Kansas

Thursday July 20th
Destination: Larned, Kansas
I need some new words to describe the heat, something more than hot, hotter, and hottest. Its time to call in the troops: searing, burning, scorching, broiling, scalding, and roasting. Those words are all related to cooking which is how I feel at the end of the day: cooked.
Today actually went well considering it was 106 degrees. I started riding a half hour before dawn. The flat terrain made me feel like I was on the ocean and the lights on the horizon were not houses and buildings but other ships on the water.
This was the third morning that the wind was out of the southwest; it pushed me along until about 11:00 when it shifted to the south. By that time though I had covered 80 miles and passed through Dighton, Ness City, and Alexander. As the temperature soared, climbed, or skyrocketed (take your pick) the route also swung south into the wind. I knew the last 40 miles were going to be tough and just settled in for the grind. After a few miles I rode onto very new asphalt, and in a few more miles caught up with the road crew. Here was my extra special treat since the four enormous machines that were laying the asphalt were first heating it up to several hundred degrees. Riding past them was like riding in an oven. At last I’ve found a way to make temperatures in the low 100’s seem refreshing.
Larned seems to be a nice town although with the heat we aren’t straying very far from the air conditioned motel room. Tomorrow is only supposed to be in the 90’s but that may come with the threat of thunderstorms. I may regret saying this but at this point any change is welcome.
I talked with a group of five westbound riders from Texas, and one guy from Georgia.
Mileage: 121/2426 Transam Riders: 6/37


Dead Farm Machinery

Friday July 21st
Destination: Hesston, Kansas
The hot weather finally broke as a storm rolled through this morning. I delayed riding until 9AM but still rode in the rain for a couple of hours. That’s okay since 70 degree rain can’t compete with Seattle winter rains and I discovered a long time ago that I don’t melt. The route left Larned and headed east for 49 miles. I don’t think I’ve ever ridden that far in a straight line. The countryside was very pastoral and reminded me of northeast Scotland except there weren’t any sheep. When the sun came out it got humid but the temperature stayed comfortably in the 80’s. The wind picked up in the afternoon and was blowing from the northeast. I learned to appreciate any windbreaks on the north side of the road; even the cornfields gave some shelter. I can only imagine what this wind is like when it’s -40 degrees. If I lived here I’d want my house completely surrounded by trees and shrubs.
We’re back to camping in the van. I’m not going to badmouth air conditioning but it’s nice to return to familiar surroundings and habits. Besides you can meet a whole different breed of people in RV Parks.
Now that we’ve been out of Colorado for a few days I feel that I can rant about the car drivers. They weren’t overtly aggressive but were certainly the worst ones to this point. Only a small percentage of them were jerks but it adds up over the course of a day. Many of them would not move one foot toward the centerline even when there was no oncoming traffic. I ride as far to the outside as possible and don’t expect people to move into the other lane but appreciate it when drivers at least acknowledge that they outweigh me by several tons. Another thing that happened several times a day was that oncoming cars would pull out and pass on roads with no shoulders. I know most of them saw me in the other lane and decided to pass anyway. Even though there was a few feet between us it was unnerving to have a car go by at 70-80 miles an hour. None of it seemed malicious and was never dangerous but was a big contrast to the accommodating behavior of drivers in other states. The bad news is that west bounders tell me some Missouri drivers (rednecks) take delight in tormenting cyclists. I can only hope that some of the riders bring it on themselves by riding too far out in the lane or by not paying attention to the traffic around them. It’s been surprising that only one other cyclist has had a helmet mirror. I can’t imagine riding without some idea of what is coming up behind. So much for the rant but it is my soapbox after all.
Mileage: 97/2523 Transam Riders: 2/39



Saturday July 22nd
Destination: Eureka, Kansas
Ride, eat, sleep, ride, eat, sleep, ride, eat, sleep…. This trip is everything I hoped it would be. It’s only been five weeks but I feel like going on indefinitely. Years ago I used to agree with people when they said I was crazy for doing things like this trip. But in a Catch 22 sense I must have been sane if I thought I was crazy. Now I know I’ve really gone around the bend because I don’t see anything crazy about this trip. If people don’t already understand then there isn’t anything I can say to make them understand. My only explanation is a weak “I like to ride my bike”. Oh well, I yam what I yam.
After checking with the town sheriff we’re camped out in the Eureka city park and have used the swimming pool showers. This is dirt bag (freeloader) camping at it’s finest. Just like yesterday, today’s route started out with a long (39 mile) straight stretch through agricultural land on roads with almost no traffic. Jani and I met by pure chance for lunch at the Cassoday Café. It was the only open business in the “town” of 130 people but they had a great buffet. I probably should have ridden further after eating so much but the headwinds were tough and the next spot is 20 miles from here.
We’re still impressed with how scenic Kansas has been. It has a lot more variety than we expected. From what people said we though it was going to be dead flat and look the same for mile after endless mile. It probably helps that the temperature is only in the 80’s.
Today I finally caught a couple of east bound riders that I’ve been creeping up on for days. As it turned out I only talked with them for a minute. The guy just wanted to complain that the route had been circuitous. I don’t know if he was just having a bad day but I’m not interested in talking with a complainer. Couldn’t he read the map? I also talked with two young German west bound riders. They were thoroughly enjoying their trip. More bumper sticker philosophy: “The difference between ordeal and adventure is attitude.”
Mileage: 86/2609 Transam Riders: 4/43

Jani: So I was having a ball garage saleing in Newton and then decided it was time to get to the next town. I head to the next town, realize that there are miles of nothing between me and Cassoday, and I’m getting hungry. I make it to Cassoday, park at the only café…see Gary’s bicycle and stroll in the place saying “I sure am hungry” to try to get Gary’s attention. The punch line is that Gary didn’t even turn around because he thought it was just some whacko coming in the place. He was right.


Cassoday Kansas

Sunday July 23rd
Destination: near Gerard, Kansas
The town names are interesting in this end of Kansas. We started out the morning by going through Toronto, passed north of Erie, and stopped just short of Pittsburg. It was another good day of riding aided by light winds.
We’re camped in a state park next to a lake (reservoir) which has been nice since the dog can go swimming. I wouldn’t mind swimming except that the water is very muddy and unappealing. The rivers are the same color and we keep half expecting to see alligators in them. Since there are nice shade trees along the lake we also have cicadas. I remember hearing cicadas in South Dakota however these bugs seem to be virtuosos at creating an unholy racket. The first night we heard them we were afraid they’d go on all night but thankfully they do quiet down. The other bugs we saw last night were lightning bugs. They may be very common here but still seem magical to us. It’s also been fun to see new birds like Cardinals, and Scissor Tailed Flycatchers. My other key sighting was an armadillo; yeah I’m still counting it even though it was dead on the road.
We’ll be in Missouri tomorrow and the terrain already is changing with a few more hills. Every west bounder I’ve talked with has told me of the many, short but steep hills in Missouri. I’m looking forward to seeing if they were exaggerating.
Mileage: 104/2713 Transam Riders: 0/43