Today, I knew, was going to be a short day. It was also the latest I started riding. Today was also the day that I shipped home my warm weather gear that rarely got use in the mountains. It was a short day because east of Newton there are no services for 72 miles. It was logical to stop here for the night.
For the most part the roads were deserted, which was good because there were no shoulders. But when I did see cars they gave me plenty of room. At one point I stopped to measure the corn growing in an adjacent field and it was well past my height of 5’10”.
Along this section of the journey there were more windbreaks, either created by trees alongside the road, or the corn on steroids. In a few places the road was actually shaded by trees. I had not seen that since Idaho. It was another flat day. I am not bored of the flatness yet, but I would like to feel some tailwinds through Kansas. However, I am resigned that Kansas will be remembered by me for the headwinds. Which leads to an interesting point in that some of the westbound riders I encountered a few weeks ago complained of the headwinds they faced for the entire length of the state. One guy said he was about to quit the ride because the headwinds were so fierce but could not find a bus, train, plane or rental car to get off the road. Another guy said he could only muster speeds of 5 to 6 mph for a few days. Well I am doing better than that, but headwinds are tiring.
Today’s stats: total mileage 49.42 miles (I told you it was short); average speed 12.6 mph; max speed 18.8 mph; total elevation gain 371 feet; total elevation loss 358 feet.