Field Trip 21

 Day 29 Today started out very muggy.  The plan was to make it all the way to Pittsburgh.  The terrain was varied, with some steeper hills. Lots of agriculture in the river bottoms, especially along the Verdigris River., and the uplands given over to ranching.   By 11 AM the temperature climbed to 100 on the road,  I planned to meet Leslie for lunch in Walnut KS.  By that time the temp on the road was up to 105 with high humidity. I decided to pull the plug at 70 miles, and rode the remaining 25 into Pittsburgh with Leslie.  Just walking 20 yds from the camper to the communal shower casuses you to be completely soaked with sweat..   Early start for tomorrow, and we move on to Missouri. Morning Ride Distance 69.70  mi Elev Gain 961  ft Time 4 h  35 m Try this route

 Day 29 We started out the day in Cassoday.  The country store where we spent the night was a meeting point for cattle hauling semi's in anticipation of some roundup just north of here.  This morning there were over 20 semis in the parking lot. They were gone by 8 AM.  The ride continues south and east through the Flint Hills of  Kansas.  This is a particular geological formation in southeastern Kansas and northern Oklahoma.  Some of the hills have the soil worn off the crest exposing gravel rich in flint.  Turns out that 3 preserved areas of tall grass prarie are in this part of Kansas and Oklahoma.  This type of grass used to cover the great plains from Manitoba to Texas.  It has all been given over to ranching and agriculture.  We spent the night at Toronto Lake.  Boiling hot with high humidity.  Fortunately the ride was fairly short. We are making out way to the Missouri Border. Morning Ride Distance 61.21  mi Elev Gain 620  ft Time 4 h  8 m Try this route

 Day 28 Started out from the Sand Hills State Park.   The first notable thing was that I was held up at a train crossing for quite a while.  Headed east on county roads, excellent road surface. The land is gently rolling and mostly planted with soybeans, some corn.  Still lots of fairly big deciduous trees along ridges, creeks, property lines and around farmhouses.  This was true through the towns of  Hesston and a little further south and east, Newton.  Newton seemed a pretty good size.  Out of Newton, it was due east. Slight headwind, but some slightly sharper hills.  We are in the Flint Hills part of Kansas.  There was a heat alert for today with the heat index supposed to get up to 105.  I recorded slightly higher than that on the road. The further east I went,  the land continued to change and gradually reverted to the wide open range land with some crops, but mostly beef production. Here's a shot of the road heading off to the east. Here's a roadcut that shows the limesto

 Day 27 We started out just north of Great Bend. Went due south through Great Bend on Main Street (not to busy at 8 AM Monday.).   South for almost 10 miles. Then a left turn onto county roads to head east.  The land here is totally different.  Green, lots of deciduous trees and some rolling up and down.  Rode through the Quivra Wildlife Refuge.  Had a deer jump out in the road in front of me (not close), and run off.  The road surface was very uneven, not broken pavement, but lots of heaves and twists.  Went due east for quite a while and finished off the day at Sand Hills state park.  Had a fairly violent thunderstorm that evening, spent times watching out for funnel clouds.    Ended up with a nice rainbow.  We have definitely  entered the muggy part of the country.  It's been pretty hot. Morning Ride Distance 72.58  mi Elev Gain 223  ft Time 4 h  52 m Try this route

 Today we took the day off. We are camped just north of Great Bend KS.  Thunderstorms today.  Bike maintenance,  general lazing around.   One of  the challenges in this trip is finding RV camping sites, especially with hookups.  At this point, we have 4 more days in Kansas before heading through the Ozarks.   Last week I rode 487 miles.  We are going to back off a little bit for the next week or so.  So far, I've ridden 2011 miles and climbed 64,000 feet,  We are just past the halfway point on the route.  After Kansas, we traverse Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia.  Some challenging terrain ahead.

 Day 25 Today started out warm, and got much warmer.  Humidity is relatively high and the temp got up over 90.  I rode from La Crosse, to a larger town called Great Bend.   The geography has changed.  At first the road was flat, going along in the valley of Walnut Creek, then there were several hills in succession, sufficiently steep that I could gain speed rolling down the backside.  I started out with a tailwind, but as the road turned to the south, the wind became more of an issue.  Rolled into town and the RV repair place, and pretty much sat around for the rest of the day as the work was being done.  We also replaced some interior lights that had started to go bad.  Tomorrow is rest day. We are almost directly halfway across Kansas.  The center of  Kansas is at 98.57 degrees west longitude and we are 98.77 degrees.   Next week we will be past the halfway point for the trip. Morning Ride Distance 37.69  mi Elev Gain 289  ft Time 2 h  22 m Try this route

Day 24 Scott City is in the center of  western Kansas farming country. Looks lie mostly wheat, corn and cattle.  The wind was from the south again, so some struggle depending on road direction,   Here's a picture of a typical Kansas farm. The road took a turn to the southeast and dropped into a little valley. There was a Point of Historical Interest.  Who knew?  Apparently George Washington Carver homsteaded just south of the road in this part of Kansas, before going on to college and his work at the Tuskegee Institute. Leslie met me for lunch, it's nice to get off the bike for a short time.   We spent the night in La Crosse Kansas, 4 miles north of the bike route.    Interesting fact.  The first settlers built sod houses, or dugouts for shelter, but soon discovered a layer of limestone under the soil that was about 12 in thick. Apparently when brought to the surface it hardened and took on a yellowish hue.   Homes, city buildings were all constructed of this limestone.  They e

 Day 23 The day started out in Eads Colorado, a small town on the eastern plains of Colorado.  Overall road quality in Colorado leaves a lot to be desired.  Seams across the road a  irregular intervals and rough chipseal. Tough on the bottom.  I did however go by a whole field of Sunflowers.. Later on, I went by an oil field.  Picture didn't turn out, but according to Leslie, at least one well was pumping. Finally Kansas;  Smooth asphalt, wide shoulder (wind). Stopped for lunch in Tribune Kansas.  Powered on to Scott City where we are spending the night. First completed century for the trip.  Fought wind most of the way.  One thing about this part of  Kansas is that you can see towns 8 to 10 miles away due to the presence of grain elevators.  Another thing is that it is not flat.  The land rolls with 1% hills and no significant downhills.  Tomorrow is another longish one, then a break in the action.    Morning Ride Distance 106.41  mi Elev Gain 361  ft Time 7 h  21 m Try this route

 Day 22 After yesterday's headwind, it was nice to wake up this morning and see the flags not moving at all.  The route continued in the Arkansas River valley for a time, then moved somewhat north and east. The land undulates a bit, and there is not much in the way of features. This is the view looking southeast. Most of the land is given over to cattle ranches.  Of course the wind came up, but mostly from the south, so at some points I had a tailwind.  Stopped in Haswell to eat my lunch and had a nice conversation with the Postmistress.  From Haswell it was 20 miles to our destination Eads.  Of course no day would be complete without a block headwind at the end of the ride. Before Haswell, I noticed there were flowers along the side of the road.  Unfortunately my picture of the sunflowers didn't turn out, but here's a shot of pretty white flowers which I found out later is referred to as "the dreaded bindweed" Oh well, I thought they added something to the scener

 Today we left the Rocky Mountain foothills and headed out over Eastern Colorado. The bike route goes due south from Florence all the way to Wetmore, a little community nestled up against the mountains, then east and north over several ridges into Pueblo.  The ridges all displayed layers consistent with sedimentary rock, and most appeared flat, although a few show an upward tilt towards the mountains.  Next was a tour through Pueblo on fairly lightly travelled streets, and out the eastern side, following the Arkansas River.   And Wind.  There was a strong headwind, slowing things down considerably as I left Pueblo.   Tonight we are in Fowler, a small town on Rt 50.  Its simpler now...tomorrow we head east. Morning Ride Distance 80.07  mi Elev Gain 1,726  ft Time 5 h  46 m Try this route

Day 30 Today the route goes almost directly south, over one pass at 9400 feet and gradually downhill to the Rocky Mountain foothills not to far west of Pueblo.  The scenery was beautiful, with green meadows and forests.  Fortunately the road was more lightly travelled.   Here's a couple of shots of the scenery: Eventually the route turned east.  Went past Royal Gorge,  through the town of Canon City, and we are spending the night in Florence. Florence was I think started as part of the gold mining history of this part of Colorado. ( Went by the turnoff to Cripple Creek, the most active mining site,)  There is a Federal Maximum Security Prison here (oh boy).  Lots of antique shops, etc Tomorrow its through Pueblo and out on the plains of Eastern Colorado. Morning Ride Distance 86.86  mi Elev Gain 1,946  ft Time 5 h  21 m Try this route