Day 8 - ending near Herington, KS - Diversion into Kansas

August 21, 2016

Day 8 - ending near Herington, KS

Posted via email Mon Aug 22 07:13:02 2016 PDT

A rooster somewhere nearby convinced me to get up at 4:43am. On to report writing. Took a break from that at 8:50am for breakfast, over at the park's pavilion. It's such a beautiful morning! No sign of Camp Cat, however.

I completed all the morning chores, and was leaving at 10:33am. West and north on a short gravel road got me back to US-56. I'd thought about taking a country road at least to Allen up ahead, but I had a ways to go - to Lake Herington, west of Herington - and gravel roads are slower.

At 11:11am, I passed Allen. I detoured one block to see their re-purposed school building. During a water bottle refill stop at Road K (at 11:30am), I noticed the screw for the brake arm bracket was loose. Tightened that and checked axle nuts.

Noon mileage report (recorded at 12:05pm): 8.4 miles.

There had been some hills this morning, but on this highway, their grade is just right for me. I took a break at 12:33pm where the highway crosses Bluff Creek. The PN-60 GPS needed a battery change.

There was a shoulder for US-56 in Morris County. Not real wide, but enough for a bicycle. Passed by the county's noxious weed department. I know one weed I'd put on their list!

Arrived at the city limits for Council Grove at 1:59pm. Slow going through town, due to so much history to see. Halfway through town, I stopped at their Dairy Queen for lunch. That was good! Left at 3:08pm. Crossed over the Neosho River, and continued west through downtown, past more historic buildings.

My map indicated that there might be fewer hills ahead, and that was the case. Around 3:50pm, I saw in the distance on the other side of the road, the outline of a touring cyclist. Turns out it was two cyclists on a tandem, pulling a trailer. They pulled over where there was a spot, and I got to meet Gail and Annie Schweizer. They are on a cross-country tour, and this is their first tour! They first asked if I had ridden the Katy Trail, and if I knew a good way to it from the west. They're hoping to avoid some of the Ozark's up-and-downs, and I agreed riding the Katy would be a good way to do that, but I didn't know how to get there from here.

I asked if they were keeping an on-line journal for their trip. They are! Annie gave me one of their cards. It's at the CGOAB website, address www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/annieandgail.

Gail was interested in my bike (finally, someone!), and checked it out, asking lots of questions.

It's fun talking to fellow touring bicyclists, but when it's talking at the side of the road, both parties have destinations to get to. So, after picture-taking, we headed off in our opposite directions. Best wishes to you, Gail and Annie!

Easy late-afternoon riding for me. I stopped at a Santa Fe Trail marker, then a little later passed on the opportunity to see some trail ruts 0.7 mile away.

Passed the turn-off to Wilsey at 4:56pm, and stopped for a break in Delavan at 5:55pm. It was there that I noticed there is something wrong with the connector on the bike's generator. The terminal is loose, like it's broken inside. I'd been running all day with the generator engaged, since I wasn't sure I'd have electricity tonight. I plugged in my voltmeter, and read 12.1 volts! The generator wasn't working! I disengaged it. Maybe I can fix it at camp. There's getting to be a list of things I'd work on, if I had the bike back in my garage.

Arrived in Herington at 6:47pm. A straight line west on the south side of town would get me to the park. But due to no crossings at railroad tracks, I had to detour into town. There I found a nice new bridge for getting over the tracks. West, then south bought me to the lake, and a "Camp Host" sign at 7:15pm.

Camp Host Dave showed me camping spots on the map, explained that there is no water here (though he has some cached away for bicyclists), and told me about the apparatus in the lake that feeds fish dry dog food! Dave was mindful that I had things to do, but I kept asking him questions, since his stories were interesting to me.

I finally said good-bye, and made it to the camping area at 7:45pm. Done setting up at 8:30pm.

Inside the tent, I checked out Gail and Annie's journal: "The Tandem that could". It's so interesting, I spent too much time reading parts of it, when I should have been writing my own day's entry.

No 120-volt electricity here, so I'm planning to charge the smartphone with the 5-volt battery block I have with me. After that, it looks like I'll be pretty much out of juice. Those concerns - and my journal entry - will have to wait until the morning. I'm tired. Good night.

Jeff

Spent: $11.21 (lunch) + $5 (campsite) = $16.21.

Day 8 - Admire, KS to Herington, KS

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+ plus signs indicate pictures added after returning home from the trip +