Kansas, Not as Advertised

We had a short talk at the Mennonite church this morning. I spoke with some of the members after the presentation and asked a bunch of questions about their church. Everyone was in plain clothes and it sounds like the church has basically gone mainstream - there are a few individual churches that have broken away and stuck to the more traditional dress, etc. I also learned that the Amish were a break away group from the Mennonites.

We had our last day of riding in Kansas today - and of course, it rained, and we got pretty muddy.
Only 8 of us finished the entire ride because of traffic and rain coming into Kansas City. It was really hilly coming into the city - lots of unexpected climbs. We did get tracked by the NBC helicopter for the evening news which we then later saw which was pretty cool. We're staying at the KU medical center and have an event here tomorrow. The room we're staying in is tiny and smells like people that have been biking in the rain for days.

Why does Kansas hate me?

Every day Kansas has given us a new challenge. At first we had the wind. Then the rain. Today we had over 10 miles of chopped up/stripped road. That's a long time to rattle. I guess all the shaking made my bike computer cables loose. It caught on my pedal and got yanked out. 90 miles can be a while without an odometer.

I like this part of Kansas much more. It looks a little like Bukoba/Uganda and what I would imagine Ireland to look like. Fun, rolling hills.

We're staying in a Mennonite church in Topeka. Topeka looks kind of how you would expect it, maybe smaller.

Kel gave me a haircut. I'll post a picture once I have one.

RAIN

Kansas weather has not been good to us. After a few days of crazy winds, we had our first day of rain today. It started just after we left Lyons. Light, and then constant. It was actually pretty nice to ride in. My biggest complaint was that I had just cleaned my bike last night. Plus, I was riding with Erin who loved being in the rain, so that kept me happy about the ride.

This is a picture of Dave filling water bottles at the first rest stop. After I waited in the van, it was freezing to go back out into the rain. We only lasted a couple of miles though until they pulled us off the road because of lightening. We went and waited out the rest of the thunder/lightening in the town of Lindsborg, which considers itself Little Sweden. It was kind of like Helen in North Georgia.

We dried out for a little in a local church and had some coffee and pastries in town before heading back into the rain which let up after a couple of miles. It was still wet, but not too bad. This part of Kansas is not flat as advertised. Rolling hills actually, but nothing bad. Most of the afternoon was dry - we made it to the school where we are staying in Herington just before it started to rain again. The people at the school where we are staying are really nice and have pointed out the tornado shelters for us.

On Support

I was on support for today's ride. It was about 100 miles in Western Kansas. In one of the first towns we went through, Katie and I pulled over to cheer on the riders. Once I pulled over I looked in my rear view mirror and saw that there was a cop behind me. After getting nervous, it turns out the cop was just checking to make sure I was ok because I had my hazards on and had pulled over. Then we talked about the ride and he was super nice and welcoming. Right after that, this guy with 4 dogs pulled over and was also very nice. Turns out he has a bed and breakfast in that town for cyclists. He had Katie and I come over to see his brand new puppies and meet his wife. If I had been closer to home, I would have taken one of them with me.

Yesterday's break at a donut shop that had run out of donuts.
Hanging out after the ride in the Ness City gym.
At our first rest stop today we ended up stopping at the same spot that the Patriot Guard Riders were meeting up. They are a huge group of motorcyclists that go to the funerals of fallen service men to support the families and block out the protests of WBC and Rev. Phelps. "Reverend" Phelps likes to show up at the funerals to celebrate their deaths because he believes that God killed the service men because they support a country where gays are not persecuted. Phelps was the same guy in NYC that used celebrate the deaths of NYFD and NYPD for the same reasons. Turns out his church is based in Topeka.
To celebrate Cinco de Mayo Eve, our support group made a pinta and had an Oreo lick off at dinner. Fun times in Lyons, KS.

Ness City, KS

So, Kansas is still flat.

There are a lot of smells here - motly of farming and something to do with grain I guess. We've seen a lot of fields and a couple of cow farms. I spent all of today in pace lines which made it easier in the wind and helped pass the time. We went about 80 miles today.

Kansas Wind

I forgot to mention yesterday how flat Easter Colorado is. Lots of nothing for a long time, but for some reason there are a lot of fences. Not really sure what they are keeping in or out.
My favorite part of yesterday was when a giant tumbleweed got caught in my tire while riding. This is actually from today when yet another tumbleweed got caught.
We entered Kansas today about 40some miles into our day, but we ended up not riding. There were crazy winds which really picked up during our lunch break. The rest of today's ride was called off because of the potential danger of riding in such high winds. And when I say winds, I mean serious winds that almost knock you over when standing still. Maybe the only time I've felt such winds are in hurricane type storms.
When we got to the town of Leoti, KS where we are staying we went to the Museum of the Great Plains. They had this list of rules for teachers from 1915 - thought all you teachers would appreciate this.

Denver

Denver has been fun. Fernando came out and picked me up along the ride yesterday. We had Thai yesterday and a good brunch this morning. Yes, food at a table and not cooked for 23 is exciting.

We met up with George this morning. He is a friend/student from Tanzania that just moved here to Denver three months ago. We took him out for some Greek food so that he could experience a different kind of American restaurant. It was nice to see him and meet his kids. It was also great to catch up.
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After hanging out for the day yesterday, Fernando left me back with the team this morning. It was good to see him and hang out for the day. The weather was crazy today. When we left Denver this morning there was a crazy snow storm. Then we got to Eastern Colorado where we were giving a presentation. When we arrived it was hot. When we finished, a crazy wind storm had started and the wind continued for the rest of the day. It was a lot of work to keep riding into the wind.
Chris and Maryanne in the van trying to wait out the wind storm, but the end never came so we biked through it.