It was a long riding day, but I think it will be a short journal entry day! It was another hot one, with more of those 2 to 3% non-hills in the first 20 miles of the ride.The wind continues to come out of the southwest, which is mainly a side-wind as I'm traveling west. There were times that it felt like a headwind, and I had a marvelous 15 miles with a tailwind as I headed north for a bit. The temperature? My bike computer said it was 110 degrees at one point. That's in the sun (of course), so it's not the official recorded temperature. The weather station said the highs in the area ranged from 100 to 105, but with the humidity the heat index was above 110. Tomorrow is supposed to be a match for today. I'm planning a short ride for tomorrow, and I'll just keep hoping that the next day will be a little cooler.
I stopped to stretch relatively early in my ride. A man from Yates Center stopped to make sure that I was OK, and we talked for about 15 minutes. He was headed to Witchita to watch his son in a baseball tournament. He works for the Kansas Highway Patrol, and told me that he saw me yesterday in Eureka. Guess the bike and trailer combination makes me easily recognizable!
I pulled into Rosalia and stopped for my usual recycling / refueling. The route went north from there to Cassoday, then west to Newton. There were no services on the road from Cassoday to Newton, which was close to 40 miles. The road looked pretty desolate heading north from Rosalia, so I asked the people in the cafe about it. They confirmed that the road north and the road west to route 77 were pretty desolate, with only a few houses. I decided to continue west on US 54 to El Dorado. I knew that there were places to stay in El Dorado which gave me an out if I decided it was too hot to continue to ride. I arrived in El Dorado and decided to continue on to Newton. There was still a 40 mile stretch with no services, but US 54 and US 77 were both good riding roads. I had lunch and stocked up on water and Gatorade before I left El Dorado. If it wasn't for the heat it would have been a very reasonable ride. With the heat, it was a little longer than I liked. I'm tired tonight, and I think that more from the heat (well OK, riding in the heat) than from the ride itself.
I crossed paths with 2 Transam west to east riders from Kirkland, WA who were headed to Cassoday to camp in the city park tonight. We chatted for a while, then they headed east to camp and I headed west to find an air-conditioned motel room. Normally I hate air conditioning, but on this trip it has definitely been the way to go.
When I was checking into the motel, I asked if they had either AAA or AARP discounts. There was a man standing next to me at the desk who looked at me and said "That AARP card can't be yours". I reminded him that you can join at 50. I almost threw the application out when it showed up in the mail just before my 50th birthday, but then I remembered that they get good discounts!
My planned short day tomorrow isn't really because of the weather, although that's a great excuse. The next towns with places to stay are spread out in a somewhat strange pattern. It would be nice if there were places to stay every 50 to 60 miles, but there isn't really anything for quite a while after tomorrow's stop. I can use a short day though, so I have no complaints!
I think this tree is a good statement about the prevailing wind direction in Kansas. I was facing west when I took the picture, and the winds were coming from the south (and maybe a little west). It's not often that you see trees growing in the direction of the wind.
Hot, hot, hot... my bicycle computer claims the temperature is 109 degrees!
