Days 38 & 39: Sun Rays and Tailwinds!

Larned, KS to Dighton KS, to Leoti, KS

2 Day Mileage: 96.9 + 49.1 = 146.0

Total Mileage: 2,431.4

Average MPH Day 38: 14.1
Average MPH Day 39: 15.5

Elevation Day 38: 1,282 ft
Elevation Day 39: 538 ft

MSquared Velo Snapchat Day 38

MSquared Velo Snapchat Day 39 (will be posted after some carni fun!)


We woke up to thunderstorm on day 38. Or I should say, a thunderstorm woke us up promptly at 7ish.

It was only passing, so we packed up under our Pavillion while it rolled through and we're ready to go when it finished.

Mike and I agreed this would likely be a big day for us because there was not much in the towns ahead. Rush Center was too close, only 35 miles. We called Elaine's bicycle hostel in Bazine but she said her husband is battling cancer so we are welcome to camp in the back yard, but laundry and showers would be 10 bucks. This was about 60 something miles away and everyone we met last night seemed to be going there. We didn't want to be added stress and preferred to trudge ahead to Dighton, about 100 miles away.

The ride was wonderful! Once we turned north toward Rush Center we got full on tail winds for about 20 miles. Upon reaching Rush Center we stopped for lunch at the local pub and order a 22 oz Bud Light for $2.50

We met a nice man named Terry who was leaving to go steal some sweet corn from his brother-in-law. He offered to find us in Ness City (30 miles further) and drive us to his house 5 miles outside of town. There he said we could have dinner and sweet corn. He also offered up his wife's services to do our laundry. We took his number but still had our eyes set on Dighton, 70 more miles away.

I felt great, Mike felt great... We reached Ness City but had no doubts we wanted to reach Dighton. So off we went.

We were mostly separated today. Mike was slightly behind me enjoying some obscure a capella group and probably also listening to the Comedy Bang Bang podcast and I was listening to my share of podcasts, audible and music.

We both got to enjoy watching the giant clouds above and beyond us battle as one shown bright and white with the sun behind while the other struck out with lightening, thunder and rain many miles away.

Still developing

By far the coolest scene was when the sun reached a certain point in the sky and started to burst through every hole in the clouds. We have all seen sun rays shine down from the sky, but what made this so mesmerizing was seeing rays from all angles of the sky. The rays far off to the right pierced the dark stormy backdrop at a steep angle. Not as far to the right were more rays streaming down at a more forgiving angle and finally, off to the left, were bright rays playing off the light blue sky. Then there was me, with the sun directly in front of me casting no rays, as if providing a natural tunnel vision, inviting me to chase it down highway 96 before it set for another night.

We reached Dighton planning to camp, but met a very nice man from Israel, Yoram, who was staying at the hotel in town for only $50. After 97 miles of riding and more elevation than we have been used to the past few days, Mike and I agreed to split yet another hotel room.

The hotel was a gorgeous 99 year old two story building, the sky scraper of the town. The owner does all the maintenance on his own and his biggest clientele, us cyclist! He meets pretty much everyone who rides the Transam.

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I jumped out bed around 2 AM at the sound of the loudest thunder I have ever heard. I thought the whole town collapsed. But there I remain safely in my own bed with Mike in his. I was told about Kansas thunderstorms and there was my first meeting.

Mike and I rolled lazily out of our freezing room around 9:30 and went to the same diner we ate at for dinner and ordered the same breakfast platter from the same lovely waitress, Megan/Meghan/Meighan.

Day 39 will be nice and short. Less than 50 miles to Leoti where our warm showers host is not in town but has left her door open for any and all cyclist to come and go as they please. The only condition is to leave the place cleaner than you found it. We can do that.

We received massive tailwinds today and average over 15 MPH. It would have been a good day to go further, but we had a place to stay and have the next few days planned out with places to stay as well so we're sticking to that.

I was light on Snapchat and taking pictures today because Kansas is now becoming redundant. Still beautiful, but just the same. We will be in Colorado tomorrow and in Pueblo in 3 days. Apparently Colorado doesn't look like Colorado until after Pueblo, so until than it's more Kansas.

David (who we met yesterday) was told there is a fair in Leoti tonight and that it is a, "genuine Kansas experience," with fried everything, a rodeo and $0.25 rides! Stay tuned on snapchat for some good Kansas fun. I need to run to the ATM!

Day 37: Sunflower Fields Will Make Anyone Happy!

Hutchinson, KS to Larned KS  

Daily Mileage: 80.4  
Total Mileage: 2,285.4  
Average MPH: 14.2  
Daily Elevation: 593 ft  

  MSquared Velo Snapchat Day 37  

 As you may have noticed, a slight change to my statistics up there. I swapped out total ride time for average MPH and the day's elevation. I figure it's more interesting.

 I woke up to the smell of eggs one the stove and fresh pot of coffee. Mike uncharactistcally is up first! And putting in work at that. He makes a mean scrambled egg. The coffee was great too, I had three cups. The leftovers went into a spare water bottle (Ryan's move) for emergency pick me ups.   

We rode over to Wal-Mart to stock up on our usual: a few Mios, a 2 foot sandwich and a 6 pack of cliff bars. Then we were off to Larned. Is it said like larnd or lar-ned? Not sure even the locals knew.  
On today's ride it goes without saying, the sunflowers were my favorite part. The contrast of their own yellow pedals to their green leafs to the blue sky made for a breathtaking moment as we rode past for quarter of a mile. Also I finally finished my giant pack of sun flower seeds that I brought on day one. I have been snapping them open all trip, it's nice to finally see their result.  

 I was feeling very good this morning so I was cruising on ahead of Mike. We typically stop around Mike 30-40 for lunch which was approaching so I started to turn around to look for Mike. He was too far behind and you can't see very tiny things that are far away in your review mirror so I would turn my neck and swerve my bike to get a better look behind me. This is not a problem since we essentailly have two full lanes to work with, but I got lazy. 

 I swerved too far left, both wheels fell off the 2 inch edge of the road and I tried to correct myself quickly. My front wheel got back up on the road but my rear wheel dragged and spun out underneath me essentially causing me to do a feet first baseball slide with a bike between my legs.

 My feet naturally unclipped from the pedals and I was standing before I even thought to. Luckily I was not going fast because I was slowing down for Mike anyway, so I escaped with almost no injury but a scratch on my ankle the size of a dime. My handlebar also bent in a little, but that just took a little muscle to straighten it back out. Jasper fared a little worse with bigger scratches and torn handlebar tape, but still 100% functional like me!  

After sliding safe into third, I had some adrenalin going but settled down after a mile and we took our lunch break at a county line.    The one thing we did not remember to grab at Wal-mart was extra water. As Kansas continues to be beautiful, it's a double edge sword as there is nowhere to "refuel" for miles and not even any shade to enjoy lunch in.  

 At the county line we spotted a house with a beautiful tree in the front yard. As things seem to go on this trip, our timing was impeccable. The owner was just pulling out, so we asked if we could eat under his tree. He told us to go up on his porch where there were chairs and a table.  

 Only minutes later did he turn back into the driveway to bring us inside for re-up on ice and water! No surprise there, people are amazing.

 The rest of the ride was easy and flat to Larned. Mike and I met a cool father son duo at Subway (oh yeah that's another best friend). The son, David, moved to Brooklyn less than 2 years ago and started the NYC Adventure Cycling Club because there was nothing else like it around. Starting their first trip with only 12 guys, they now have over 500 members. Half of those members are female, which is awesome. He said they do more drinking than riding sometimes, but to me, that is all the better. It will be fun to check that out once I am home.

Marion and David

 We made our way down to the Pavillion by the town pool. We were even able to jump in the pool 5 minutes before it closed. It was nice and cool and we launched some flips off the diving board. Maybe we made it nice and cool.... HA!

 We met 4 more cyclist down at the pavilion. Two were a couple from Canada (originally Bulgaria). A lovely couple enjoying Keystone Light tall boys. The other two coming all the way from the Florida Keys! It is always cool to hear where people are coming from and how long they have been on the road.  

Canadian-Bulgarians

 
 Mike and I ended up leaving that Pavillion because it was next to a pond and ducks which results in bugs. Turns out bugs are everywhere! We held out setting up tents and opted for sleeping on the park benches in our sleeping bags as we usually do. Finally at midnight we both were on the verge of sleep, but my hand got bitten on my pinky, middle finger, pointer finger and knuckle and I think the same for Mike.

 We ended up setting up our tents and fell asleep almost immediately. That is after the high schoolers left the park to chase a Pokemon down the street.