22 Days until GAWR - Marysville, Kansas - increase tire pressure

I was excited to used the knowledge that I gained from last weekend's camping test in hopes of having an even better weekend camping test. I lightened my gear a little for this trip by carrying less food and not carrying a pocketrocket stove. I also was using a new system that would allow me to drink water directly from the water bladder that would be stored in my frame bag. I would still be carrying full gear on this ride. This would also be my first ride with new Panaracer Gravelking 700 X 50 tires.

I headed south on the Jamaican Trail expecting a tailwind. But the winds were not in my favor and a rode into a slight headwind all the way to Kansas. The ride felt much better than last week, maybe it was the wider tires - I think I was just starting to get used to carrying all my gear. I kept telling myself - "just ride nice and steady and don't worry about speed". I was moving pretty slow but felt good. I stopped in Beatrice for an early lunch then continued on to Marysville. About the time I reach state Barnston near the Kansas boarder - I could feel that my rear tire felt a little low. I used my hand pump to top off the tire. I did not check the tire pressure but figured the pressure was about 36 psi. My power meter was showing the same power numbers as earlier in the ride, but my speed was slowing down. The temperature was starting to get hot, with temperatures around 90 degrees. I no longer felt good and was starting to struggle a little bit as I pulled into Marysville, Kansas. As I rode down the main street - the street looked cool and was very historic but the town looked like a ghost town. I then rode over to the park to checkout the camping area and was very impressed with what I saw. The park very impressive and I was surprised how clean everything was. The park had a nice Frisbee golf course, water park, tennis courts, and a large children's play area. Now that I knew where I would be camping, I went in search of food and went to a nice gas station that had a shaded outdoor seating area.

After lunch I went out to get in an extra 20 miles so I could reach 100 miles on the bike for the day. I found a very nice gravel road that traveled along a levee. But my stomach was starting to feel upset - I think the sudden heat increase was tough on my body.

I then went back to the campgrounds and set up my tent and relaxed for while before going to sleep. Once again, I had trouble falling asleep in tent. I missed my big soft king size bed from home. I rolled around worrying that it was going to rain that night and I would be riding on muddy roads going home the next day.

I woke up early around 4:30 AM and was happy that it had not rained during the night. But I knew rain was coming and decided to pack up and start riding home, hoping that I could beat the rain.

I started riding home in the dark, but I could see a light show from thunder to the north. I was headed north and knew that I would be riding into the storm. A headwind suddenly came out of nowhere, and the temperature quickly dropped. I knew this was a sign that I had better put my raincoat on. Within minutes, it was pouring rain and knew it was going to be a long ride home. The rain shower was short, but the wind continued to blow in my face and trail started to feel a little soft. Showers would come and go, so I decided to just keep my raincoat on because it was a little chilly.

By the time I reached the Nebraska border, the roads seemed dry but my tire pressure felt low so I stopped several times to add air to the rear tire. I then learned that the valve was not fully tightened, which was causing the tire to lose air pressure.

I stopped in Beatrice for breakfast at McDonald's then rode back to Lincoln while listening to an audiobook. When I reached Lincoln, I decided to stop at Trek Bicycles to have them look at the valve on the tire. They tightened the valve and increased the air to 41 psi. I hopped back on the bike and was excited to feel how much better the bike felt with a higher psi. This was my big take away for the day - I need higher tire pressure while carrying a full load of gear. Riding with low tire pressure like most gravel racers do, will not work while bike packing. Right now, I'm not a gravel racer - I'm a bike packer.