Day Twenty-eight

It would have been a lot smaller parade if the fire dept. hadn't participated.

We had the whole park to ourselves at SAG #2 in Eskridge.

Joy and Pam "ice cream loading" for the final push.

Bipartisan seating at the Dover Country Store.

Bicycle art or former ABB riders who stopped to ask for water?

Team Scott & Larry together again for 108 miles!

Proof that Don Fair was really in Kansas.

Oh beautiful for spacious skies

Particularly if they don’t contain rain and we were very lucky today. Some riders missed all the rain and the worst was maybe 20 minutes of light to moderate but we were already so soaked with sweat from the humidity that it didn’t really matter. I was drenched the entire day and I’ve never seen beads of sweat like that on my arms despite the strong breezes.

It was a long day in the saddle and we were moving mostly east and a bit north. We’ve learned that the prevailing winds in Kansas are from the south. The natives say it’s because “Oklahoma blows and Nebraska sucks” but whatever the reason it’s pretty clear when you see which way the trees and telephone poles lean from the constant beating. Today the wind was sometimes our friend and sometimes our nemesis. Fortunately, in the last 30 miles, when we really needed help it was more of a plus than a minus.

I started the day with Robb, Lester, and Larry Johnson. We’re well into the beautiful rolling hills now so those wheel suckers were happy to sit back and let me pull their sorry butts to within 10 miles of the first SAG in White City when Robb and Lester moved out with Wild Thing and John Hurley as they cruised by.

We all rejoined at the SAG where we got to watch some of the Independence Day parade in White City (pop 518). Lester got more than his share of the thrown candy and we had to finally pull him away so the local kids could share in the fun.

We stayed together to the second SAG in Eskridge (pop 589) and I was thinking I was feeling pretty good with 35 miles to go. Shortly out of Eskridge Robb and Lester were stepping it up and I was noticing that good old Larry seemed to be struggling. This guy never struggles so I knew he was hurting. Larry and I stayed together and stopped at the general store in Dover because we noticed the ABB van parked outside and we knew Girard was probably having some pie. Larry and I had root beer floats and that helped us through the final 15 miles.

Meanwhile Robb and Lester took a wrong turn and ended up having to get on I-70 to get to Topeka with an extra seven ugly miles. I promised Madeleine that I’d look after him but I don’t know what I’m going to do if he keeps riding off like this. Maybe I’ll have to get one of those leashes like the lady back at SFO suggested weeks ago. Hopefully he’s learned his lesson.

In a previous posting I mentioned that some people in our group are riding for charity. One of those is Don Fair, a retired school administrator, from Maryland who decided that he just couldn’t ride across the country without using it as an opportunity to raise money for World Bicycle Relief, an organization that is trying to change the world by introducing practical bicycle transportation to empower people. In Africa a bicycle opens new horizons allowing people to travel to school and work. You can learn more about the organization at: http://worldbicyclerelief.org/ . And you can make a donation in Don’s name by clicking on the Team World Bicycle Relief option under the DONATE button. He’s closing in on his $5000 goal.

Today’s ratings: (the higher the better or easier)

Scenery: 8

Road conditions: 8

Grunt factor: 4

The Garmin file includes Robb and Lester's little diversion.