We woke up in the morning with a dream and a prayer, and ended the day 120 miles later in Kansas.
Commence the long, arduous stretch of the trip.
Don't get me wrong, the Plains has its own beauty, but it's really hard to compare after spending such extensive time biking through the Sierra Nevada's and the Rockies.
We had 100 miles to hit the Kansas border, and the last 60 miles of our biking had no services (meaning no water). Eek.
We were cruising along thinking we were already in Kansas (honestly anything east of Interstate 25 might as well be considered Kansas) and hit the border!
Literally as soon as we hit the Kansas border a 30 mph wind came straight out of the South as a nice welcome, and has followed us through the majority of Kansas so far.
5 down, 5 to go.
Lesson #64: Kansas is hot. And windy. Plan accordingly.
It was interesting to see the contrast of the rolling plains from the 11000+ foot passes we went over just a few days earlier. Kind of made me miss all of those 6 mph climbs!
I'm not trying to rag on Kansas, the state has its own redeeming qualities.
For example, the towns are super hospitable. Most let you stay in the city park and shower at the city pool and even let you take a dip if it strikes your fancy. The people are caring and are genuinely interested in where you're from and what your trip's been like.
Looking at the radar, it seems like every day over the next week is going to be 100+ degrees in Kansas. Sheesh.
As Billy Madison would say, "It's too damn hot for a penguin to be just running around!"
We'll have to plan the upcoming days accordingly to beat the heat as best we can.
But for tonight, we celebrate our longest mileage day with a large pizza while camping in the city park. Cheers.
I LOVE KANSAS
ReplyDeleteAlso, Kansas is best at night. Look at the stars!
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