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Day 29 – Larned to Hesston

Posted by Alan on Sat, 3rd Jul, 2010.
Filed under: Kansas

Sat 3rd July 2010

Firstly a big thank you to those that have sponsored us. We check the Just Giving site regulalry and it’s nice to see the total gradually creeping up. If you’ve yet to sponsor us please remember this is for a very good cause and we need your support.

Thunderstorms were forecast today but we didn’t expect it to be cloudy when we set off. So that was a bonus and it was pleasantly cool. We bought today’s breakfast yesterday expecting to camp and discovered the motel also supplied a breakfast. So before we set off we ate our cereal and then went into the motel breakfast room where we had a quick coffee and wrapped up lots of goodies to take on the road with us. We got some strange looks from the other guests all sat eating their food. I’m sure they thought we had just pulled in off the road and were helping ourselves.

The wind was still on our right hand side today and was blowing just as hard as ever. As we are travelling East we are noticing that there are more and more trees and they are providing a good break against the wind making the cycling more of a pleasure. The cloud stayed with us today and throughout the day showers, some heavy, passed over us. It was still quite warm so we didn’t bother with rain gear, we just got soaked and let the wind dry us off again. It was great.

Today we saw a terrapin as it was crossing the road in front of us. As soon as we got close it went into its shell and stayed there. I put it safely on the other side of the road. It was good to see one that was not in a pet shop.

We also met Jed from New York. He’s walking across America taking the Transam route in the other direction. He’s already been on the road for three months and is not yet half way. What a challenge he’s taken on.

After 60 miles we stopped in another small cafe for a coffee and to top up our water bottles. Outside Chris got talking to some locals and while distracted bashed his right ankle on his pedal. In the cafe I made comment that he only need to injure his right arm and then all four limbs would have been damaged on the ride. I should have kept quiet.

As we approached Buhler (our planned destination for today) we came across some road closed signs. Of course we cycled through them but the road surface had all the tarmac removed and was soft in places. Once through this section I waited for a while before Chris caught me up. Ten miles later, at our next break, I noticed blood on Chris’s right knee and a cut on his right elbow. He put a wheel on the soft stuff in the closed section and couldn’t stay upright. Was I insensitive to laugh?

We made good time today so decided to cycle on to Hesston, about 20 miles further where the campsite looked promising. We bought our food in the local store where they gave us some free baked beans. We ate these outside the store as they were warm and yummy with smoked meat and BBQ sauce. Once finished we cycled to the campsite just as the weather turned nasty with very heavy rain, except this was no shower it was in for the night with thunder storms forecast.

The campsite was just awful and dirty and they expected us to pay as well. There was a very posh motel next door so we thought we’d have a chat to them. They gave us a very good rate so once again we have a room and once again we have the two breakfast dilemma to overcome in the morning. I’m sure we’ll cope!

Daily Mileage – 99.5 miles

Time in Saddle – 8 hrs 11 mins

Total Climbing – 997 ft