September 10, 2019
Day 3
Today started out early after a frustrating previous evening of no internet service. Left Stafford at about 7:30 this morning and headed for Huchinson. There was a decent overcast again this morning, so I did not have the sun in my eyes until about 8:30. Once I got to Reno County, where Huchinson is located, I noticed a distinct, but slight, downhill to the highway. The area between Stafford and Huchinson must be getting more than their fair share of the rain this spring and summer. The ditches alongside the highway had water in them, and there were hundreds of dead frogs along the shoulder. Did not want to run over them!
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Got to Huchinson in about three hours, a 46 mile ride. I am very pleased how my "cheater" (Bafang e-assist unit) is working. Makes me feel like a young man again. When I got back on the highway in Huchinson, I saw more shredded tire debris than I did dead frogs. Once out of the general area, I started seeing the frog remains again. I did chance to see a live frog today, he had made it all the way across the highway and got across an 8 foot wide shoulder in about 2 hops. Those frogs can really hop.
I had forgotten how loud concrete pavement is compared to asphalt. In the Hutchinson area, the highway was concrete for a ways. Cars make enough noise as it is, but the 18 wheelers make as much noise with their tires on concrete as they do with their exhaust.
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Seems like my training has been good enough, because after the first day, going for long stretches in the saddle has not been tiresome. I really did not feel whooped when I got to Newton. The motel has a guest laundry facility, so my road clothes are getting a proper laundering.
As for tomorrow, I had originally thought about riding to Cottonwood Falls, but I will wait and see how I am feeling when I get in that area. If it is a repeat of today, I may head on to Emporia. I was planning to make that a two day stop so I could visit some of the bike shops there, but with the predicted storm front heading this way and due to arrive sometime on Thursday, I may want to be safely ensconced well before the storm front shows up. I have already been caught out in the rain once, and would rather not do that again any time soon. The threat of rain can really encourage a person not to mess around along the way. I did not take many photos today, because the highway and the landscape look about the same as yesterday, but without the windmills.
Today's ride: 74 miles (119 km)
Total: 185 miles (298 km)
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