Day 31 - ending near Goodland, KS - Tri-points on the Tri-speed

June 13, 2013

Day 31 - ending near Goodland, KS

Posted via email Fri Jun 14 05:07:01 2013 PDT

Thanks to all the birds singing, I was awake at 4:35am (MDT). There was a cold east wind blowing. I went to the pool's restroom/shower house to finish working on the report out of the wind. At 6:00am I returned to the tent to pack up as two women (I'm assuming lifeguards) showed up for early morning swimming. One had come by bicycle (a twenty year-old Huffy), and the other by golf cart. The one on the bicycle stopped by to talk after they were done swimming. She talked about how dry it's been, but at least they're not having dust storms like they did in the fifties and sixties. She told a story about back then when she got caught by a dust storm and had to open the car door to see the road's center stripes as a guide. She said you don't realize how far apart the stripes are until you have to drive like that. I forgot to ask her about a place in town to eat breakfast, and failed in my efforts to find a place, after I left the park at 8:10am.

I ended up at the Cenex/Eagle Travel Stop, where I'd shopped the night before. Had a sausage-egg biscuit, three cookies, and coffee. Since it had worked so well yesterday, before I left I filled my Klean Kanteen with ice water.

I enjoyed my stay in Tribune - the town is very accommodating to touring bicyclists. I cleared the north city limits on KS-27 at 9:00am. My destination today was Smoky Gardens Park south of Goodland. The wind was from the southeast, so going north was easy.

When I got to the Wallace County Line at 10:44am, the road's shoulder disappeared. I stopped to check the water jugs. There's no water at Smoky Gardens Park, and this was the first time I actually carried two gallons of water on the bike (well, a gallon of water and a gallon of tea). The bike seemed to be handling the extra weight without problems. Several days ago I'd lost the strap I use to secure the water jug to the bike. (I didn't lose the jug, thanks to the back-up string - this isn't the first time this has happened.) I had two spare buckles with me, but couldn't find the extra strap material I thought I'd brought along. However, the next day I found some strap material along the side of the road. Enough to make three water jug straps!

I arrived in Sharon Springs - after quite a downhill ride - at 12:19pm. It appears the town has a nice park on its south side, but I didn't stop. Going through town, I didn't find any place to eat. Stopped and checked using the BlackBerry's Poynt app, and saw they're all at the north side of town, along US-40. Stopped at Stephen's Restaurant at 12:34pm. They were very busy, but got to me quickly. I noticed I'm out of the cowboy hat area and in baseball cap territory. I ordered the roast beef dinner, which was very good. Left at 1:42pm, back on KS-27. It got somewhat hilly north of town, but for the most part, the uphills were gradual. I was happy at 4:02pm to be at the Sherman County Line - the road's shoulder reappeared.

At 4:15pm I left KS-27 and turned west on SH-52 (Sherman County Road 52), then north on SH-17. This was the way I'd routed to get to Smoky Gardens Park. It was looking like rain to the west, so I was hoping to get the tent set up and the gear stored before it started. Arrived at the park at 4:40pm. This is another beautiful place in Kansas surrounding a no-water lake. I was happy to see this park has some picnic shelters. Rode all around and at 4:58pm picked a shelter that was blocked somewhat from the strong southeast wind by a line of evergreen trees. Called the Sheriff's Office to let them know I'd be camping here, since I was the only one here. Decided to wait for the storm to pass before setting up the tent. Except the storm didn't get here until 6:30pm. It was mostly a wind event. At 6:55pm there was a little rain. By 7:10pm, it was calm and the birds went back to singing.

Unloaded the bike and replaced one broken spoke. Ate supper at 8:00pm while watching lightning to the north. I was just done with supper when another storm approached. This one was full of strong wind and lightning. Decided I'd better re-load the bike with the gear to keep it from blowing away. I finished just in time. Once again, very little rain. Toward the end of this storm, the wind changed to from-the-east, and blew back much hotter air. Then there was another storm. Kansas weather is a puzzle to me.

Started thinking about leaving the bike loaded and sleeping on the picnic table. I actually did that for a few hours, until 11:35pm, when a Sherman County Deputy (Tony) stopped by. He said the storms blew over a few trees in the park, and he wanted to make sure I was OK. He offered me a ride into town to get a motel room. I told him I was OK here, and all set for an early morning departure. He wished me a safe trip.

Decided to work on the report after that. Some of the writing I did standing outside the restrooms, on the west side, to get out of the east wind. I'm ready for more sleep now, so back to the picnic table.

Jeff

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Spent: $6.81 (breakfast) + $10.64 plus $2 (lunch) = $19.45.

Day 31 - Tribune, KS to Goodland, KS

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