Nostalgia & Humor

• Year: 2024
• Citation: Vol. 93 No. 6 Pg. 16
• Pages: 16
• Date: 01 December 2024

Nostalgia & Humor No. 93 J. Kan. Bar Assn 6, 16 (2024) Kansas Bar Journal December, 2024

November, 2024

Bike Across Kansas 2024: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Real Ugly

By Matt Keenan, Executive Director, Kansas Legal Services

This months column chronicles riding my bike as part of participating in the Bike Across Kansas (BAK) — June 7-15.

So, if you think this is another "all about me" article you would be wrong. I mean yes, it's about me. But it's also about John Riggins, John Peck, Nolan Cromwell, KJ Wall, Robert Walsh, Guy Steier, Greg Musil, and Amelia Earhart.

It's also about Kansas towns you may know nothing about — I'm talking Tribune, Scott City, Ness City, Ransom, Hoisington, Lincoln, Concordia, Clyde, Frankfort, Centralia, Holton, and Atchison. Plus, the motels, hotels, bars, liquor stores, and a grain bin converted to a VRBO where we slept one night.

2024 was the 50th anniversary of BAK. Bryan Toben is the executive director of BAK. "In a typical year, BAK averages between 400 and 500 participants. 2024 was an anniversary ride, which typically helps to bump the participant numbers up to around 800. The average mileage is around 500. To make BAK a success requires about 50 volunteers and staff. All these individuals are absolutely vital in hosting a successful tour each year."

The Beginning.

This year the old guys — Marty Murphy, Vince Hammeke, and I, classmates from St. Patrick's Grade School in Great Bend, recruited young guys — our sons, Cade, Adam, and Connor, respectively, to Join. They obliged.

The ride starts along the Colorado border. But first, you have to get there. BAK arranges two buses to take everyone and their bikes. In our case, Johnson County residents met at a Lenexa grade school on Friday morning June 7 at 6:30 a.m. for the trip west, which included stops at Lawrence and Manhattan.

The buses are high quality. Like tour buses with nothing to see.

Everyone's bikes are first placed in two large U-hauls.

But bike owners can be weird when it comes to their bikes. Some riders do things like give their bikes names and treat them like people. They carry sophisticated locks and always secure their bikes in ridiculous places. There are riders who talk to their bikes on long rides and pamper them at night. Many riders won't store their bikes outside.

Owners also often have something called bike separation anxiety. Their bikes are like family but more important. And they don't like turning their bikes over to strangers. But if you take the bus out west, you have no choice.

The bike-bus queen at BAK is a woman named Amy Cinderline Hannah. She and her husband, Steve, have been doing this for 11 years. "Several individuals every year want to bring their babies in a suitcase the size of a small car. Some will show up with bubble wrap. I usually tell them to take it off, so their bikes don't suffocate in the U-Hauls."

Her flyer sets the tone:

"I know everyone likes their bike a lot, hopefully, you still will at the end. I have gotten many calls about your "special bike." We cannot transport bikes in boxes or

2

cases, no room. BAK can't take the cases in their luggage trucks each day during the week."

Tribune, Kansas

By Friday night at 6 o'clock we had arrived in Tribune. It is in Greeley County, which is the least populated county in the state. There are two people for every square mile. On Friday, June 6th there were six people per square mile. Greeley is also one of four Kansas Counties that are in the Mountain Time Zone. [The others are Sherman, Wallace, and part of Hamilton County]

Tribune is noteworthy for another reason. There is no bar in town. There is no liquor store, either. Which explains why there are no people.

The night before the ride you can't sleep. You toss and turn. You think about everything that can go wrong and often does. You worry about your tires, winds blowing from the east, rain forecasts, heat forecasts, keeping track of charger...