Last night we stayed at a nice little campsite in Chanute, KS. I had a bunch of stuff to do for work so I decided to get that done in the morning and then ride in the afternoon. Well, it took longer than I thought and I didn't get on my bike until 5 pm. I crossed into Missouri around 10 pm and then rode for another hour. I got in ~100 miles. We ended up staying in golden city for the evening. Drivers from Kansas & Missouri are very bike friendly. Drivers from Colorado are probably the least courteous.... Or maybe they are just terrible drivers. I had several close calls while biking at night in Colorado. I wear a hi viz yellow jacket underneath a reflective orange vest. I have 2 powerful LED blinky red lights on the rear of my bike & a reflective strap near my ankle. I wear a very powerful headlight. In fact, if I stand in a single spot and turn around in a circle airline pilots often mistake me for a landing beacon. So, despite being lit up like a redneck Christmas tree I still have people that drive toward me & then swerve at the last second.
Stay out of St Louis. They are not friendly there at all. In all of the traveling I have done, the drivers in St Louis are the least friendly and considerate that I have found. The rest of Missouri is not like that.
ReplyDeleteOn the hills the drivers will wait until they have a clear view or until I motion them past me. Almost everyone waves to me too. It's nice to know there are such friendly folk out there
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