Klunkin’ In Kansas
Last week we took an hour plus drive to Camp Horizon which is a church retreat near Arkansas City, Kansas that has some great mountain bike trails. We’ve only ridden these trails one other time and that was nearly 30 years ago. It’s been nearly that long since we’ve ridden any trails of this type and back then we had proper mountain bikes. We took the bikes that I felt would be best suited for the job which were an old Schwinn cantilever and Heavy Duti. Both with 7 speeds, somewhat fat tires and rim brakes.
On our way there we realized Nova had forgot her helmet so we stopped at a Walmart in another town we were passing through and bought her one. Once at the trails we first rode a fairly easy loop before taking on the more difficult one. We probably only rode about half the trails that are there. It was a weekday and we had the trails to ourselves which is what we had hoped for. We didn’t want to be in anyone’s way with our slow riding and frequent stopping. After riding we found a spot for lunch in the “old settlers dugout” which is right on the trail.
Kudos to Nova for being such a trooper. Trails like this really aren’t her thing and this was her first time riding this bike more than a block. There’s probably not too many people riding these trails on a rigid, heavy, old bike with a loaded basket, kickstand and caliper brakes lol.
It was quite the workout and challenge but we both had a good time and thankfully no one got hurt. I’m anxious to go back.
The “old settler’s dugout” is where my grandmother was born in 1912. Her parents were traveling west and they came upon the dugout. Nobody has any idea what it was prior to that. They put a tarp roof on it and lived in it for several years. My great-grandfather was a bit of a philanderer and drank a bit, so his wife put him out more than once, and he wound up spending many nights at the cement plant. They had 12 children in total. After his death, they moved further west. My great-grandmother was 16 when she married her 43-year-old husband. We had a family reunion there nearly 25 years ago, and that dugout is indeed a great place for lunch. Back then, Camp Horizon called it a “cliff dwelling” and we gave them the history of it. I’m glad they have kept it in good shape. It looks like the same condition as when I first saw it in 1972.
Wow what a great story. Thanks for sharing that!