June 12, 2021
Day 31 - almost Pittsburgh, KS to Chanute, KS
Dicamba country
I slept pretty well, but Mary and Mark didn't fair so well. We aren't sure if it's the heat, my snoring, or the moldy abandoned house. I had a bad runny nose and sneezing while we were packing up but we got out pretty quick and got on the road to Pittsburgh. We crossed into Kansas bit apparently the welcome to Kansas sign was run over, so no formal picture. We made it to a cafe in Pittsburgh to use wifi and eat breakfast. We didn't know where to sleep tonight since the options get pretty thin on Kansas, but I found a host in Chanute, about 60 miles away. He instantly accepted our request and said there are 3 other cyclists also staying the night. We left Pittsburgh, and Although we had plenty of coffee, we were dragging pretty hard. Mark was hit the hardest and we suspect a lack of hydration last night. We weren't psyched to drink abandoned house water. I also think that Kansas/Missouri farm country has poor air quality as well and that may effect things. Between wafts of dicamba (name any other pesticide as well), untreated pig sewage as fertilizer and dusty fields, I don't know how anyone could be healthy here. About once a mile you pass a field that has been sprayed with pig poo and it hits pretty hard. Especially on the uphill with your mouth open. With regard to the wind, it has been different every day, but you can tell that drafting is going to be a huge asset through here.
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About 25 miles past Pittsburgh, we stopped at the Immanuel Lutheran church. This is where we wanted to be last night. We got into the ac and made some spaghetti while mark layed down. The people at the church here are very friendly to cyclists and most everyone on the trail stops in for food, ac and sleep. A couple people ahead of us that we haven't met yet said the storm last night took the power out here. We passed several downed poles and it looks like they just got service back a few hours before we arrived. We made spaghetti and took a short nap before pushing on to Chanute. It was a tough day with the heat. We stopped at a church to hose of with the fold spigot water about half way there. We arrived in Chanute around 5 and hit the Walmart for new inner tubes. Kinda nervous about them but they should work until we get to a real bike shop. Our warm showers host was only a couple miles away. We met Rick out front and he showed us inside and there were already 3bother cyclists: bib from Colorado going east and Jens and Shelly from Oregon heading west. We showered up while Rick made us a great dinner with vegan options.
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We all talked about life on the road and other things, bit no one made it past 9 pm and I definitely could have gone to sleep earlier.
Mileage:68
Altitude gain:?
Today's ride: 68 miles (109 km)
Total: 1,628 miles (2,620 km)
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