Given that we’ve only been in the state for two days, this may be a premature prediction, but Kansas is shaping up to be the most challenging state yet. This is ironic, since for most us, Kansas was supposed to be the easy stretch, the reward after the Sierras and the Rockies and everything in between. There have been whisperings at rest stops: “Once we get to flat Kansas…” “The Rockies cast an unwavering west-to-east tailwind over the region. All we need to do in Kansas is coast.” “The entirety of the state is one slight downhill.”
Lies. We’ve been bitterly fighting the elements since we crossed the state line – namely a nasty, nonstop headwind. Sometimes the force of the wind is so strong that it nearly grinds me to a halt as I’m pedaling. Every yard of distance is a hard-earned trudge. The brief downhill stretches feel flat, the flat stretches feel like climbs, and the climbs... well, you get the idea. Add a heat wave on top of this and you have a recipe for a tough week. Today we reached triple digit temperatures. While resting at a gas station, ten or so separate people approached us to tell us to “be safe out there.” For the first time this trip, the air is humid, and as I bike, I can feel the thick, hot air rising off of the asphalt. Ironically, the barrage of wind is what makes the heat bearable. In the moments between gusts, the air feels ten degrees warmer. So the day is a balancing act between trudging through the wind and baking in the head. Of course, I’m being a little dramatic here.
group tire fixing session!
This morning, about ten minutes after departing from our hosts’ home in Garden City, Joel, Sophia, Aja, and I ran over some thorns (?) and we all got flat tires. Sophia and I both got two, while Aja got one. This is a disruption of our flat tire leaderboard, although Parth remains in first.
1st: Parth, Timothy (tie); 5 flats
3rd: Aja, Sophia (tie); 2 flats
5th: Joel; 1 flat
Last place: Vincent, Katherine (tie); 0 flats
We all sat down together at the entrance of a bike path, popped out our wheels, and got to work. We had to call Parth, Vincent, and Katherine in Ody to come by to drop off some extra tubes (it’s bad practice to bike without a spare tire tube), but within half an hour, we were back on our way, fresh-tired and enthusiastic.
At the church on our rest stop.
Our first rest stop of the day was in the foyer of a massive church in the unincorporated town of Pierceville. The pastor let us in, offered us some cold water from their fridge, and even gave us a pack of freeze pops. The second was at a gas station. After talking to Parth for 20 minutes, a man who owns a wheat-cutting business gave us $50 for protein bars and Gatorade. Here, as in the other states we’ve passed through, strangers have treated us well. Yesterday, when Vincent and I ran out of water on our bikes (oops won’t happen again I promise), a driver stopped and gave us two bottles from his cooler.
sophia drinks the cold water at the gas station
I’m writing this from the house of our lovely Dodge City hosts, Warren and Lindy. They graciously offered to pick us up from our third rest stop after we determined that it had become too hot to bike. Lindy made us vegetarian huevos rancheros for dinner and led us in making mug cakes (the trick is to mix angel food cake mix with chocolate cake mix). We talked for a while about beekeeping, their experience hosting couch surfers, and life in Dodge City. On nights like these, I wish we stayed for longer with each of our hosts so that we could get to know each other better.
That’s all from me for today! Till next time,
Timothy