Every year Kansas has a bike ride across the state, from west to east called “BAK”, Bike Across Kansas. The coordinators choose one out of three different routes each year to take. This year the ride started in Johnson City and ended in Fort Scott. Montezuma was right on the route and was chosen for a place to stop for night. RANS was excited about giving tours at the factory on that Saturday afternoon. However, due to my mother’s death the Friday before, this did not happen. I did, however, receive some photos from others to share. Some riders made good decisions and rode a RANS bike!! I see a couple of recumbents, the Rifle and the Xstream in the photos. There likely were more RANS bikes on the road, but I did not have a chance to find out! Maybe the next time they come through here it will work a little better for us!

I am excited to tell about two different gentlemen that are touring at this time on the RANS Phoenix XL recumbent! James Nichols (the CEO’s older brother) started his tour on June 30. His departure town was Anacortes, WA, and he will be riding through the northern states of the US to the east coast. James is riding on a self-supported, self-guided tour ending in Bar Harbor, Maine, which he hopes will take around two months to complete. The image below is in Tonasket, WA. Note the mountain bike crank set and the mountain bike rear cassette on his Phoenix. Things very necessary on a self-contained tour, because climbing up long grades and sometimes steep grades is a given. From there he will be heading to Colville, WA and onto Newport, WA before entering the state of Idaho.

Paul Hatch is a brave soul at the age of 71 years old taking a supported cross-country fund raising tour for the Fuller Center for Housing on the RANS Phoenix as well. His starting point on the west coast was Ocean Beach, CA and planned finishing point is Ocean City, NJ. Currently, Mr. Hatch has traveled thru Phoenix and Flagstaff, AZ, Santa Fe, NM, Garden City and Dodge City, KS and is in eastern Kansas as of the time of this blog.