Miles – 77
Miles From Start/To Finish – 2,336/2,009
Ave Riding Speed – 10-14 mph
Hours Start to Finish – 8.45
Weather – Sunny and 91
Kim and I were the only people staying at the Sheridan Lake Bible Church last night. We blew up our camping pads and put them on the floor next to each other. It was a semi restful night and we were up at 6am. Kim made coffee with the church provided Mr. Coffee and we each had a slice of pizza for breakfast, packed up our clothes strewn across the floor after pulling out what we sent home yesterday and changed into our riding gear that was standing up in the corner. My orange riding shirt tends to show the salty white streaks from my perspiration. We ran out of sunscreen so we got what we could out of the bottle and I concentrated on my pale legs.
As we were getting ready to head out, we met David. David is a parishioner and stopped in to borrow the paper cutter. We got to talking and learned that we happen to hit the peak of the Winter Wheat harvest and he thought we’d see a lot of trucks for the next 40 miles. David runs a wheat drying business. His dad had a farm, which he could have taken over, but his business is going so well he declined the offer. Before David departed, he asked what would make a person want to do this ride? We explained meeting someone who came through Chaska and the fundraiser. He kind of shrugged, with a look on his face like “you’re crazy” and said it’s ok.
We rolled our bikes out to the gravel road in front of the church and rode a couple blocks south to pick up Hwy 96 heading east at 7:45am through the open prairie as far as the eye could see. Throughout the days ride we could see each town off in the distance. 11 miles up we saw Towner, population 22 with no services. Even though most of the small towns we passed through had no services, they provided those markers to break down the ride.
Two miles out of Towner we crossed the border into Kansas. From the looks of the topography, there was no difference. Straight east on 96 and a great view of each “Emerald City” in the distance with the concentration of grain silos and bins. The big change at the border was the quality of the road. Behind us was the pebble speckled tar and in front of us was a smooth tared surface with a riding shoulder a little wider than our bicycle profile. We could use every advantage today as the wind was out of the southeast, coming at an angle at us. Also, starting in Kansas on Hwy 96 is the first marked US Bicycle Route of the US Bicycle Route System we’ve seen.
We could see the silhouette of our next town 16 miles up, Tribune. When we arrived, we pulled into the Cenex and I got a piece of fried chicken and Kim had a corn dog. We hammered those down and kept moving.11.5 miles to Selkirk. After passing through the no-services town with silos and grain bins, we could see Leoti, 10-miles in the distance. We pulled in to this full-services town and stopped at the convenience store for Gatorade and water. Kim noticed a hardware store across the street and said she was tired of drinking hot water all day and wanted to see if they had some insulated mugs. Bingo! Kim returned with two Yeti insulated water bottles. We grabbed some ice form the soda fountain in the store and rode off with some cold water onboard. There was a Dollar General on the east end of town and we stopped to see if they had sunscreen. Bingo! We scored some sunscreen and lathered up. It was a little late for me as my legs were already cooking, but the lotion felt good.
For 15-miles we rode past Marienthal and past Modac and then it was 10 miles into Scott City. Between Modac and Scott City we rode 2 miles through the stock yards on each side of the road. The aroma is something we won’t forget and we were happy to get through it as quick as possible.
We rode to the east end of Scott City and found our accommodations for the night, the Lazy R Motel. It was already 5:30pm, as we crossed into the Central Time Zone. It’s a small “L” shaped place with about 18 rooms. We dropped our gear in the room and walk over to The Grill across the street. When we walked in the waiter said they lost their A/C. Kim and I looked at other and said, we’re staying. We each had a burger with tater tots or hash browns and a side salad; waters all around. The food was great!
After dinner we walked back to our room to wash the body salt off, wash some riding clothes off in the shower, and catch up with some of the family back home. All is well.
Sounds like it was an awesome day with the nicely paved roads, a Little ice water and then some good food to end the day!!
You two are doing great!! Already hit Kansas-should be easier riding I would think….less mountainous!
Another rider was telling us that there is never a truly perfect ride. Too hot, too cold, to hilly, too smooth, etc. Now that we’re in Kansas I understand. We’re hoping to get some tail winds, or no winds, to pick up some miles. Pastor Ernie from the Sheridan Lake church we stayed at a couple night ago said, “the wind always blows in Kansas and if it ain’t blowing there’s trouble brewing.” We’re hoping for some wind from the west! Hope you and Rich are having a great summer. Thanks for keeping up with us Sandi. We love it!
“May the wind be at your back”. The cyclists prayer. When I biked through Kansas on my xcountry ride I found that the fabled prairie -what is left and not planted – was extra ordinarily beautiful. And the hill country in eastern Kansas heading into Missouri was spectacular. Not the flat boring miles I dreaded. I hope you find the beautiful in this long state. It is a lot of miles. And I hope get your miles in before the wind picks up in the afternoon. Thanks for all you are doing for lobular breast cancer research and patient support and awareness. You are amazing.
Thanks Leigh. Good advice and we’re trying to take in the beauty that is in front of us everyday and not wish it away for something else. Shooting for a 7am start today and take advantage of any calm and less heat. Thank you for your support of us and your support of those dealing with ILC.
Love reading your daily updates! You two are amazing! The people you meet along the way are so interesting, and will always be remembered……..as will you two to them❤️
Yep, the people have been the best part of the adventure, from all walks of life and interesting. For most of us, we’d never pass through these small towns of our “United” States. Pretty cool.