Rush Center, Grand Central Station

Saturday, July 29. Larned, KS to Ness City, KS.

We knew that today's ride was going to be hot and windy. The forecast was for a high temp of 104, with SSW winds blowing 15-25mph, and since we had more than 60 miles to ride, we started out around 7:30am.

Our first 12 miles were relatively cool and flat, and the crosswind blowing from the south didn't seem too bad. Maybe it was because I knew that at the 12-mile mark, we'd make a right turn and have the 20+mph winds behind us, for the next 20 miles.

The tailwind delivered as promised, and we were flying on smooth, newly paved roads. I watched my cyclometer hit 20mph, and I was barely pushing the pedals. Sweet! (Happy Birthday, honey) Just as we crested the top of a hill, Matthew spotted a loaded cyclist coming toward us, struggling up the hill against the wind. We crossed the road and waited for her to top the hill. Caedmon is traveling from San Francisco, where she'd been going to school, to Philly, where she lives. She had been traveling with up to four other riders, including Ben, whom we had met yesterday (see "Flying Through Kansas"). Caedmon confirmed that Ben is likely to stop riding any day now, having tired of the prairie. Her other riding companions wanted to go at different paces, or take different routes or detours, so she's now found herself traveling solo. She didn't seem overly concerned about being alone on the road, although she did mention that another solo woman rider had warned her not to stay in Larned--she had been harassed during her stay there. Matthew shared our route through Missouri, Indiana and Illinois, then we headed on down the hill to Rush Center. The only bad thing about those last 20 miles was that they ended much too soon.

I was looking for a pit stop, and as we pulled up to the c-store at the crossroads, we met Merle and Elva Jean Stone. They're from Iowa, recently retired, and are riding from Astoria, OR to Yorktown, VA. Their blog is 2rollingstones.blogspot.com. They're riding much like we are, using the ACA maps as a guide, detouring when they feel the need, and riding about 50 miles per day. Merle is toting a BOB trailer; Elva Jean has panniers. As we visited at a table inside the c-store, another cyclist pulled up. David is traveling from Eugene, OR, where he was in school, to Yorktown, VA. He'd been on the road since July 6, riding 100-miles days for most of it. He'd never toured by bicycle before, but he looked like a natural. The bike he rode was one he'd built. He'd gotten it for about $130 at the co-op where he'd worked. I asked if he was happy with his gear. He'd alread gone through 2 hand pumps--one never worked even one time. Matthew told him about our mini foot pump, which had worked like a charm for refills and flats alike. David also admitted that he'd had to buy a tent after suffering through mosquitoes the first week. He was also going off the ACA route to visit family along the way--today he'd head east toward Lawrence, KS. Matthew gave him our Kansas road map, since all he had to work with was a small pocket atlas.

We exchanged contact info with Merle and Elva Jean, said goodbye to David, and then headed off into the crosswind. We had 33 miles to go, it was nearly 11:30am, and the day was getting hotter and windier. For the next 2 hours we fought to keep our bikes on the pavement as the stiff crosswind and passing semi-truck traffic buffeted us from nearly every direction. We had hoped to stop in Bazine for lunch, and then finish up the last 11 miles fortified with food and a break from the wind. But Bazine is a ghost town of 311 people, with almost no services. All we could find was a gas station that had vending machines and a couple of tables inside. Fortunately for us, the magic snack bag had just been restocked with care-package goodies, so we had sat, had a snack and a bit of a rest.

Back out on the road, the wind seemed to be picking up speed. Tomorrow's forecast is for SSW winds at 20-30pmh; perhaps this was a preview. By now we were both worn out from the heat and the wind, but off in the distance, Matthew thought he could see a grain elevator. By now we know that this means a town, so our spirits were buoyed by the sight. Sure enough, about 4 miles later we came to Ness City--a bustling metropolis of more than 1500 residents. We met most of them for dinner at the Cactus Club. We checked in to the only hotel in town, the Derrick Inn, and spent some time cooling off in the indoor, unheated pool. Then we jumped into the hot tub to warm up a little. How quickly we forgot that it was 104 degrees outside!

After dinner, we walked around the town to stretch our legs. The town is about 10 blocks long and 6 blocks wide--most of it still has brick streets, in pretty good shape. At the corner of one street sits "The Prairie Skyscraper", a huge edifice built of native limestone in 1888. The building is really handsome; I hope to get some pix of it tomorrow as we head out of town.

So, now everyone knows what Matthew did on his 40th birthday. He said if you'd tried to tell him that he'd spend any one of his birthdays in Kansas, he'd wonder what catastrophe had befallan him (those are his exact words). But now that he's here, he says he's glad of the way it turned out.

Unless we get some rain tonight, tomorrow is going to be another scorcher. This kind of heat makes Atlanta look downright comfortable! We're inching our way toward Pueblo, CO, where we'll have a couple layover days and visit with friends and family. Wonder who we'll meet tomorrow?