July 3, 2006
Day 32: Larned, KS to Ness City, KS
68.14 Miles, 4:52:21 Ride Time, 14.17 Average Speed, 27.50 Maximum Speed
I rode out of the parking lot of the motel fairly early and headed downtown to get back on the route. Larned still looked good to me this morning - I'm not sure why I was so enamored of the place...
I rode west for the first 20 miles or so, into winds blowing out of the southwest, as usual. I stopped briefly at Fort Larned National Historic Site, but the visitor center wasn't open yet, so I took a few pictures of the buildings, and left.
Eventually I turned right onto US 183, and rode north for 19 miles. Now the winds were (mostly) behind me, and I flew. It was still mostly flat, there was very little traffic, and it was cool and overcast - all of this would contribute to this being the first day on the trip that I averaged more than 14 miles per hour.
The ride on 183 was fun, and I was a little sad when I reached Rush Center (pop. 176), where I was to continue west. When I pulled into the little gas station there, I met Oliver, a 30ish eastbounder who was travelling by himself. We talked for a while, and I was interested to learn that even though he had hiked the Appalachian Trail (something I find hugely impressive), he was finding the cycling physically demanding.
I rode west on SR 96, which, according to my maps, I would stay on until Pueblo, Colorado. This could get monotonous, I thought to myself. It was looking increasingly cloudy when I met Bill Wolfsen, who was riding west-to-east. He was pulling the first Burley Nomad trailer that I had seen on the trip - unlike the more common BOB trailers, this one has two wheels. He was probably carrying more gear than anyone I had met so far - including a solar panel and charging exquipment on top of the trailer! Also, he was camping almost exclusively. Pretty impressive for a 64-year-old, I thought to myself.
It sprinkled on me for a minute, but by the time I reached Alexander (pop. 75), it had stopped. Alexander was another Kansas ghost town - but it did have a brand new-looking rest area with nice restrooms. I spent a few minutes there filling my water bottles and looking at the large map of Kansas on the wall inside the rest area.
Eight miles down the road from Alexander, I stopped in Bazine, which was supposed to have a few services. I walked inside the gas station to find nothing on the shelves, and a sign that read "For Sale - Make Offer" - I only wanted to buy a cold drink, not the entire store, so I left and rode the twelve miles to Ness City.
Ness City (pop. 1,543) was disappointing (especially after Larned) - probably the least-appealing (non ghost-)town I had seen in Kansas so far. Half of the businesses (including the restaurants) seemed to have closed early for Independence Day. The only motel looked run-down. I had to ride through some dusty construction to get to the city park, which had no shade, and which was staffed with sullen teenagers. No other cyclists were camping in the park, and there was no way I was staying there by myself, so I rode back through the construction area to reassess the motel situation.
I passed a yellow house where I noticed a sign reading "Elite Suites". I called the number on the sign, and learned that I could rent one of the "suites" for $65 a night. This was more than I wanted to spend, but the motel (which was just up the street) still looked unappealing, so I told the lady on the phone that I was interested.
She arrived in about 10 minutes and showed me around. It was an older house that had been remodeled (actually, as she explained, it was still a work-in-progress) to contain one rental apartment downstairs and two suites upstairs. I got a bedroom, bathroom, living room (with recliner and couch and television) and kitchen for my $65. This was more space than I needed, but would be a good deal for two or three cyclists passing through.
By now, the only places in town still open were a dairy bar and a convenience store. I got a milkshake, drank it, then walked over to the convenience store to get a frozen pizza and some chips. It was really hot by now, and I was glad that I had stopped for the day, even if it was in Ness City (the next town was Dighton, 30 miles away - way too far for me to ride in the late afternoon heat).
I ate my dinner in the kitchen at the Elite Suites, and watched the end of The Wizard of Oz and the beginning of The Wiz on cable before I went to bed early (it was still light out). I had more trouble than usual sleeping - I woke up several times in the night for some reason.
Today's ride: 68 miles (109 km)
Total: 2,059 miles (3,314 km)
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