Director's Report: Larry Christie

Biking Across Kansas 1998, was it successful? YES I think so...

On the Bubbly Route the entrants were so laid back that I wondered if we would have to purchase an alarm clock to make sure they didn't skip a day. The Amusing Route in spite of being larger also was well adjusted to the things that happen along the way and seemed to be rather relaxed. The Krazy again was the largest and was made up of mostly returnees and most of them had already learned to take it easy all week long.

For a change this year we had mostly quite cool if not cold temperatures all week long. On the first morning we were greeted by freezing temperatures. June in Kansas usually is not that cold. Two weeks later Wichita experienced an record high of 108°. We did have wind, sometimes to our backs, sometimes from the side and toward the end of the trip we had light headwinds, but by that time everyone was stronger and didn't mind much.

The pirate problem (people that don't pay) seemed to be under better control this year since we used armbands. A few people refused to wear the bands and were not allowed to take part in the BAK meals. Most people didn't complain at all. Some even said that where they came from armbands were used for nearly every type of multi day event and was expected. An item of interest was the many people chose to keep their armbands as a momento when it was removed. Some didn't want to remove the armband until later. Maybe we have gotten into the 90's.

E-mail was better this year due to Dave Rohr's efforts. He changed the address so that the mail came to a different location and was much easier for us to download and print. Unfortunately e-mail sent to the old address didn't get delivered. The volume was up this year, we had over 600 pieces of e-mail. Most was of the nature "I don't know how to do this so will try to send you a message." We still received considerable undeliverable mail either without route, sufficient name to identify or to names that couldn't be identified. Such as "Dad" although I didn't read all the mail it seemed that there were a good number of very creative people out there sending mail. There was one that said "Allisa is sorry about your truck but the insurance company is doing a good job." or the one from someone's cat that asked who was supposed to be feed it and also wanted to talk about the sand box. Although it took a lot of time to do, it was something that many people enjoyed and looked forward to receiving. There were again only a few old grouches that said we would rather have a bank of computers for the people to use and only one telephone.

Speaking of old grouches. At the meeting in Oskaloosa we told everyone that the pop and beer was not unlimited and that it would be served at 11:30 and that the riders should plan their day to arrive in Leavenworth by that time Still we had people come to us at 12:30 or 1:00 telling us that they had just arrived and the pop was gone! We had one rider that continued to complain about the sags driving on the highways beside him on his bicycle. He also seemed to consider himself a real attraction and was seen in the communal sleeping area wearing only very brief underwear. Also he used a fictitious name to Sherry when asked to identify himself. Why do some people complain so much and as guests act in such a way?

Unfortunately there were several accidents that happened along the way. Ambulance runs were necessary, but it seemed that most of accidents were painful but not all that bad. In the two accidents that I visited there was serious helmet damage present. Both of the helmets showed compression and cracking of the liner. Thankfully those riders were wearing their helmets. As usual there were only a couple of riders that considered themselves invincible and didn't wear a helmet.

And finally it never fails to amaze me of the talent the comes on BAK. The evening meeting were always a joy for me to attend and at one I thought that Norma was going to fall off the stage she was laughing so hard. All in all this was a good year and it seemed that people enjoyed themselves all week long. Hopefully every one made some new friends on BAK '98.