Scott City, KS

We started early and ended early for a total of 68 miles so this was a kind of rest day. The ride itself was one of those days of heads down constant pedaling into a persistent quartering southwest headwind combined with the gradual climb toward the mountains. When you ride heads down you get a chance to see all of the road kill up close and personal like this rattle snake.

As we expected we are now seeing more east bound riders and we are catching slower west bound riders. In particular, we finally caught up to the unsupported Adventure Cycling tour we have been hearing about since Illinois. There are thirteen people in all and they must have been strung out over 10 miles as I was catching up to them. Two guys from England ride consistently out front because they like to be first into the next town to start setting up camp. We also caught up with the couple from Wisconsin who are riding a recumbent tandem we have been hearing about. They were at our motel last night in Ness City. Last night we also talked with two eastbound couples who are doing the cross country ride in stages as they have limited vacation time. And we met three young riders from Colorado Springs to DC, documenting their ride. Riders tend to collect at county seat towns like Ness City and Scott City because they are the only places with sufficient services.

This area is a center for feedlots and growing the grain to feed them. Irrigation is required and they use the circular systems that make those circular fields you see from cross country plane flights. (Picture from our motel parking lot.) We spent some time this afternoon at a local state park(Scott) in an area of outcrops where they had formed a small lake with a dam. All the drainage is on its way to the Arkansas River, which the Santa Fe Trail follows. Also there was the historical site of a 1600's Indian pueblo and an 1880's sod house.