Day 27 Scott City, KS to Tribune, KS 47 miles

In one way we didn’t want to ride today, Saturday, because we already knew that the town we would be leaving, Scott City, had a church we would want to attend on Sunday, tomorrow. But, when the wind is blowing the right direction you must ride – and it was.

The wind was a slight northern side wind and easterly tailwind. Jake said this is “fun!” We began with cloud cover. Instead of the expected 101 degrees, it was a pleasant 79 or 80 degrees all morning.

For biking conditions it could not have been better. We covered the 47 miles from Scott City to Tribune, Kansas in just under three hours including rest stops. It was a day to be appreciated and long remembered.

As we neared Tribune we crossed the time zone line and entered into the Mountain Time Zone.

We passed by several large cattle feed lots today and a wind farm which produces electricity.

After we arrived in Tribune the cloud cover vanished and became very hot – 100+ degrees. Since we do not ride on Sundays we knew our friends in the Adventure Cycling Tour group would be traveling further tomorrow and then after Pueblo, CO heading northward, whereas we would continue westward over Monarch Pass.

So we bid goodbye to these intrepid pioneers of the two-wheeled, self-powered highways. They have been great to be with and they have wonderfully befriended Jake.

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The first picture shows a typical sight in the eatery part of the local drug store. The local people are always very friendly and helpful.

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The other picture is of our cycling friends at the city park across from the city swimming pool, repairing and preparing.

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Day 26 Ness City, KS to Scott City, KS 56 miles

Sometimes when we go to the only restaurant in town for breakfast, the 14 Adventure Cycling Tour group is already there waiting for their breakfast. Such was the case today.

We waited and waited for breakfast and on top of it all, it was terrible. We both felt sick afterward and it delayed us an hour. But, by 9:00 am we were on the bikes heading west.

Today we had a direct headwind of about 10 to 12 mph for the first 31 miles. As a result we lowered our heads and pedaled away.

The winds gradually changed and by the afternoon when the temperature came close to 100 degrees, the winds changed to the right side and then a slight side/tail wind until we arrived at our destination of Scott City, Kansas. It is a little oasis of a few trees and a grain silos out in the middle of a vast flatland of grain and hay fields.

On our way we passed a marker to George Washington Carver.

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Jake’s grandpa was, as usual, very helpful to us by finding the best places to eat and a hostel for us to sleep at tonight. It is the local athletic club and sleeping bags are all over on the carpets and lawn. It cost us $10 per person to stay the night, use the showers and bathrooms and especially be cooled by the air conditioning.

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Day 25 Larned, KS to Ness City, KS 66 miles

Today was a memorable day for several reasons. Most importantly because Jake passed the 1000 miles mark today as we came near our destination for this day.

Actually we are now at 1,003 miles since leaving Bardstown, Kentucky on the 24th of May. This picture of Jake was taken at the time his odometer turned 1,000 miles since leaving home.

The day was also memorable because we have now ridden four days in a row over 60 miles each day. We will not easily forget this day because of the riding conditions.

It was 98 degrees today with sun all day long. However, it was the wind that we will not forget. The wind was out of the south and southwest in excess of 20 miles per hour with unpredictable gusts of 40 mph.

The highway we rode on was quite busy at times with many semi’s almost blowing us off the road and some drivers coming to close at 75 mph.

It was a very precarious and dangerous situation, trying to ride a loaded bicycle, which is a balancing act in and of itself, while being hit with 20 to 40 mph side winds, all the time watching for passing and oncoming vehicles.

We rolled out of Larned, KY at 7:50 am and into Ness City after 5:00 pm. It was a long, hard, hot day. But, Jake did very, very well.

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Day 24 Nickerson, KS to Larned, KS 59 miles

Ken and Jen left first from our city park camp site, only for us to catch up with them later in the day. They had a goal of riding 100 miles today. Given the winds and heat, we don’t know if they achieved their goals. If so, it would have been pretty late by the time they had covered that many miles. They are good people out for a good cause of organ awareness.

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Day 23 Harvey County Campground (near Newton, KS) to Nickerson, KS 60 Miles

Exhaustion can be satisfied in different ways – see Jake in the gravel pile.

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High water, closed roads, flooded fields and overfull lakes and campgrounds. Notice the picnic tables at our campground in the water.

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Flooding everywhere one looks. Today we had to ride our bikes through this river of water pouring out of an adjoining corn field across the roadway.

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At our campground in Nickerson we met Ken and Jen who are traveling on three-wheeled recumbent bikes with much gear and a dog. They were very kind and shared their pavilion area with us. They are riding for a cause – organ donors.

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The city park, where we camped was great except there were no showers or hot water. We went to the little town and were about to go into the only diner in town, when a kind older, white-haired lady came up to us and asked if we were bikers. We answered in the affirmative.

She said follow me. We followed her into the adjoining building – the community senior center which was about to begin their weekly potluck buffet. We ate like kings and had wonderful conversation with about a dozen wonderful, senior citizens. Everywhere we go we are met with much kindness.

Day 22 Eureka, KS to Harvey County Campground (near Newton, KS) 70 miles

Today was our second longest day. We had cloud cover most of the day until the afternoon. We arose at 6:00 am to begin the day and didn’t come into camp until almost 6:00 pm.

We began by riding out of Eureka along Highway 54, a major, busy road with many semi’s and other fast traffic. The big trucks coming the other way just about blew us off the road.

The wind was blowing pretty hard from the side and front. Jake did very well. After 20 miles on Highway 54, we changed over to smaller roads and it was a great relief.

Going out of Eureka on Highway 54 the high speed traffic including many semi's kept us looking at and staying on the white line or shoulder area the whole time.

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We had lunch in Cassoday, the prairie chicken capital.

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Day 21 Eureka, KS Rest Day

As we ride these back roads through the Midwest we clearly see that many of the towns are either shrinking or literally becoming abandoned ghost towns. Almost everywhere we go the people tell how hard the recent recession has hurt their area and that in general their town in going downhill.

Even though our church generally is growing everywhere, we were told that the branch of our church was closed two years ago here in Eureka because the town is shrinking. So now the nearest branch of our church is more than 32 miles away in El Dorado, Kansas.

Had it not been for Dad and his car, we would have held our own church here in Eureka. But, we got up early and drove to El Dorado to attend wonderful meetings and feel the spirit.

On the way there, we saw a deer cross the highway ahead of us. It was chasing at a very high speed out in the open prairie, a bobcat. It was the oddest thing.

Yesterday, Jake and I finally saw a live armadillo for the first time. Up until then we had only seen smashed ones on the road.

Jake has asked where we will attend church next Sunday. It could possibly be near the Colorado border.

We have now been out three weeks and have ridden 750 miles. Jake has said several times today we have been out three months, not three weeks.

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From JakeTransAmerica