The High Plains
Let me start by stating this: anyone who says Kansas is flat has either never been to Kansas or is full of it. I'll accept that there may very well be flat parts of the state, but the several hundred miles that I cycled through were long, large rolling hills known as the High Plains.
After leaving Manhattan, I set out on my longest day yet. By nightfall I had gone over 111 miles and set up camp in Glen Elder State Park. They had called for rain that night, so I put the cover up over my tent, but like a dummy I forgot to anchor in my guy-lines. At five o'clock the next morning I awoke to my tent nearly shredding to pieces and collapsing all around me due to the storm that blew in with sustained 30+ mile an hour winds. For an hour I sat Indian-style inside my tent with arms outstretched holding my crossing tent poles in place so they wouldn't snap. Eventually the storm passed and I was able to relax. It was a rough morning, followed by a 72 mile ride up to Philipsburg, KS. I smiled a lot that day. It was a beautiful, sunny day and while on the road I saw a coyote in one field and a doe with her fawn running in another. In Cawker City, I was lucky enough to see the World's Largest Ball of Twine. I had heard about this amazing feet of true mid-Western bordem many times in my life and didn't even realize I had chosen the road it's home was on until I saw the signs. Check out my photo album if you want to see pictures. Up in Smith Center, KS I was given a free lunch at this little dinner on the main street of this tiny town. I loved how in many of the tiny towns I passed through in Kansas they played oldies music over speakers throughout the town. Very quaint. It also made me smile knowing that I started cycling from the Southernmost point in America, and just a couple miles from Smith Center is the geographic center of the United States. After lunch I finished out the day making it to Philipsburg and deciding to spring for a motel room to rest better than the stormy night before.
My next destination was Oberlin, KS. I had a scheduled Rotary club meeting there the next day and cycled a standard day's 68 miles to get there. When I arrived in town, I met the president of the club and was expecting him to tell me where the best place for me to camp would be, or maybe if I was lucky that I could stay at his house. Amazingly, he explained how I was going to be spending the next two nights in the historic Landmark Inn courtesy of their club. It was a really nice bed&breakfast and I was so thankful and lucky for this hospitality. So the next day I attended the Oberlin Rotary Club meeting, and met some very kind people. It's great to visit and compare big city large clubs with the little town small clubs. I enjoy the ease of connecting with the smaller clubs, and being able to interest and inspire a room of people rather than trying to keep the attention of an entire ballroom. Though, the giant clubs are great experiences too, with their many members they are like a well oiled machine, all pistons firing to provide money to important projects and foundations. They usually have really good meals too. The afternoon after my Oberlin meeting, I went with several of the Rotarians to help out with their 2 mile stretch of "Adopt a Highway" clean up. I figured, they put me up in a B&B and I'm using the highway so much, time to give a little more back. The next morning I packed up and got ready for my last day in Kansas. I had planned on stopping 70 miles down the road in St. Francis, but when I arrived at 4 o'clock in the afternoon with four more hours of light left, I decided to cross into mountain time, and enter Colorado. It was another 30 miles stretch of nothing till Idalia, CO....so I pressed on.
After leaving Manhattan, I set out on my longest day yet. By nightfall I had gone over 111 miles and set up camp in Glen Elder State Park. They had called for rain that night, so I put the cover up over my tent, but like a dummy I forgot to anchor in my guy-lines. At five o'clock the next morning I awoke to my tent nearly shredding to pieces and collapsing all around me due to the storm that blew in with sustained 30+ mile an hour winds. For an hour I sat Indian-style inside my tent with arms outstretched holding my crossing tent poles in place so they wouldn't snap. Eventually the storm passed and I was able to relax. It was a rough morning, followed by a 72 mile ride up to Philipsburg, KS. I smiled a lot that day. It was a beautiful, sunny day and while on the road I saw a coyote in one field and a doe with her fawn running in another. In Cawker City, I was lucky enough to see the World's Largest Ball of Twine. I had heard about this amazing feet of true mid-Western bordem many times in my life and didn't even realize I had chosen the road it's home was on until I saw the signs. Check out my photo album if you want to see pictures. Up in Smith Center, KS I was given a free lunch at this little dinner on the main street of this tiny town. I loved how in many of the tiny towns I passed through in Kansas they played oldies music over speakers throughout the town. Very quaint. It also made me smile knowing that I started cycling from the Southernmost point in America, and just a couple miles from Smith Center is the geographic center of the United States. After lunch I finished out the day making it to Philipsburg and deciding to spring for a motel room to rest better than the stormy night before.
My next destination was Oberlin, KS. I had a scheduled Rotary club meeting there the next day and cycled a standard day's 68 miles to get there. When I arrived in town, I met the president of the club and was expecting him to tell me where the best place for me to camp would be, or maybe if I was lucky that I could stay at his house. Amazingly, he explained how I was going to be spending the next two nights in the historic Landmark Inn courtesy of their club. It was a really nice bed&breakfast and I was so thankful and lucky for this hospitality. So the next day I attended the Oberlin Rotary Club meeting, and met some very kind people. It's great to visit and compare big city large clubs with the little town small clubs. I enjoy the ease of connecting with the smaller clubs, and being able to interest and inspire a room of people rather than trying to keep the attention of an entire ballroom. Though, the giant clubs are great experiences too, with their many members they are like a well oiled machine, all pistons firing to provide money to important projects and foundations. They usually have really good meals too. The afternoon after my Oberlin meeting, I went with several of the Rotarians to help out with their 2 mile stretch of "Adopt a Highway" clean up. I figured, they put me up in a B&B and I'm using the highway so much, time to give a little more back. The next morning I packed up and got ready for my last day in Kansas. I had planned on stopping 70 miles down the road in St. Francis, but when I arrived at 4 o'clock in the afternoon with four more hours of light left, I decided to cross into mountain time, and enter Colorado. It was another 30 miles stretch of nothing till Idalia, CO....so I pressed on.
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