Day 29: Eureka, KS to Newton, KS

June 30, 2006

74.17 Miles, 6:14:41 Ride Time, 11.99 Average Speed, 26.5 Maximum Speed

I got an early start, riding out around 6:30. I continued on US 54, but it wasn't busy this early in the morning. It was nice and cool, quite a contrast from the furnace-like wind yesterday afternoon.

I stopped in the little town of Rosalia after about 18 miles. There wasn't much in the town except for the consolidated high school, a few houses, and the Old Hat restaurant. I stopped at the Old Hat for a breakfast of pancakes and bacon. I was the only customer in the place, and listened while the nice lady making my breakfast (I can't remember her name, unfortunately) told me about the history of the town. I looked at the cyclist log book, and noticed that I was the first rider in the restaurant this morning.

While I was eating, a guy came in to buy some cigarettes, and told the lady to "put it on my account" - I guess this is the kind of laid-back place where you can just run a tab at the local restaurant/country store.

The next 17 miles, north from Rosalie to Cassoday, was a great ride, with the tailwind that I've experienced in Kansas each of the all-too-rare times I've headed north. Somewhere on this stretch of road, I realized that I didn't have my sort-of-expensive sunglasses. I suppose it was only a matter of time before I finally lost them; somebody had probably already found them sitting on the picnic table outside the place in Eureka where I had a milkshake yesterday. At least I didn't buy the expensive, $100+ pair; I spent "only" $60 on these...

I road into Cassoday (pop. 130), where I was greeted by a large sign announcing the town's claim to fame: "Cassoday: Prairie Chicken Capital of the World". I knew that coming up was a 38 mile section from Cassoday to Newton with no services, so I stopped at the Cassoday Country Store and bought several Little Debbie cakes, four gatorades, and a pair of $6 sunglasses to replace the $60 ones that I had lost. I packed the snacks and gatorades in my panniers, and headed off on what my map called "150th Street."

"Street" seemed an odd way to describe nearly 40 miles of rough country road, with absolutely nothing except fields and an occasional house. This may have been the loneliest stretch of riding I had done on the trip yet. I knew that these long rides between towns would become more frequent in the next days, as I travelled farther west.

Around ten miles after turning onto "150th Street", Kyle French and Ryan Hill caught up with me. They had camped in Cassoday the night before, and had made their usual mid-morning start. I was surprised they had found a place to camp in Cassoday; I hadn't seen a likely place to spend the night when I stopped for supplies earlier.

It was fun riding with these guys for a while, although I knew I was slowing them down; they were riding unloaded bikes, and I was carrying 40 pounds of stuff; also, I had already ridden 50 miles this morning. Before they pulled away from me, we met Doug Wiley, and talked to him for a while. He noticed that I had the panel for the current section of the map in my handlebar map case, where I could see it at all times. He kidded me about this, because this section of the map is basically a straight line, and the directions are to simply "continue on the road" for 22.5 miles. I suppose it would be hard to get lost on this section, but I was taking no chances ;)

About 15 miles before I reached Newton, I suddenly felt weak, and had to stop. I ate all of the snacks, and drank most of the gatorade, that I had bought back in Cassoday. I felt better in a few minutes, and was reminded once again how important it is (at least for me) to eat frequently on a trip like this.

It was now early afternoon as I crossed into Harvey County, where the condition of the road suddenly improved, and the traffic increased. It had gotten very hot - the wind in my face felt like a furnace. I arrived at the outskirts of Newton (pop. 17,190) near I-135. At 74 miles, I decided I had done enough for the day, and stopped at the Days Inn. The motel was next to the interstate, fast food places, and a large truckstop. I was struck by the contrast between tiny Eureka and the modest Blue Stem motel, where I had stayed yesterday, and this busy, impersonal place.

After I checked into my room, I got a call from Ryan Hill; he and the other guys were at the KFC near my motel. I walked over, and talked to them for a while. They were just taking a break at the KFC, and were going to continue riding, talking of doing a 100 mile day; I couldn't imagine riding another 60 miles in the afternoon heat, but then they were 20 years younger... They very kindly gave me some of their powdered gatorade, and an extra jersey they had (I had told them earlier in the day how one of mine had badly shrunk when I over-dried it).

Later on I walked a few blocks into town and had dinner at a steakhouse. By the time I finished my meal, it had cooled down slightly, so I walked behind my motel and checked out the truckstop. I walked past a tractor trailer labelled "Trucker's Chapel", then went into the store at the truckstop and bought some overpriced toothpaste and snacks.

After I went back to my room, I read my complimentery, motel-supplied copy of USA Today for a while, then went to bed fairly early.