Newton, KS

We got an early start today as we had a long day planned and the afternoon temperatures were predicted to be in the upper 80's. The 94 mile ride essentially traversed the Flint Hills section of Kansas. The Flint Hills have great vistas of remnant tall grass prairie that are used today for cattle grazing, brought in just for the summer to feed. There are also small scale oil drills throughout the area. Each spring controlled fires are set to control weeds and encourage new grass to grow, simulating the effect of natural wild fires. The hills are very rolling with long ups and downs, so not an issue for cycling. However, I have detected the fact that there is more uphill each day than downhill as we gradually climb to 4000 feet at the Colorado border. The route was fairly remote, with the final 38 mile section having no services of any kind, and hardly any farm houses. So the support vehicle was handy, especially when it arrived with a cold soda when there was still 14 miles to go, and 92 degrees with a strong SW wind. After a hot ride the motel swimming pool was just the thing. The first outdoor pool of the trip, that has been open and maintained. Too much rain to get others open and fixed up. First pic below is downtown Toronto at 7 am.

The six degrees of separation has been proven again. Last evening two young women bike tourists stayed at our motel. They too are going to California but not San Francisco. They started out from Geneseo after graduation. One is from Honeoye. Today we caught up to Jerry from Arlington, VA (http://www.jerrybikeswest.blogspot.com/). Jerry is riding solo and unsupported. He worked in the FCC before retiring last February. He worked for Kathy F., former wife of Herkimer friend, Keith F. and knows Rosemary and Ray K. friends of Ida. Hopes to be in OR by August.