Today is the second day that I started to feel humidity. It is also the day I crossed the 100th meridian, which is an approximate line between western Kansas (semi-arid high plans) and central Kansas (semi-humid lowlands). It may not mean much but it does. The landscape is not as arid. The farmland is more productive and crops are actually growing. Trees reappear. There is also a decrease in elevation. Today was the first day I was below 2000 feet above sea level since a very brief time in Idaho, but other than that it was the first day out of Eugene, Oregon.
Another day of headwinds but it was also the first time I ran into westbound TransAm riders in a few days. First their was Robin a retired foreign service employee that is riding east to west for the second time in two years. Last year during covid she rode east to west along the northern route. This year it is the TransAm route, which is longer and Robin said is more difficult. She did say that she was averaging over 20 mph with the tailwinds and I was struggling to get to 13.5 mph because of the headwinds. Thanks Robin! Next I came across Tyler and Sarah, friends from New Jersey. They left Yorktown, VA on June 20th and it made me wonder if that meant I have only 30 more days to go. Finally, I encountered a group of over 10 young adults riding as in a peloton but fully loaded. What they didn’t see was the storm behind them.
It was still 5 miles to Ness City, KS and for me it was a race. Who was going to get to Ness City first, me or the storm? I made it to the city moments before the storm started. I was directed to take shelter in the Baptist Church if it was open. It was and I stayed there for 2 hours until 3:30 pm.
Once the storm was over it was back on the bike and trying to make it to Alexander, KS. Now the headwinds were very strong. I am not sure of the weather phenomenon but the storm was heading east, I was heading east, but the ground level winds were from the east and moving west fast.
Instead of stopping in Alexander I decided to push onto to La Crosse, KS for two reasons. First, if I stopped here I would have another 120 mile day to Hutchinson, KS where I wanted to be the next night. Also Tyler and Sarah said that there was a $35 hotel in La Crosse. That was cheaper than some of the hostels that I had previously stayed in.
Today’s stats: total mileage 92.72 miles; average speed 12.6 mph; maximum speed 19.1 mph; total elevation gain 456 feet; elevation descent 712 feet.