Day 296
Kansas
Well, after the giddy heights of 137 miles in a day, we were back to reality. The wind was still with us, but a head wind again. This is Kansas after all. There is always wind and it blows just any which way it wants. We had just under 80 miles to Great Bend but we knew it made sense to split it over 2 days. Tom found a rest area camp spot for $10 a night, it was about 37 miles away, that was our plan. So it was back on the bikes and back to riding through Kansas. It was pretty flat, with views of farmland as far as we could see what ever direction we looked. We spotted an Armadillo who appeared to be waiting to cross the road, he was beyond cute. Endless fields of cows who all appeared fascinated by us. Well, we are in Kansas and I guess looking at us is a change from just chewing the cud.
We were only managing to ride about half the pace we rode yesterday, but with the early start and shorter distance, by 1pm we were just 5 miles from our campsite, so as pulled into the town of Stafford we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at a local diner. To our great astonishment, there was one, and it passed our diner test, i.e. plenty of locals parked outside. Though to be honest, in Kansas if we find somewhere open, we will be in there! Inside it was packed, but some friendly locals made a space for us and soon we were tucking into a fantastic meal of fried chicken and braised beef. Yes, perhaps not a natural match made in heaven but it was a buffet and we ate everything, twice!
Refreshed we rode the last few miles to a pretty much deserted campground. Naturally 3 RVs full of guys turned up, they politely asked if we minded then having a little party, and so we were lulled to sleep by a mix of incredibly bad country music mixed in with a few Mexican tunes. I longed to get up and tell them to download some decent stuff, a bit of our beloved Jacye Guerin would have been wonderful. Ah well.
We managed a lie in, then it was up and away to Great Bend. We had booked a hotel for 2 nights. A small matter of a forecast for 45 mile an hour head winds with strong gusts and maybe the odd tornado thrown in had made us decide a rest day was in order.
We were on a slightly major road and there was a fair bit of traffic and virtually no hard shoulder. So sorry Di, there are some busy roads in America! However, we were very hopeful that it could change. A few miles out from Great Bend we would join the Trans-America Route. Surely they would put in a hard shoulder for that great cycling route?
What's the Transamerica you ask? Well back in 1973, two young couples, Dan and Lyns Burden and Greg and June Siple rode from Alaska to Argentina, and whilst riding along decided to create a route across the USA to celebrate the country’s 200 birthday. So, incredibly, by 1976 the Trail was ready. Map and guide books published. It was launched as the ‘Bicentennial Ride’ and due to a lot of hard work by the organisers and word of mouth, over 4,000 people turned up for the ride. Most of the riders were in their early 20s with virtually no long-distance cycling experience. They were split into groups of a dozen or so, with one of the organisers leading. At around 4,200 miles it was a distance hard for them to compute, but in the 90 days it took to complete, riding on tarmac and dirt roads, in every type of weather that only America can provide, through the Rockies, through many small America towns that barely saw a tourist, received there by kind hearted locals, and onwards from the West Coast to the East, those young people found that this experience had changed them forever. By 1993 the name Bicentennial was changed to the Adventure Cycling Association, now a non-profit organisation promoting safe cycling routes across the USA. The Southern Tier and Northern Tier were added, and it keeps growing. There’s a magazine. Maps with details of not just the route but everything you could possibly need to know available to buy. So today this means when Tom and I joined the Trans-America there was an excellent hard shoulder, and not only that but Route 76 signs showing us the way. Thanks guys, we’re excited to be riding this route all the way to Yellowstone!
As we pulled into Great Bend a guy came up to us to check we had somewhere to stay, the local church provides free camping for cyclists and from the wonderful way he spoke we wondered if he was the local Pastor. Y’all kind folks round here.
We were actually too early to check in, so yep, we headed for a local diner. Leann’s didn’t disappoint. Great food and entertaining locals, we relaxed and laughed a lot. America, you’re pretty awesome!
