Newton, Kansas

Did you know that the Arkansas River is pronounced R-Kansas here in Kansas -- what a conundrum -- I'm going to start pronouncing Kansas -- Can-Saw -- while I'm here --- just to see how that goes over.

Hello faithful blog readers -- and any newbies that might have stumbled by -- we are now taking Kansas by storm.

When last I blogged, we were staying with Gillian (to your right with her puppy, Tigger) -- very cool - not only did she let us borrow her car to get groceries, she also took Linus and Derek horseback riding! Way cool -- so, here is a blog shout out to her and for any bikers looking for a stop over in Ordway -- she is located at 413 W 9th Street --- check her out.

OK - from there we took off to Eads, Co - met up with the Adventure Cycling group (15 riders) heading west (Adventure Cycling publishes the route maps that we are using for the trip www.adv-cycling.org/) -- they were very cool and let us stay with them at in the auditorium at the fairgrounds in Eads - even had us join them for dinner. Sorry to say, but they are all kind of suckers -- trip cost: $4,000.

Anywho, in Eads we were also reunited with a fellow rider - David Y. - that had camped with us WAY BACK in Oregon. Dave is from Ann Arbor, Michigan - where he worked as a bike mechanic. Dave ->

It was an early start the next morning - the AC group turned the lights on at 5am -- good thing they're heading in the opposite direction -- who wants to get up at 5am? Kev,Nix, and Linus took off early - Derek was MIA since he decided to sleep outside (somewhere) - Karli and I took off shortly after - around 6:30. It was mega foggy - and by mega, I mean REALLY foggy and luckily we had a good shoulder for most of it in the morning.

Karli and I had talked about breaking ahead of the group for a few days to do some long rides -- then meeting back up in Newton, KS on a rest day. So, we put in around 103 miles to Scott City, KS. The ride went well - no major hills but we did have the wind to contend with - as well as the heat. We got into town and stayed in the city park -- where, fortunately for us, they had their sprinklers on -- and proceeded to cool down in them.

Off to Rush Center --- oh, but wait -- Great Bend is only 32 miles further ---- off to Great Bend for a 119 miles! We had just passed into Central Time Zone the day before, so Karli and I got up a little later than planned - but it was still early and cool. Dave actually rolled in late that night and ended up sleeping on one of the playground equipment in the park - and met up with him later in Rush Center. The 32 miles from Rush Center to Great Bend were tough -- heavy cross and head winds -- it seemed like we were riding 10 miles and the next thing I knew we passed a mile post indicating we had gone 3 -- oh buddy! We eventually rolled into Great Bend and got a room for the night.

Great Bend to Nickerson --- this was a much shorter day -- we got up late and took it easy -- around 50 miles. This was another night in the city park -- gotta love those free camp nights! The park was sweet -- lots of playground equipment -- even a seesaw! They were having a baseball tournament that evening and we stayed up to cheer on the home team - ages 10-12. Reminded me of little league and playing for Geigertown!

Nickerson to Newton -- this was another short day, but while in Wyoming we caught wind of a sweet health food store where a couple of cyclists that worked there would put us up for the night. It turns out that Heidi and Liz both rode the TransAm last year and were housing bikers as they came through Newton -- so we decided to stop in. And have a rest day to wait for the others. And have another rest day to wait for the others - who should be here today (Monday, June 25th).