Larned, Kansas to Ness City, Kansas
Stayed in bed very late this morning. Think I really needed that!
Headed west on 196 out of Larned and gave my mail to a postman on his rounds. He said he wished he was me. Six miles west I stopped at Fort Larned, an outpost on the Santa Fe Trail. I spent about a half hour there mainly to compare that route to my route. I found out there was a point where the Santa Fe Trail split and offered 2 routes into Santa Fe. The “dry” route and the “wet” route. Seems my intended route will be similar to the wet route, crossing a pass through the Cimarrons, south into New Mexico from Colorado.
Fought mild headwinds out of the southwest for the next 8 miles and turned north on Route 183 and pretty much “flew” up to Rush Center, KS on a fantastic tailwind. I was moving comfortably at 25 - 30 miles per hour the entire 19 mile stretch.
About 7 miles along, I met 4 touring bikers4 touring bikers coming toward me. We stopped and talked for a bit. They were a group of 5 (the fifth came along later). Fellows from San Francisco, “section” biking the USA, 2 weeks at a time. This section for them consisted of Laramie, Wyoming to Wichita, Kansas. They called me “young” and I couldn’t believe they all were in their 60’s. They didn’t look it. Gary, Ted, Dick, Jim, and Bruce were fighting the headwinds that I was practically coasting on. I took a picture of them and they took a picture of me. They found it interesting that I would do this trip solo. My advantage is it’s more likely I’d get invited to someone’s home than if I were in a group of five. There’s also a difference monetarily in buying a meal for one and a meal for five.
Onward up to Rush Center. The odometer: 1980 - 1981 - 1982, etc. Each mile, I thought of the year and something significant I can remember from that year... the birth of each kid... vacations... work related memories... The miles seemed to roll by, like the years, in the blink of an eye. Where does the time go? And then, about a mile before Rush Center, it happened! 2 - 0 - 0 - 0 !!! I stopped and took a picture of the odometer - 2-0-0-0! Wanted to celebrate, but just stopped for lunch and started writing day’s notes.
I think I realized more of what it is about Kansas. At times you can look out on the horizon and see the sky meet the land as it meets the ocean at the shore - flat land, treeless, with no obstructions. A certain simplicity, sky and land uninterrupted.
Wound up with mild headwinds the rest of the day. My arms are particularly sore today from constantly trying to stabilize the bike. A couple of times, the wind almost blew me off the road. I have heard of blow-downs and now can see it happening. If I had front panniers, they may have caught enough wind to have knocked me down.
Wound up pitching a tent in a public park with police permission in Ness City, KS.
Totals for the day: 67.64 miles, 5 hrs. 28 min., 2036.2 total miles
Hope to get up early - possibly 97° tomorrow.