John Aylward Photography

Today’s Highlights:
We completed our traversal of Kansas today, entering Missouri in the town of Rushville. Our final fifty seven miles across Kansas were just as enjoyable as the previous days. For the first several miles we cycled through the capital of Kansas, and saw a little bit of the north end of the city. It was quite nice and very quite since it was early Sunday morning. Heading north, we quickly entered the rural hills again. Like yesterday, there were farms with crops, or with cattle or horses. Because of the hilly terrain and an increased density of trees, the vistas were less expansive.

We crossed the Missouri River on the new Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge. As you would expect, the next forty miles into Missouri had similar landscape to its neighboring state. It was very hilly. Our elevation only varied from 750 feet to 1100 feet today, but we climbed a total of 3061 feet with all the ups and downs over the eighty seven mile ride. There was also a constant wind today that was usually against us. It was not too strong except for an occasional gust, but it did increase the work for the entire ride.

Once we entered St Joseph, Missouri, part of the route was on the SW Parkway. It was a very nice winding road through parks, making it fun, scenic and quite. I completed the ride in 7-1/2 hours today. We are lucky to be enjoying the best weather in US right now. Although we had to ride against the wind, it attributed to the mild temperature. It was a pleasant ride today.

Day 29

Statistics: Zoom and pan the map to explore the route.

Time: 6/30/2013, 4:49:3

Duration: 07:28:36

Ascent/Descent: 3061 ft 3033 ft

Distance: 87.52 M

Today’s Highlights:
It was another delightful day for cycling. The weather was beautiful, with a clear blue sky in the morning and high puffy clouds in the afternoon. Comfortable 60-degree temps started our morning, and the heat of the 90-degree afternoon was offset by a north wind. Our 108-mile route from Abilene to Topeka took us through the Flint Hills region in eastern Kansas. I had not known about this area, and was pleasantly surprised by all the rolling hills and lush green landscape. A shallow layer of limestone made it impractical for early settlers to farm here, and as a result it has been used for cattle ranching. It is the last expanse of intact tallgrass prairie in the nation. Once, millions of bison roamed here, but unfortunately they were nearly exterminated. It was amazing to see the green prairie stretching for miles and miles, especially when we crested some of the higher hills and could see it in all directions. What a sight it must have been with its wildlife centuries ago. Today, I saw occasional herds of cattle, but none of them very large. I saw one coyote also.

In a few places, the road was cut through a hill, and a cross-section the honey-colored limestones below the topsoil was visible. I also saw a few old buildings and barns built from this stone. I am not certain, but the church in picture 6034 looks like it was built from this local stone.

Some farms with corn, wheat or other crops were seen on our ride today, but far fewer than central and western Kansas. We rode through a few very tiny towns. White City, only a few blocks long, had a brick main street and a nice town park where we had our first rest stop. Eskridge was slightly bigger, and we also enjoyed their local park for our second rest stop. The village of Dover had one cafe and not much else. Across from the cafe was a piece of yard “art” made from discarded junk, including a bicycle. In the next several miles, I saw several other yard ornaments made from discarded bicycle parts and other stuff. I had to stop for pictures just because of the bike theme.

I completed my ride in Topeka at 2:06 PM, a little under eight hours elapsed time. I had a better-than-average pace going for the first seventy five miles, but heading into a strong north wind during parts of the last twenty five miles cut my overall speed down. Still, it was a good pace for me, and a pleasant 108 miles. We ended at the northwest corner of Topeka, and will leave tomorrow heading northeast. We will not see any of this big city except the hotel we are in. That’s okay. We get to see plenty of the beautiful Kansas countryside.

Day 28

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Time: 6/29/2013, 4:15:5

Duration: 07:50:22

Ascent/Descent: 3600 ft 3892 ft

Distance: 108.67 M

Today’s Highlights:
Kansas just keeps getting better on our easterly journey through it! Today’s ride was one of my favorite of the trip so far. We were back on quite, narrow country roads, surrounded by farms and pastures and fields of tall grass. There was a lot of green and lots of trees. In places, tall trees lined the road and provided shade that we have been without for many days. It reminded me of the rural roads I often ride in Pleasant Valley and Millbrook New York, and it felt like home.

We had another early start at 6:15 AM. Last night’s violent rainstorm cooled things down significantly, and the humidity also dropped a little, giving us a very pleasant morning. The roads were smooth and lightly traveled. While the route was still “flat” by most standards, there were many gentle hills that added interest to the landscape. We passed through a few little towns again today. There is something about all of them that makes you feel like they are very friendly places. Even early in the morning when the streets are quite and no people are out, there is a welcoming sense that is comforting. I saw two buffalo today, but was not able to get a good picture of them. Other than that surprise, there were only a few sightings of cows, goats and horses. The land use here is primarily for crops of wheat, corn and clover. At a couple river crossings (I think it’s the Smokey Hill River), the sky filled with swallows. They like to be near the water and take advantage of nesting under bridges. I’ve noticed this as a common occurrence since Nevada.

One highlight of the day was reaching the halfway point in our adventure. We have covered 1,948 miles so far, and have about that much more before reaching the Maine border.

I arrived in Abilene around 11:00, and since there was plenty of time left in the day, I took a side trip to the Dwight Eisenhower home and museum. It was interesting to see the small house where he and five brothers were raised, and to be reminded how some of our most important presidents came from such simple beginnings. The museum was filled with history that would have taken hours to go through, but I took a quick tour.

Day 27

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Time: 6/28/2013, 4:13:1

Duration: 04:51:42

Ascent/Descent: 557 ft 897 ft

Distance: 63.93 M

Today’s Highlights:
It was another fantastic day of cycling. The morning ride was very peaceful. We left the hotel at 6:15 just as the sun was rising. The short ride through the city of Great Bend was quite, and the next couple hours out in the country continued that way, with very little traffic. The songs of birds and crickets replaced the noise of cars and truck passing quickly by us. We had made the early start to avoid riding in the late afternoon heat, and the additional bonus was beating the traffic.

Today’s directions were simple – leave the hotel, ride 64 miles, turn left into another hotel. Not only that, the road was simply flat and straight with hardly a bend in it. It was restful on the mind to just cycle along and enjoy the view and the sounds of nature. Like yesterday, we passed one great farm after another, and this morning I saw several combine harvesters working the fields. Where we crossed the Little Arkansas River around mile forty, there were gently rolling hills to add some visual interest. They were insignificant to cycle up,and everyone seemed to make good time today.

I stopped to talk to another cyclist who was going in the opposite direction. She was pulling a huge load behind her mountain bike. She too was going coast to coast, but alone. She started from Maryland last year, took the winter off in Kansas City, and is pressing ahead now to California. Check out the picture of her rig.

We passed through a quaint little town called Ellinwood, and later the nice town of Lyons. We ended in the town of McPherson, which is much larger and also looks like a very pleasant place. I ended my ride before 11:00 AM today, when the temperature was still below 100. It is supposed to reach 106 later today. We have a little extra time to recover or explore this afternoon.

Day 26

Statistics: Zoom and pan the map to explore the route.

Time: 6/27/2013, 4:13:2

Duration: 04:22:49

Ascent/Descent: 547 ft 953 ft

Distance: 64.38 M