What an awesome day! We had very pleasant weather on the way to Wilson; hot, but not unbearably hot weather on the way home; everyone rode their own ride with zero issues; the Lead Riders led us to Wilson as if they knew the area like the back of their hand; we saw a Kansas landmark and we made new friends. I would say that was a purrfect Krome Kitty Road Trip!
When I first arrived at the QuikTrip, there wasn’t a bike in sight. I had a moment of panic and had to really think about whether I was at the right QuikTrip. Fortunately, as I was about to pull my phone out to check the departure location, Kathryn pulled in. “Oh, thank God. I’m in the right place, I was just early.” I guess someone has to be first, it’s just never been me.
As we were waiting for the last of the Kitties to arrive, a lady on a bike pulled into the QuikTrip. We all were trying to figure out who it was. Is it Cindy? No, her bike is white, this bike is silver. I did a mental check on who was left to arrive and this gal did not match the missing Kitties. That’s when she pulled up to our group and I could see she was no one. Well, she wasn’t no one, she was someone, but she wasn’t a Kitty. I guess we didn’t consider there could be a lady biker who wasn’t a Kitty! 😄 Several of us chatted with her, and she was riding from College Station, TX to Iowa by herself. She thought we were pretty cool and she was not wrong!
With 15 Kitties present and accounted for, I divided up the groups with Group 1 being led by Nellie, with Stephanie as Sweep. Group 2 was led by Cindy, with Donna as Sweep. Miss Safety Officer Christine gave us some advice on staying hydrated, we said the Kitty prayer, biked up and we were off!
We went backroads all the way and it was a nice, relaxing ride. My favorite scenic moment was crossing over Kanapolis Lake. I’ve been to several Kansas lakes in my day, but never this one, which led me to ask myself “Why haven’t I?” What a beautiful lake surrounded by lovely countryside! If I was more of a lake person, this would be at the top of my list.
About 20 miles from Wilson, my cup holder screw came loose and my Yeti-esque cup, which was full of ice water, did a topsy turvey into my lap. Nothing gets your attention like ice water in your crotch! Fortunately, we stopped at a stop sign very shortly after the ice water bath and I was able to hand screw it enough to get to Wilson. Before we even got off our bikes in Wilson, I dug in my windshield pouch and proudly announced to everyone that I was going to fix the issue all by myself with this here wrench I had. Christine said, “Oh, that’s wonderful Queenie, but that’s not a wrench. Those are pliers.” I was slightly less proud of myself, but I did get it fixed!
We all burst through the door of Made from Scratch ready to plow into some fried chicken. What’s that you say? Other customers took over our reserved tables? They clearly don’t know who they’re dealing with here! We’re the Krome Kitties for crying out loud! Some of the poachers must have heard us because they vacated the area lickety-split and we managed to get enough tables and chairs to accommodate all of us, which had grown in numbers by two with the arrival of Danielle and her friend, Rachel, who met us at the restaurant.
Time for the 50/50 drawing! Wait. Where is the flamed bag with the tickets? Oh dang. Jennifer was out of town and not on the ride. Now what are we gonna do? Donna said, “I got this” and she did! She tore up little pieces of napkins and instructed us to write our names on them. She collected the money and put the napkin bits in a large zip lock bag Christine had. We had previously met a couple, George and Susan, who were fellow bikers and now our new friends. We gave Susan the honors of drawing the winning napkin bit. Donna felt the money should be rightfully hers given her creative Plan B, but the universe had a different opinion. She was not the winner.
After filling our bellies full of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and several sides and chatting noisily, it was time to go see what put Wilson on the map. It was egg-celent!
Afterwards, we grouped back into our groups and pointed our noses home. And once again, our Lead Riders performed their jobs flawlessly!
Speaking of Lead Riders, a big thank you to Nellie and Cindy for remembering all the turns. Not one glitch! Nellie wasn’t taking any chances and taped the directions to her windshield. That’s actually kinda brilliant!
A big thank you to Stephanie and Donna for being the Sweeps. Fortunately, everything went so well, they weren’t called into duty, but it was a comfort knowing they were there…and they knew the difference between a wrench and pliers.
This post would be nothing without pictures. We have our Club Photographer to thank for that! Stephanie, thank you for always capturing the best of us and the ride in your awesome photos!
And thank you to each of the Kitties who came out to play today! Speaking for myself, I’ve missed the last three events due to being ill for the Tutu Ride and then being gone in June. Better friends and riding partners cannot be found!
Janice
Founder – KKMC
