DAY 39: Larned to Newton: "Wind, wind, go away. Or at least please turn the other way"

July 7, 2016

DAILY STATS

Mileage: 105.16

Average Speed: 10.3 mph (more on this in a bit)

Maximum Speed: 19 mph

Let me put today into perspective for you. I started biking at 7:30am. By 2pm, I had only covered 45 miles and averaged 8.4 mph. The wind was directly out of the east.

These are the days that are hard to convey in writing. Winds are so disheartening.

At one point, I just screamed to get the frustration out. It helped. I also started to play a game. I would look down and see how long I could ride while only watching the road and white line. The furthest I went was 6 minutes, before I accidently went through a four way intersection. Oops.

I saw a lot of this today. Too much of it, in fact.

This sign was a blessing. For 58 miles there were no services, and I ran out of water with 25 miles to go. Thank you Kansas!

What else is there to do but pedal? So pedal I did. I finished "On the Road" and started a new audiobook that my aunt sent me: "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. I'm hooked.

At the next town the winds became pretty neutral. So I pushed on to Newton, where I had a warmshower willing to host me.

Kansas hospitality is doing a good job at mitigating the monotony of the plains.

I plowed on through more farmland, which became increasingly pretty. Flooded corn fields, big gleaming water towers, etc. THIS was the Kansas I was expecting.

I waddled up into my warmshower, butt and legs sore, where I was greeted with a shower, dinner, and incredible Midwestern hospitality. Thank you Orvin and Janet! More on them in tomorrow's blog. For now, it's off to bed. I'm grateful to have made it so far!

Today's ride: 105 miles (169 km)
Total: 2,651 miles (4,266 km)

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