Kansas: Day 2.5

Monday, July 24. Chanute, KS to Eureka, KS.

Well, Gunnar, it looks like you'll win the Kansas bet. Since we're only in Eureka tonight, I doubt that we'll make it through Kansas in 3 days. Not that we're not trying. Today's ride was about 62 miles; tomorrow could be close to 70 (then again, it might be more like 40).

I want to set the record straight about a couple of things. First off, Eureka is the "Horse-Racing Capitol of Kansas". Don't know who else was in the running, but the sign welcoming visitors to town leaves no room for debate. Second, Kansas is not all about wheat--I haven't seen a stalk of it yet. The landscape on today's ride took us through more beef country, a few cornfields, and what we think are sorghum fields (you can add your vote to identify the mystery crop when I post the picture). And lastly, Kansas is about as flat as a waffle. We're not talking the Ozarks here, but our rides in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio together had fewer hills than the last 2 1/2 days.

Today we had some fun with the wind. For a few miles early on, we actually had a tailwind--probably 15-20mph. It was great; pedaling was easy and I was daydreaming about being able to keep up with the Phonak team on the Tour de France. Then the road took a turn and the wind was in our faces.

We met Scott and Wendy, traveling from Florence, OR to the end of the TransAmerica trail in Virginia. They started on their journey on June 1, and once they reach VA, they'll head back home to Vermont. Their gear was packed in front and rear panniers, and each also had a handlebar bag. We swapped trail stories--during the past week's heat wave, they were on the road at 2:30am so they could be at their day's destination by 11:00am. And I thought we were doing great by being on the road by 7am! I gave Wendy our blog address and e-mail. Hopefully she'll be in touch so we can follow-up on their trip.

A few miles after meeting Scott and Wendy, we stopped at a roadside c-store for a snack and a break. There we met Linda Harvey, who gave us some good advice about the roads ahead. Linda, if you're reading this, thanks!

Scott and Wendy recommended the cheeseburgers at a Bait & Tackle Shop in nearby Coyville, so we stopped in for lunch. The cheeseburgers and the Texas toast are both pretty good there. Waiting for us after lunch was a really steep hill, one that we could see from the bait shop. It took every gear I had to get to the top of it.

After that, we still had about 30 miles to Eureka, and the only thing in between would be cows and crops. It was a hot day, probably in the 90's. But the wind was still blowing 15-20mph, and for about 10 miles we were actually able to, well, windsurf. The wind was blowing across us, and when the road shifted enough that we were diagonal to the wind, it didn't take either of us very long to figure out that we could use our bodies as a sail. We tacked into the wind with our front tires, and made the most of it.

Once we got into Eureka, there was a pool waiting for us at the Blue Stem Lodge. Nothing fancy, but we had the pool all to ourselves. Dinner options were either Pizza Hut or Sonic, and we walked over to the Sonic. Neither of us had ever been to a Sonic, so we didn't realize that it's a drive-in. No eat-in area at all. Matthew made the engine and demanding children noises while I placed the order, and we soon had dinner delivered to our parking spot.

Tomorrow's ride will be another long one, too. About 70 miles, with temps in the upper 90's. We'll be looking to get an early start--but we'll probably wait until the sun rises before we get on the road.