Up at 5:10 this morning and rolled at 6:15. A Cool morning, 60 degrees and dew covered everything. The first time I’ve put on my jacket to ride this entire trip due to it being just a little chilly. The high today is supppsed to be 86 so that should be nice….just hope the wind isn’t as brutal today—update at the end of the day….it was even more brutal.
Stopped in Bazine at 8:45 at the Co-Op grain and supply company. Looked like a gas station convince store but when I went in all the shelves were empty and there was just a coke and candy machine. Two old timers were sitting at a table talking about the price of corn. Got a coke and pushed on.
Wearing a jacket all morning….gone from burning up in the heat just a couple days ago to feeling a little cold….going to see more of this as I get closer to the Rockies. I’ve been gradually gaining altitude for the past three days.
Lost two of my shirts somewhere along the line, so just have one good riding shirt now—going no to have to buy another riding jersey and another warm shirt for the Rockies.
Stopped at Cuppa Joes in Ness City at 32 miles in. Had a great omelet with coffee and orange juice. Saw a sign coming into town about a bank building being the sky scraper of the plains, so I asked the owner of cuppa joes if it was worth seeing. She said yes and went on and on about how proud the city is of the building. Said they almost lost it to ruins, but a few years ago the town’s people pulled together and saved it—her husband put up most of the dry wall. She is proud of her town. Rob and I were complaining about the wind and she said “what, this breeze? Wait until you see 60 and 70 mph wind like we have here…that’s wind.” 🙂
The wind is brutal again today….coming out of the Northwest hard—18 to 20 mph. I’m having to lean into it just to keep it from blowing me off my bike. Only averaged 8.9 mph for the 64 Miles today…that’s like mountain climbing speed without the benefit of the downhills.
About 49 miles in just inching through this head wind and I passed a cool historical marker about George Washington Carver’s homestead….turned around and took a pic.
52 Miles in and its slow going. My average speed is down to 8.8 mph, I’ve already been on the bike seat 5 hr 52 min today and still have a long way to go. I’m going the wrong direction today—if I were East bound I could do 150 miles with a tailwind all the way and be done early….but going West is a killer.
Got to Dighton and decided to call it a day 24 Miles short of my goal for the day. Staying at the Historic Heritage Hotel. It’s a 100+ year old building on Main Street. A young couple bought it a few months ago and are in the process of renovating it themselves while renting rooms. I wish them good luck….I know how hard it is working on an old building as a do-it-yourself project—been doing that myself for 18 years…the projects never end. $55 for an air conditioned room, bed, shower, and use of laundry facility—I’ll take it. Haven’t washed anything since, I think, Johnson’s Shut-ins State Park.
Dinner at the Dighton Bowl & Diner—yep, it’s a bowling ally/restaurant 🙂 Having the Nacho plate special.
Rob pushed on the additional 24 miles today—he is an animal on a mission to get out of Kansas 🙂 I’ll get up early tomorrow and see how it goes. If anyone out there has any pull with the wind gods, please ask for something out of the east tomorrow….we’ve been punished enough already 🙂
The Kansas wind kicked me around and beat me up today, but still feeling good and strong. I would say the wind won the battle today by making me stop short of my goal, but I will win the war in the end 🙂
Good night!
