Movin' across Kansas

Today was our eighth straight day of riding without a rest day and we have one more tomorrow before we get Tuesday off (in Abilene). We did get kind of a break though...we got to sleep in an extra hour. The routine is so ingrained at this point that I think we go on automatic pilot for the first hour of every day. Tom is up first (his choice) and he does his thing to get ready and then makes a bit of noise to wake me up...Then it's find the bike shorts, the chamois butter (absolutely essential), the jersey, socks and shoes and head out for breakfast. Sometimes breakfast is in the hotel and sometimes at a nearby place - this morning it was Perkins and they are one of the best. You know you are going to be burning calories when they have to use two dinner plates to deliver your meal. This morning it was the usual OJ and coffee along with two eggs, bacon, hash browns and pancakes - and me who has an english muffin at home was satisfied but not full. Tom's Garmin PDS/computer calculates our daily caloric count at somewhere around 4000 to 6000 per day (dependant mostly on time and distance). Then it's back to pack and get the bags to the support truck and get the bikes to check the tires and sign out for the day.

This morning we left at about 8:30 and, as usual we ride out in kind of rough approximation of a group but by 10 or 15 minutes we hit the city limits and the groups start to break out. The 'hammerheads', the guys who really move start pulling away, there is one group of 4 who always ride together and a few who ride alone and are happy doing it. Tom and I rode for awhile today with a third guy who is a few years younger than us and we did a really nice pace for the first 30 miles or so and right into the SAG. He also took the photo of us together sometime after we got back on the road after the SAG.

The scenery today was pretty much what it has been the last few days: growing crops, mostly wheat but also hay and corn and an occasional cattle operation. There is a sameness to it but at the same time it makes for really nice riding - mostly flat and straight and even though the winds shifted to more of a crosswind from yesterday's great tailwind (the reason for the early posts for anyone who might have noticed - no buses here, just John Deeres) it was still a pretty smooth ride. We went through three or four little towns all so quiet it was almost eery.

We pulled into the little metropolis of McPherson at about 1;00 and started looking for lunch. Again, as in the smaller towns, almost nothing was open. We took a left into the downtown area and rode up and down the street and the ONLY open business was the Sears store (I took the photo because it looks like it dates to the 30s and should have an historic marker out front). So we headed back to our main road and toward the hotel...Along the way we passed through a pretty little residential area that also had a definite pre-WWII look: neat older homes, almost all with real porches with swings and occasionally folks just sitting and watching the world go by.

We did, in fact, finally come across a Sonic and a gang of six of us rode in for a bit of lunch. Neither Tom nor I had ever stopped at Sonic (I absolutely cannot stand their commercials) but I can report they do a great job on cheeseburgers and root beer floats. We also met two couples at adjoining tables who wanted to know all about our little adventure - initial reaction, of course, was the usual OMG when we tell where we are going. "Boston? That's the other side of the world." One of them had a connection to the local picture so they took pictures, got names etc and told us we would be in the local paper tomorrow - too bad we cannot stay and buy a copy.

And the last photo? I know it's not pretty but it sure says it all about the way I felt when we finally got into our room - that bed is one heck of a lot softer than a bike seat.

So, for today 64 miles in a little over 4 hours and a 15 mph average...enough to have me looking forward to steak and baked potato at Montana Mike's tonight.

And tomorrow it's another 62 miler to Abilene and a day off...hooray.