Day 44 - Hutchinson, KS

after a fine evening mixing with locals, slept well in camp, especially with gentle rains during the night. awoke today to yet another cloudy morning with a damp forecast. good timing again for a day off after a week of good rides. decided to pull into hutchinson, 10 miles off route, because of a much larger population than other possible stopping points. so, a mellow 40-ish mile ride with tailwinds went easily. first place we stopped was the local bike shop. we got fixed up with a cyclists-only hostel setup at a local church; great setup, except it looked like they were setting up for a function following Sunday services the next morning, so decided to hotel it for tonight, and go for the hostel tomorrow. Dana found a hopping local bar, so met a bunch of locals there. always interesting to hear peoples' stories, how they came to live in these small towns. then, enjoyed some great Italian at Jillian's, where we happened to meet the owners. nice place.

even with the short day, the bod was screaming for a rest day tomorrow.

today: 44
to date: 2345

Day 43 - Newton, KS

after a monster dinner at the copper kettle last night, how could one refuse a return for breakfast ? not i, said the don..... got fueled and watered up for the ride to newton. finally, a forecasted TAILWIND today ! we plotted a long ride to newton. again, a geographically unremarkable ride; i did take note of the ever-expanding (it seems) wide open farming country. fields of new wheat as far as you can see. would love to see this later in the summer.

enjoyed the tailwinds today. on the flat roads with only the occasional pimple to cross over, the loaded rig really hummed along! the bike feels like a mack truck when you can get motoring like that. it's fun !

made newton and found a pleasant place to camp at the city athletic park. no shower facility, but dana scouted out a local activity center, basically a YMCA-type place, where we could take HOT showers - excellent !

ended up having so-so tex-mex for dinner, but found a hopping bar with an excellent band, so it was good to mix with the locals in newton. a great ride today, and a good time here. a good day !

today: 80 miles
to date: 2301

Day 42 - Eureka, KS

after one hell of a night in the tent, a late start on the road to Eureka. The storm that blew thru last night dwarfed the hard rain the night before in Girard; HEAVY rain, HEAVY winds that pushed over and damn near laid the tent flat over me. some water got in thru the floor due to a slight funnel effect from the tent ground cover. need to be more attentive to that one. the morning weather was still breezy, but the rain had stopped and gave some time to dry things out before getting underway. a 3-pot of coffee morning.

the ride to eureka was uneventful as the terrain continues to flatten out. a bit boring after having hills every day since turning north in gulf shores, AL. the winds were from the south, so not too bad to deal with as we headed west.

weather forecasts of sunnier skies have been disappointing as cloudy and cool weather has prevailed. with the cross winds, makes for a less comfortable day. no rain, though, so that's never a problem....

a call ahead to eureka police got the OK to camp at the city park. guess what ? no hot water. no problem. got set up with camp as the sun was closing due to the late start. dana found a restaurant we had passed on the way into town would stay open past 8:00 for us to come eat. (8:00 seems to to be the popular closing time for restaurants in the mid-west towns !!) . me, being the soup afficionado that i am, went to town grazing on chicken tortilla soup and a monster salad bar wth homemade everything. i swear, these long riding days are giving me dinner appetites where i feel like i have a tapeworm....

cindy, the owner of the Copper Kettle, gets today's Good Samaritan award for being kind to us by keeping her place open late and feeding us some excellent home cooking. best meal of the tour, thus far !!

today: 67 miles
to date: 2221

Day 41 - Chanute, KS

tent camped in the city park in girard. really enjoying the free and generally nice liitle parks in these towns. most of these parks have picnic tables, one or more small pavilions, usually AC power for charging phones and cameras, and if were lucky, hot water !! we usually call ahead to the local police and they're very accommodating in making sure the bath / toilet facilities are available. plus, they know we're there for safety. last night brought heavy rains and lightning. not ideal for camping, but the tent came through wonderfully. had a pavilion right there to bail under if needed. awoke to a somewhat dreary day to ride, but no rain. had light headwinds to make the ride a little bit of work. landscape steadily flattening out. lots of wide open spaces here in Kansas, with wheat and corn crops growing in the early season. generally unremarkable ride. pulled in chanute and were given the ok to camp at an unappealing area near some ball fields. hot water shower facility made up for it!

ventured into Chanute for dinner at a local sports bar. while cruising thru town, i noticed a LARGE number of these places that give payday loans. seemed to me to be be legal loan sharking; get a cash loan at 20% and give us your next paycheck or we'll break your kneecaps... :)

these daily ventures through wide open flat landscapes make for boring blog reporting!!

today: 57 miles
to date: 2154

Day 40 - Girard, KS

weather was cloudy and a bit breezy, far nicer than the winds and sporadic rain during a day off. reina was off to work and randy was tending to a newborn calf. it was rather sad to say goodbye; we had had such a fun visit and for me, an enlightening insight into a world I was mostly unfamiliar with, life on the ranch. it was so peaceful there, I'm envious of their home stead. Dana and I had planned an easy route into Kansas to Girard. getting good at calling ahead and getting the ok to camp in the small city parks. some with hot water, most without (which makes finding it a special treat !!), including this one. cold tap water shower again ! I'm talking dumping COLD water bottles all over over me , soaping and then more water bottles. all in these small bath houses. now I know how homeless people get along. pretty primitive, but you do with what you get....
ventured out on foot and picked up some stuff to cook: orzo, black beans, mixed veggies, tuna. nothing fancy, but always hits the spot.

rather mellow day. nice easy ride, new state line, quiet town.

today: 51 miles
to date: 2097

Day 39 - Day Off in Jasper, MO

spending the day with my good friends Randy and Reina. Reina and I first met racing at Ironman Arizona 2005, have raced together at other events, and have been buds all along. the TransAm route just happened to go by within a mile of their farm near Jasper, so how fortuitous was that to be able to visit, especially for a planned day off, in iffy weather, no less ! Reina is an attorney and was at work. Randy raises cattle, so we spent the day with him as he tended to his cattle spread out over MANY acres ! visited his mom, Mary, who fixed up an awesome treat of fresh strawberries to go with this killer homemade bread/crust. YUM ! took care of bike maintenance before diving into a great dinner of steaks and salad. really appreciate home cooking when it comes rarely these days. what a great joy to be able to visit such fun and hospitable friends. thus, Reina and Randy get this tour's Best Host award !!

today: 0 miles

Day 38 - Jasper, MO

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !!!

took our time getting going today. a bit cloudier today, but the winds were out of the east. TAILWINDS today !

randy had told us about a diner in Golden City, a small town on the way to their house. cookie's diner is apparently legendary in these parts, especially for theIr pies. so, we stopped in to check it out. ended up eating 2 slices of yummy apple pie, and we left with 2 pies for our hosts; a cherry pie and a mix of choclate/pecan, apple and peach crumb. fucking fabulous pies !!!

with the short ride and the tailwind, we got to reina and randy's quickly. the route has continued to flatten as we head toward kansas, so for now, the tough hills are behind us.

reina greeted us at their cattle ranch. a hot shower and a chance to do laundry was welcome, not to mention the chance to visit with good friends while resting and waiting out incoming bad weather.

today: 48
to date: 2046