Central Kansas

OK, so after a really nice rest day on Tuesday and a good dinner at Montana Mike's Steak House we got up early and headed out for Sterling, KS.  The riding was flat and fast for touring, we averaged almost 14.5 mph and had a lot of fun.  Again there are very few places to get water or other provisions but in Nickerson, Sjef and I stopped at the Sunshine Cafe and had coffee and I had a home made cinnamon bun, it was huge for $1.59.  Sjef had his favorite, Eggs and toast. we stayed at the city park in Sterling  and had a good evening with a decent meal, hot dogs, hamburgers, salad and other goodies.
Many of us set up our tents near Sterling Lake and it was very nice until at 10:30 pm the sprinkler system that surrounds the lake came on, well it lasted for a half hour.  OK that is not too bad, in fact it kinda put me to sleep.  Well at 4:30am the sprinkler system starts up again and lasts for another half hour.  We took our time taking down our tents and it was pretty dry when I packed it up.
Oh, did I say this is the land of OZ, well it is, see below.

On Thursday we headed to Larned, KS and again this was a flat and fast ride with the winds helping us most of the way.  We have been lucky so far.  There were no services between Sterling and Larned to we rode the entire ride taking only one short break to stop and eat a little and water the roadside. The temperatures were OK and now that the humidity is finally reasonable, riding is comfortable.  Again we stayed at the city park in Larned and it worked out well with the swimming pool next door with showers and rest room facilities. 

About 6:30 PM a lady stopped by and told us that there were severe storm warnings for Larned until 11 PM.  Oh goodie, so we made sure that our tents were secure and the local police stopped by and opened a lodge for us in case the weather turned really bad.  A couple of our group went to the lodge and stayed there for the night.  About 8:30 the first storm came thru and the winds came up pretty good, secure in the tent I read for a while and listened to the storm.  Good light show and lots of loud thunder.  Winds gusted to 50 mph and it was a good blow.  It stopped for a while and then about 11 started again and it was not as severe as the first storm but is was pretty good.  No hail or twisters but there was a small twister about 50 miles away.

Friday when we got up there was a nice breeze blowing from guess where, the EAST, Oh boy another good day of riding.  As we ride from town to town you can tell there is a town coming up when you see the grain elevator, usually at first about 10 to 12 miles away.

Every town has one and sometimes more than one. 

Early this morning we rode to Fort Larned an outpost on the Santa Fe Trail in the mid 1800's

The buildings were not open yet so we could not take a good tour but it was interesting to see one of these frontier forts. The well constructed stone buildings were solid and the fort was in use by the Army for about 30 years. 

Riding the last three days we have slowly begun to climb toward the Rockies, Each day we are picking up four to six hundred feet of elevation and with the luck we have had with the wind our riding has been fast.  Today over 67 miles I averaged 15.42 mph.  I doubt that I will be able to do that again but it was fun to do.  Everyone was so worried about the winds riding east to west but except for a couple of short stretches on the entire trip the wind has not been a problem. All that could change quickly but we will take the good winds for as long as they are with us.

Now a friend of mine is complaining that I am staying in motels too often and should rough it more or give up camping.  Well this is coming from the holder of the No Tell Motel, Master Motel Stayer Award Certificate.  This guy camped with me for a couple of weeks last year and let me tell you, he will never get a Master Camper Certificate, bitch, bitch, and more bitching about camping.  By the way tonight we are camping at the city park in Ness City, KS.  Kansas is cool in that most cities have nice parks with swimming pools and allow cyclists to stay for free. Today we do get the benefit of cold showers, My Motel friend would love that!

Hey everyone, Life if Good  Bobo