I left the warmth and comfort of Elaine's Bike Oasis in Bazine in cold light rain. A dramatic shift in weather had occurred overnight, with a 40 degree drop in temp. The rain put the new raingear to the test and also the fender arrangement on my bike. Stayed dry in rain all day except for my feet. But the rain and wind slowed me down and I set more realistic expectations for distance.
South of Rush Creek Kansas DOT had put fresh pavement down, but with only a 2' shoulder and a rumble strip right in the middle do it. Combined with the North side wind it made for a very tense day of riding with the heavy truck traffic. The cattle truckers are the worst.
Kansas is starting to show a little topography, with some creek gulches and gentle rises between drainages. The first eastern deciduous trees are appearing including green ash, mulberry and hackberry. Corn and soy beans are joining the sorghum and wheat of the high plains.
I stopped to see Fort Larned, a NPS historic site. Very we'll restored original military fort from 1860's. I got in a little early In the town of Larned and due to the continuing rain I decided to motel it and check out the town. The Larned HS Indians were playing the Hoisington HS Cardinals in the opening Friday night game. HS football is a really big deal and there must have been 1000 fans in this town of 3500.
Day 7 started nice and cool and overcast. From Larned I rode due east through a very nice stretch of road with little traffic, including a long stretch of the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, where the USFWS is allowing the short and tall grass prairie to be restored to over 22000 acres. In the middle is a vast wetlands complex with fresh water mixing with salt groundwater, creating much unique habitat for waterfowl.
In Nickerson a guy told me to check out the Kansas State Fair, which had just opened in Hutchinson. Slightly off my route but decided to take it in. On the ride there I was stopped on the road by a cyclist who invited me to stay at the Zion Lutheran Church bike hostel. Turns out the guy who stopped me was the founder of the hostel, which Zion church has been doing for 30 years. Great accommodations except the male in a couple sleeping next to me snored all night. The wife of the couple was a biker friend of Harley Phillips, the hostel founder, but was working at the fair with her family running a food truck that specialized in cinnamon rolls and apple dumplings. They have to work the fair for 10 days straight but they make a big chunk of their annual income doing it.
The fair was like any fair but on a mammoth scale. I walked around checking out show livestock, chickens, vegetables and crops, rides booths and food. I bought some Kansas wildflower honey sample bottles for future road angels and got one ice cream cone. Left Hutchinson relaticvely early as it was Sunday morning and I didn't want to be around when church folks started arriving. The cinnamon roll got me to Newton where I made lunch in a park including hot coffee. Made it this afternoon to a little whole in the wall rail town called Cassoday, with trains rolling by about every 15 minutes on the main line between Wichita and Topeka. A lot of crude oil, grain and cattle cars move through this part of the country. Slept in a town park with water and an electrical outlet, in an understory of Osage orange, black walnut, mulberry and hackberry and a couple big bur oaks.
Averaged about 75 miles/day last 3 days, mostly due to wind but also late afternoon ass fatigue which I hope gets better.
I'm going to post photos separately.
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