June 19, 2021
Day 38 - Scott city, KS to Sheridan Lake, CO
We aren't in Kansas anymore
I woke up today and had the worst congestion. I could barely sleep because of drainage. We got up at 5 tho and drank some coffee and had some fruit while we packed up. Again, we left just before Connor and it was barely light out.
The wind had changed direction overnight and was blowing south west, so we got a bit of a tail wind. We were cruising around 13 and came up on a giant feed lot on the right side. It went on for about a mile and I thought I was going to die. I pulled my shirt over my face, but it didnt help much.
Finally clear of it, we made good time to Leoti where we met Mark and made a almond butter wrap. We all took off and pretty soon after, the tailwind picked up and started blowing straight west. We were riding around 20 mph for a long time and the truck wind didn't even bother us. Alot of the trucks passed kindly today and it was feeling great. There was alot of overcast sky behind us making it less hot as well. When we got to tribune, around 50 miles in, we talked to a local who had ridden from Kansas to Yellowstone and back in the 60s. I can't imagine what that was like back then, but he was really cool. He told us to hit the grocery store there before we got to Sheridan lake, because there is nothing in Sheridan lake (pop 86). We also had some guy come up and apologize for passing us so closely. I didn't know what he was driving, but he said he couldn't see over the hill, so he was a bit close to us. I don't think drivers consider slowing down... I didn't know what to say to him except it was ok? I didn't want to start anything really.
We kept on for about 10 more miles and passed into Colorado! You can't stay long at the sign because the horse flies.
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Eventually we hit Sheridan lake around 1 and nice we also gained an hour in the time change. We saw mark outside the church and got the tour. It's a modest church in an extremely small town. We were glad to have bought spaghetti stuff earlier, because there is no food here at all. We considered trying to go further than Sheridan lake, but figured we might as well stop and rest. Connor made it in around 2, and said he met someone on the road and that they were going to push on to eads. It was weird because he said earlier he might take a rest day at the church here, but he got a wild hair from the tailwind. We also considered it, but it would mean camping in a city park unless you got lucky at a church. We didn't want to risk sitting in the heat so we stayed. I would bet we will all see each other again in ordway tomorrow, where there is another church. We cooked spaghetti and showered off with a hose. The horse flies here are outrageous and it was tough to hose off quick enough. The church was also having a food drive today, so pretty soon, a ton of church members showed up with truckloads of food for community members. It wasn't a quiet afternoon, but it was interesting to see what the locals do in a town this small. Basically they just hang out at the church in the AC and kill horse flies. So around 4 they cleared out and we hoped there wasn't choir practice tonight...
Around 7 it started raining and people showed up for choir practice, as promised. It's great to have churches to sleep in for free, but usually you aren't the only one there. Hopefully it doesn't last too long. We are also glad we didn't go further since you would probably be sitting in a hot tent during the storm.
We are all so glad to be out of Kansas and on towards cooler weather. Todays conditions felt like we beat the Kansas boss over the last few days and now we are free to move onto bigger and better things.
Mileage:77
Altitude gain:1700
Today's ride: 77 miles (124 km)
Total: 2,077 miles (3,343 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 5 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |