Sunflower State of Mind
Day 15 - Greensburg, KS to Maize, KS (112 Miles and 1,000 feet of climbing)
Yesterday, we learned that Kansas was the sunflower state, which we thought was odd because we did not see one sunflower. Today, after seeing numerous farms, cattle feedlots, grain elevators, and windmills, we were pleasantly surprised to see a big field of sunflowers all facing east. Kansas geography has been relatively boring, so this sight picked up our spirits. It is amazing what you notice on a bike. Minor changes to wind direction, the pitch of the road, or the smoothness of the road either have us thanking our lucky stars or cursing the heavens.
Today, the gods were with us. The weather was clear with a high of 90 degrees. The wind was coming out of the SW or S and we were travelling East, so cross/tail winds all day long. The roads were also well paved with one exception for approximately 15-20 miles on a country road that was so bumpy I thought my internal organs were moving around in my body. We also needed to navigate around a road that was closed by going down about 12 feet, crossing a ditch, and proceeding back up 12 feet.
Shannon started the day and put in a strong 57 miles in 3 hours 45 minutes without stopping for any long breaks. This was the longest Shannon has ever ridden! She thought Robin was going to relieve her at 3 hours, so she used up her water bottles and needed to us use my water for the last 45 minutes. All is well that ends well.
After refilling my water bottes and getting a quick snack. Robin and I took off. Robin also rode strong and made me hurt following her. She has gained a lot of endurance over the last two weeks. We rode for many miles without seeing anything but farms and had two rest breaks with Shannon to get some food and drinks. There were no stores along the route until mile 105, just 7 miles away from our destination. I really needed a break, so quickly headed into the convenience store and got a extra large Coke. For the record, when I say Coke, I mean 1/2 Diet Coke, 1/4 Coke, and 1/4 Dr Pepper; always fountain drink with a lot of ice.
We pulled into the hotel at 3pm, 8 hours after we started and 112 miles added to our total. We are all a bit tired, but looking forward to a big dinner and another day on the bike tomorrow.
