Day 32 - Eureka, KS to Erie, KS (Part II)

82 Miles / Day 32 of 50 / Eureka, KS to Erie, KS (Part II)

After leaving Joe we biked into the late afternoon heat. We hit our first sections of dirt and gravel road and successfully navigated them without any significant damage to our bikes.

We made it to Erie and headed for the city park. We were greeted by a group of about 8 men and women who were dressed in Amish looking shawls who were occupying most of the park's three shelters.

Side note -
Interactions with fellow bikers follow a simple three question format.
1) Where are ya headed?
2) Oh, nice. Where are ya coming from?
3) I gotcha. And how long have you been on the road?

Simple. Direct. Great conversation starters.

A friendly bearded man walked toward us.

Hi, where are you guys headed?
West through Kansas.......Normal.
Nice, we're just coming from there. Where are you coming from?
East, from the Ozarks in Missouri........Like clockwork.
And how long have you been on the road?
Ah. About 40 years.............Sorry, what?

We had run into our first nomadic biking tribe. They were self described "Christian counter culture bikers."

David. He's been on his bike since summer of 1979.

David very nicely gave us half of his shelter and we started to unpack our gear to get the tent up before the sunset.

David had been on the road off and on since 1979. They had about 6 bikes and one person driving an old, first generation Toyota mini-van. After 40 years they had their routine down. 1) Pick a destination. 2) Leisurely bike to this spot. 3) Spread the gospel through their actions of living simply and not secumming to our modern societal pressures. 4) Stop and work a few weeks or months to be of service to others and make money. 5) Repeat process.

David's "brother" Jerry starting sharing about their lifestyle. He said he lived his life by two simple commandments. First, love God. Second, treat others as your neighbor. Everything flowed from this foundation. Jerry gave me his hand written philosophies that he had been compiling for the last 20 years based on five questions:

1) How did I get here? (Origins)
2) Who am I? (Identity)
3) Why am I here? (Meaning)
4) What is right and wrong? (Morality)
5) Where am I going? (Destiny)

Excited to dig in and hear how this brother sees the world. As I listened to his philosophy on life David offered me ice water (from their Brita filter pitcher) and his extension cord to plug in my phone. Clean water and power, two luxuries Jack and I hadn't had camping this trip. Hmmm, if this is counter culture I guess I could really get into this.

Shout out to David, Jerry and their group for having the guts to do their own thing. Thank you Jerry for putting good questions to chew on in my head as we bike East.