Day 28 – Abilene, KS to Topeka, KS via the Flint Hills 28 Jun 2014

Map and Pics:  Click Here for Map and Pics.

Miles 1940 to 2049, 109 miles (fifth century), 3300 feet of climb officially, really 113 miles with 4331 feet of climbing due to a challenging detour, max speed: 36 mph, avg speed 13 mph



The Flint Hills of Kansas



Two quick explanations for not posting: Poor internet at the hotel and I don’t take pictures during thunderstorms. The wet also made the colors come alive. I have never seen such green green as what I beheld coming through the Flint Hills. People here must be very forgiving of weathermen. We now have had two days in Kansas where the forecast has been totally wrong. Before was the full day of sleet (forecasting 10% chance of rain only in the morning). Today we were supposed to have rain worsening into severe storms all day. It rained only about half the time and the nothing other than random lightning strikes hindered our trip. It was cool and for the most part, great weather for riding, and for turtles. Lots of big turtles warming their bellies on the asphalt.

Sometimes I am just lucky. Just after the storm broke this morning about six of us pulled off the road in a (rare) cement driveway just south of Enterprise, KS. The owner of the home came out to visit and to ask us what we were up to. He too was a weekend biker and was interested in our stories. I just happened to notice as we were riding up to his place that a portion of his pasture may have another purpose. I asked him if by chance if that was a grass runway on his north 40. He said yes, and I asked the second question if the barn in the back by chance was a hanger. Yes again; there were four planes in that hanger. One of the other riders, who knows aircraft took the conversation from there. The man commutes to his work in Omaha, Nebraska. This prize farm in the Flint Hills of Kansas had been in his family for generations (of pilots) and he could not part with it. What an interesting conversation.

Water Tower, Woodbine, KS

The gem of the day was Woodbine, KS, and I wished I had more time to explore it. Approaching from the west the town looks like it’s on its last legs, but as we headed east towards the river, the houses started to look more lived in and the streets were decorated with flags. The only paved street was the main highway we were on, but a couple of the dirt roads pointed south towards an old business district, complete with hitching posts. In the middle of the street in the center of town was the flagpole. There was nothing old about ‘old glory’ on the pole either, new, as if today was the 4th of July. I wanted to ask somebody how the town got its name, but the rain kept the streets vacant. I guess nobody wanted to put new ruts in their streets, earn the title of the village idiot, nor wash the mud off their car later.

We knew the weather had been bad, but we didn’t expect to have a bridge washed out. The AbB worked hard to come up with Plan B, prepare new clue sheets, and send us on our way without missing a beat. Actually, when I saw the hills that Plan B featured, my heart did lose a few beats. Last night after hearing my concern about my left leg, Franz, one of the Flying Dutchmen, gave me a strategy for saving my knees. Today I was able to implement the new strategy and it really helped. I’m walking, but I certainly have a new set of muscles that are complaining. Basically it is converting from ‘mashing’ the pedals to ‘spinning’ the pedals. Typically I pedal at 60 rpm and put about 150 pounds of pressure (from my weight) down on each down stroke. The new strategy is to boost my rpm to 90 and drop the down stroke pressure to 100 pounds or less, concentrating on spin, not speed. I had a considerable increase in time in motion today, average slower speed, but I also have knees that will go another day. Two side effects: My heart was not used to the increase for such a long time (8.5 hours), and my hips are complaining. Let them whine.

Bottom Line: Tough century made tougher by a brisk wind, storms, and not a single inch of level ground. The rich beauty of the land more than made up for those inconveniences. I have never seen green so green before.