiler–we would have never met had it not been for BAK! (And BTW, yes, I’m Skylar 🤣). There’s Jason–my best cycling friend who I’m missing this year and I would have never met if it weren’t for bikes. And there’s Mary Ann who’s another Sag Hag–the sweetest and warmest woman, and I would’ve never known her if I wasn’t biking Across Kansas. There’s Stephanie and Denise, Hannah, John, Mike, and so many more who make BAK run smoothly and always give me a smile. There’s Kathy from Oregon who is riding her first bike event and chose BAK–I would’ve never met her if I wasn’t on a bike. There’s the father-daughter team of Darrel and Shannon–they inspire me with their warm relationship and I would’ve never known them if I hadn’t determined to ride my bike.

Day 1 was nothing exciting and everything awesome about Biking Across Kansas.