Day 30: Newton, KS to Sterling, KS

July 1, 2006

66.45 Miles, 5:13:20 Ride Time, 12.99 Average Speed, 24.9 Maximum Speed

Despite my best intentions, I didn't get out as early as I had hoped. The last two days it had gotten extremely hot by 2:00 in the afternoon, and a 6:00 (or earlier) start would have been more sensible than the 8:00 am that I actually achieved. I hadn't washed any clothes the previous afternoon, so I wore my "extra" pair of shorts, that I like the least - my one pair of tight, padded lycra shorts. I actually find these less comfortable than my loose touring shorts, and I'm certainly more self-conscious wearing them. I wore the jersey that Mark, Ryan and Kyle had given me, which was more form-fitting, and covered with advertising. I looked like the stereotypical bicyclist today.

I had stayed the night on the outskirts of town by the interstate, so I took my time as I rode through downtown Newton, looking at the old buildings, and, as an experiment, stopping for an iced cafe mocha at a trendy-looking coffee shop. It was ok, but I decided that I preferred a diet Pepsi to start the day. Newton seemed like a nice town, and I felt a mild regret that I hadn't spent more time looking around yesterday evening.

The wind was blowing out of the southwest, as it had for the last few days, so I had a tailwind as I rode north to Hesston (pop. 3,509). That ended after five and half miles, however, as I turned west again toward Buhler. On the way to Buhler I met Michael and Kristin, a couple from Hawaii riding east. They told me they were doing 90+ mile days, and camping most of the time. They were apparently doing a lot of cooking as well, since Kristin had a very heavy-looking metal pot strapped to the back of her bike.

I was ready for lunch as I approached Buhler (pop. 1,385), so I rode through town looking for place to stop until I saw Joey's Diner. I had a chicken sandwich and fries while I talked to some of the old guys who always seem to frequent these places. One of them was a cyclist, and he had lots of questions about my trip. He said he would like to do something similar, but his wife wouldn't let him...

I rode another 18 miles west to the next town, Nickerson (pop. 1,194, but it seemed smaller than that), where I made a Gatorade stop at a convenience store. Some sort of septic-system-related accident had apparently just occurred in the store, so I didn't linger there long.

By now it was hot, and the wind seemed even stronger, so I decided to stop for the day in Sterling, about thirteen miles away, and off the route by a few miles. I realized what a difference the wind makes when I turned north for the last few miles to Sterling - I suddenly went from 10 mph to more than 20.

Sterling (pop. 2,642) was a neat little town. I stopped at the one and only motel as I road into town, and talked for a few minutes to the youngish manager and his wife, who were sitting outside the office. They offered me the "house special" - a room with a single bed for $31. I was dazzled by the low price, and told them I'd take it, but that I wanted to look around town first.

I rode down the main street, noting the restaurant options, and then rode to the town park (where most of the town's people seemed to be). It was one of the nicer small-town parks I had seen - shady, with a lake and pool. Once I verified that no other cyclists were camping there, I rode back to the motel, where I got a key to my room and felt a certain amount of regret when I saw just how small and basic it was. It was the smallest motel room I had ever seen; I actually had trouble getting my bicycle into the room.

I got cleaned up, rode around town a little more, then stopped for an early dinner at Paddy's Restaurant, which a couple of local people had recommended. I was the only customer in the place at 4:45 (I got there even before the senior citizens arrived), and I had nice conversation with the young owner and his wife while I ate my hamburger and fries (very good), and chocolate pie (also good - the owner told me it was the first chocolate pie he had ever made).

Having seen most (if not all) that Sterling had to offer, I went back to the motel and did some laundry ($3 including the detergent and the use of the washer and dryer). It was still early, but it was so hot that I just went back to my room and watched the most television since the beginning of the trip - one of the cable channels was apparently showing every episode of a cancelled situation comedy called "Grounded for Life", and I'm ashamed to admit that I spent my saturday night watching about five hours of it.

My sleeping bag made a rare appearance after I decided, upon a closer inspection of the bedsheets, to sleep in it (on top of the mattress).