Western Kansas

I made it to Kansas! Its crazy to think that I've biked across California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. As Tom says, this is a good tour in itself. Other than the day from Pueblo to Ordway, I've been putting on some crazy mileage so far. I went from Ordway to Sheridan Lake, from Sheridan Lake to Dighton, and today I'm going as far as Larned. I'll put on about ~290 miles in three days. Kansas has been phenomenally flat, and I've had a tail wind since I left Ordway, so I've been hauling ass. Yesterday I averaged something like 19 mph. It was also crazy hot yesterday. It got up to about 85 by 10, and be the time I rolled into Dighton, around 4, it was 100 degrees. I didn't really sleep much last night; as I was going to sleep in the city park in Dighton, the sprinklers started up! I moved my tent around a few times, but the sprinklers kept following me. Eventually, around midnight, the sprinklers stopped, and I found a relatively dry spot to camp. If I had a camp pad, I would have just set up my sleeping bag on a picnic table. The wind was strong enough last night that I probably wouldn't have been bothered by bugs. I've been lucky to get a shower ever two days or so, but my grime level is still fantastic. I apply sunscreen probably four times a day, and I put on bug spray once or twice in the evening. Combined with the prodigious amount of sweat I generate during the day, I get a nice layer of scum covering my whole body.

So far, I really enjoy biking in Kansas. It reminds me of Minnesota and Iowa, and I feel comfortable here. The mountains are beautiful, but they feel strange and disconcerting. Seeing rolling farmland makes me breathe a sigh of relief.

Last night I decided to go to a bar in Dighton, and they were selling $1 beers! It was trashy Tuesdays all over again. Apparently beers aren't usually that cheap, but harvest time necessitates large quantities of drink, according to the bartender.

In Sheridan Lake, I stayed at a church. It's amazing how smells are capable of bringing back sharp and powerful memories. They let me use the kitchen and the bathroom, and everything smelled like Olivet! They used the same (bad) coffee, and even the same hand soap. I felt like it was a Wednesday evening, or a Sunday in the middle of the summer. I continue to be astounded by the generosity of the people that I encounter on this trip. This church leaves its doors unlocked all summer so that touring cyclists might have a place to stay. I've seen that same sort of generosity and hospitality in the church community in which I grew up. It's comforting to know that kind people exist everywhere.