Biking For Kansas Pheasant

[Bruce Day]

Last week was bike reconaissance for pheasant and quail. Heard lots of pheasant crowing and quail calls. Good habitat, lots of rain, bugs for them to eat.

Overnight stops were Goodland, Colby,Hill City( lotsa hills), Osborne, Minneapolis, Herington, Osage City, Eudora, about 500 miles.

Stopped to take a call from John Dunkle and apparently stopped by a rooster because he was disturbed and started cackling.

Lots of rain days. Had a severe storm, wet cold, 35 mph wind gusts and driving rain, pushed hard and the bunch of us made it to Nicodemus, the oldest continuous black settler community west of the Miss. Townspeople opened the exhibit hall early, brought blankets and towels from home and got some our people warm.

Couple heros in the pics, a couple parapalegics who peddle with their arms. Man in yellow jersey is 53 and cut weight from 400 to 300 in 18months after heart attack. Lots of the women are breast cancer survivors. Oldest rider was 88, youngest 9.

Minneapolis KS had interesting deal. Industry needs people, and town also needs retirees. Offering free lots in nice edge of town subdivision, builder will put up a very decent new home for about $125,000 on the lot. Low cost of living, no crime, in the heart of Kansas pheasant and quail country. great walleye and bass lake close by. Pretty town in rolling hills.

Buddy and I had pics taken by Studley KS town sign. Later that day I was looking for a town named Whipped.

Rode the whole distance, a little slow. Years ago the young women used to ask my name, now they just say "passing on your left" or worse "doing OK?".

[Dean Romig]

Good for you Bruce, and the rest of them too. Now I can see a few of the things you described when we spoke while you were biking. Thanks. By the way, you were all out of breath when we spoke.... what's so hard about standing around taking pictures??

[Bruce Day]

Francis, I am backing out the Yooper this year. Major lightening strike on house on Sat as I was getting a ride home. Blew hole in roof knocked electrical circuit out, fried a wall outlet and shot it across room, blew hole in wall, water ( 6-8" deluge) poured in, part of interior ceiling collapsed, 2 " water in basement. What a mess. Thankfully no fire. Wouldn't be prudent for me to take off to Mich right now. We have had huge amounts of rain in the last few weeks in eastern KS/western MO.

[ch]

so tell me what can riding a bike in ks do 4 the phesants

[David Hamilton]

Bruce, Did you have lightening arrestors on your roof? I'm glad the strike was not while you were on your bike! When a strike happens it can be horrific. Hope you have been able to restore the damage. David

[Bruce Day]

I'm having Mike Jensen repair the roof, Mike is Mikej who sells a lot of guns on Gunbroker, but his company had over 400 calls about damage from this storm. We had a tall, grounded mast that the electric service lines comes into and which is supposed to act as a ligthning rod, but that didn't seem to help. A general handiman from the local parrish will do the interior repairs, but we are on a waiting list for everything. Thankfully we have good USAA homeowners insurance, an adjustor says about $10,000 of damage. Shocking how much but they know the costs better than me because I've owned this house for many years and paid it off at least ten years ago.

Yes, good thing nobody got hit by lightning while riding. We had storm after storm and Kansas is known for watching lightning storms roll across the plains. I couldn't even outride them they were coming so fast and I find it very difficult to maintain 20mph on a bike for very long. We had those storm chaser cars with radar driving along with us at times.

Thanks for the concern, and we will be fine.

[David Borrowman]

Bruce,

Sorry to hear about the damage to your home. I have a friend in the water and fire damage restoration business. Clint Rodgers 816-589-6300. I believe his company is called Certified Restoration and is in Greenwood. He has been in the business for 10+ years and is one of the most honest people I know.

Good luck with the recovery.

[ch]

I think i missunderstood your title maybe you ment scouting for ks phesants on a bike. storm chasiers= s4b good day ch