Finding life, renewed
Communities rebound after devastating fires around Meade, Clark Counties
The air is acrid around Ashland.
Evidence of the wildfires that burned hundreds of thousands of acres in the area marks the hills and valleys throughout the area.
The ride from Montezuma to Ashland was 67 miles. We started the day off with thick fog, cool temperatures, and damp air. We had a stretch into a southern headwind, before turning East toward Clark County.
We came over a rise, and we could smell the charred earth before we could see it.
The prairie restores itself after adversity; its resilence lying in the earth ready to emerge and grow, turning fire’s destruction into new life.
BAK staff and leadership told us that after the fires, there was a storm that tore part of the roof from the Ashland High School. Then another storm that caused some flooding. We weren’t sure if we’d be able to stay here but the town wanted us to come, in spite of the difficulties they had faced.
We were welcomed to the school and the town, and our accommodations didn’t show a hint of the strain these communities have endure.
It’s the sort of spirit and determination that comes from people who have spent their lives learning lessons from the prairie.
Aside from a mechanical issue nearly halfway into the ride, it was a nearly perfect ride. I threw my chain near Meade, it because lodged between chain rings and slightly damaged. I lost a good part of my gearing, so had to crank up the hills a little harder than I’d have rather. It’s not the first time I’ve had to limp a bike into the next town. Probably not the last, either.
We spent a good chunk of time in Meade, checking out the town and revisiting the Dalton Gang Hideout, before heading east toward Ashland.
The area between Meade and Ashland is the start of some of the Red Hills we’ll see more of tomorrow as we head toward Medicine Lodge. This area is gorgeous and the photos I’ve taken and shared here will never come close to showing its real beauty.
A few other highlights from today that I want to share.
My riding partners so far this week - Tyler and Arlynn - have been a lot of fun. We kicked off the morning with around an hour of bike-related Dad jokes.
“Your jokes are breaking my chain of thought.”
”Your jokes are all re-cycled”
”You should tread lightly”
”You never should’ve spoke up.”
Yeah, they’re bad. But we were cracking each other up, and it was a great way to start out the morning.
The other thing that stood out to me that really struck me is when I could sense a change in the air temperature as the wind blew over a creek full of water. I don’t know how to describe it, really, but you can feel a noticable change in the air. It’s cooler, and fresher. It smells different.
I don’t ever notice that when I’m in town, or in a car. And I couldn’t help but wonder if we’ve gotten so far away from the outdoors, from our connection to nature, that we fail to notice what I suspect is an ancestral signal to help us find life’s most essential element.
Tomorrow we’ll ride we’ll ride about 73 miles to Medicine Lodge. It’ll be hotter, and with more hills, so I’ll be sure to appreciate the water I have even more.
