Clouds streak across the sky as the sun breaks on the horizon. A perfect cool tailwind to my back and I'm already averaging 15-18mph. That's pretty good for riding on a fully loaded touring bike! Fields of green and gold lay softly along the roads. The winds create gentle waves over miles and miles of grass. Not much of a shoulder to ride on, but the roads aren't very busy either. I streak on across the Kansas plains, a land yacht on the asphalt sea. Fire burning across the sky, the clouds melt away into mid morning. Baby blue fills the space around the fiery golden globe lighting up the day.
Before long, I am in Ness City. I can't find the public park so I ride around for awhile. I run into an electrician who stops to ask me about my tour and he also pointed the way to the park. On my way down the road, Joe, another cyclist I met before, catches up to me and asks if he can ride along. Sure why not? We stop for lunch and to get some more suncreen on. A cool refreshing drink of Gatorade and I'm ready to push on into the day.
The sun is cooking now and the wind isn't doing us any favors. MY day completely flipped. Fortunately, I had already gone 60 miles and only had 30 odd more to go! It was a long 30 miles. Hot, windy, slow, and absolutely desolate. There was literally nothing to see. Dust was blowing, the grass was dead, hills piled onto each other, and I was tired! It just dragged on and on! By mid afternoon, we had arrived in Dighton. We ran into another cyclist and ending up spending the day with him (I forgot his name!). The plan was to leave for Scott City when it cooled off, but we ended up staying the night in the city park.
It was a long windy night sleeping on those park benches! When we got up in the morning, Joe left for Scott City and I went to get breakfast. Packing didn't take long because I only took out my sleeping bag! I finally left around 7:30AM to battle the winds. The sky was grey and the wind was brisk. A dull morning for a harsh day. Mile after endless bloody mile dragged on. I had to stop about every half mile just to catch my breath and drink some more water.
The light green and golden grass swirled madly around me. A raging sea of wheat and hay whipping around as if it were caught in a hurricane. I was jamming in my granny gear but felt like I was being torn backwards. Every muscle burning, I pushed on into the gale force winds. My speed continued to decline as the winds continued to grow. At some points, I couldn't get any faster than 4-5mph. It was a challenge just to stay on my bike. Trucks flew by me at a million miles an hour, blowing me in every direction. It took my entire core just to keep from crashing off the road and to keep my bike standing.
Breaks became more frequent as the wind wore me down. Hour after hour went by. What should have been a hop, skip and a jump, turned into a death march. Emotionally and physically, I was completely exhausted. I could see Scott City about half a mile away, but I knew I was no where close to getting there. Seconds turned into minutes, turned into a full hour before I finally reached the city limit sign. It was hot and windy and I felt like I had been drained of all my energy.
At the city center, I met three cyclists who also happen to hitchhike a lot. We talked for awhile before I headed on into a convenient store to get an ice cold Gatorade and some chocolate milk. The cyclists came inside and then started asking around to see who was heading west. Eventually they found someone to take them to the next town and I headed on over to a hostel I had heard about early in the week.
The hostel was an athletic center with a pool and showers. Swimming, after being beaten consistently all day by the heat and sun, was possibly one of the greatest feelings in the world. Ella started to freak out and run around all over the court yard when I jumped in the water. It was like she thought the world was going to end! When I finally got out and dried off, she calmed down a bit. Top that off with a hot shower and I was feeling much better than I was earlier in the day.
After I had settled in a bit, I headed back over to the convenient store to pick up some sub sandwiches. It was good to have some food in my system again. Around 8PM I was left with the code to the Athletic Center and the place to my self. I turned all the fans on high to cool the place down then got my my stuff together for the next day. By 9:30PM I was exhausted and went to sleep.
The light green and golden grass swirled madly around me. A raging sea of wheat and hay whipping around as if it were caught in a hurricane. I was jamming in my granny gear but felt like I was being torn backwards. Every muscle burning, I pushed on into the gale force winds. My speed continued to decline as the winds continued to grow. At some points, I couldn't get any faster than 4-5mph. It was a challenge just to stay on my bike. Trucks flew by me at a million miles an hour, blowing me in every direction. It took my entire core just to keep from crashing off the road and to keep my bike standing.
Breaks became more frequent as the wind wore me down. Hour after hour went by. What should have been a hop, skip and a jump, turned into a death march. Emotionally and physically, I was completely exhausted. I could see Scott City about half a mile away, but I knew I was no where close to getting there. Seconds turned into minutes, turned into a full hour before I finally reached the city limit sign. It was hot and windy and I felt like I had been drained of all my energy.
At the city center, I met three cyclists who also happen to hitchhike a lot. We talked for awhile before I headed on into a convenient store to get an ice cold Gatorade and some chocolate milk. The cyclists came inside and then started asking around to see who was heading west. Eventually they found someone to take them to the next town and I headed on over to a hostel I had heard about early in the week.
The hostel was an athletic center with a pool and showers. Swimming, after being beaten consistently all day by the heat and sun, was possibly one of the greatest feelings in the world. Ella started to freak out and run around all over the court yard when I jumped in the water. It was like she thought the world was going to end! When I finally got out and dried off, she calmed down a bit. Top that off with a hot shower and I was feeling much better than I was earlier in the day.
After I had settled in a bit, I headed back over to the convenient store to pick up some sub sandwiches. It was good to have some food in my system again. Around 8PM I was left with the code to the Athletic Center and the place to my self. I turned all the fans on high to cool the place down then got my my stuff together for the next day. By 9:30PM I was exhausted and went to sleep.
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