Day 38 - Wednesday, June 17
Start - Eureka, KS
End - Newton, KS
Miles (on the route) - 75.0
Miles (total) - 75.41
Avg Spd - 13.5mph
Max Spd - 31mph
Total ride time - 5:35
The day brought another Kansas southern wind. With the majority of roads having me travel directly west, it's almost always blasting me on the left side. The terrain at the start of the day still has mild inclines and declines because I'm still in the territory of Kansas known as the Flint Hills. It's been frustrating, despite being some of the easiest terrain so far, because in my head I'm expecting this to be flat. I've heard so many stories of how you can see the next town from 10 miles away and you can spend an hour biking towards the tree out on the horizon and never get there. Everybody has tales of the area, especially tales of riders going crazy from how flat and boring the rides are in Kansas. I'm waiting to see all this, but it's just not here yet. I try to not get anxious; It doesn't make sense to get frustrated by mild inclines.
I made a brief stop in the small town of Rosalia to get water and grab a snack. The lady in the cafe had me fill out her register as many places do along the route. Some registers go back to the early 80s, and contain lists of bikers, their routes, hometowns, and often comments. I found a friend's entry, John, from 5 years ago. He looked to be doing a better pace so far.
From Rosalia I had a 17 mile shot straight north to Cassoday, which I was able to average over 20 mph with the full help of a tail wind. Cassoday was my lunch stop before jumping into a 38 mile stretch to Newton with no services along the way. I stopped at a convenience store/diner by I35 and was impressed by the look of the place. It had a cowboy mystique, all dusty old wood, dirty pickup trucks, and a sign outside that reminded you to wipe your boots. Inside were several long wooden picnic tables with various cowboy hatted men taking advantage of the home cookin' buffet. I didn't blend in and got a few looks. Finally, this is Kansas. This is becoming the southwest I expected.
I loaded up on some extra bottles of water, and with a moderately full stomach, set out on the hot 38 mile stretch to Newton. It was another day of high 90s, and was evidenced by the pickup I passed that had overheated. I offered help but was limited on what I could do. Not much traffic out there and nowhere to really look for help. I was exhausted and desperate for fluids when I finally rolled into Newton. The first sign of a gas station filled me with excitement, and newfound energy sprinted me in for a huge bottle of OJ. Newton was aesthetically beautiful, with new sidewalks, a clean main street, and a modern park. I used the library in the evening, which was crowded with some of the most annoying patrons I've come across so far. The public libraries have been immensely helpful, but you never know who's going to be sitting next to you. Kids were running rampant, yelling and playing video games. But apparently I looked shady because the guy across from at the computers asked me point blank, "Did you just jump off that train out there?" I explained to him I've been riding cross country, to which he replied, "I just thought you looked a little rough, and your wind blown hair." Thanks. I again dined at the local Pizza Hut and brought back leftovers to the park. In town was a skate park where some kids were hanging out late night. It's good to see towns offering options like that despite probable opposition. It seems that some of these towns need something for the kids to do. I'm feeling back in the swing of things and am looking forward to another day of productivity and good mileage.