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Saturday, August 12, 2023

Peabody to Goddard Kansas 

Brenda and I got up early again to beat the heat. I had an egg sandwich and coffee, then we headed south on Old Mill Road around 7am. It was 78 degrees and very humid. We took 30th (Walton Road) west to Walton. It is a nice paved road. 

We saw 4 cyclists heading the opposite direction. We got onto US50 at Walton. 

We had 2nd breakfast (for me) at the truck stop in Newton then headed south on Spencer Road. We crossed over I35 to take Kansas / Broadway into Wichita.  Don and Mary Williams met us somewhere along the way. It was nice to see and ride with them for about 10 miles. It was getting hot and very humid. 

We turned west on 69th to Seneca then wandered through neighborhoods all the way to Sedgwick County Park. At 21st and Ridge Road, I said good bye to Brenda and headed west. The wind was pushing me west.  I got home at 115pm. Then Maria, Trish, Katherine, Candee, and Elise stopped by my house on their long, hot ride to welcome me home! 

Well this is the end of my blog until the next adventure.  Thanks for following along! 

60 miles

997 feet climbing 

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/K4LgRXYkdCb

Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/v26M7Zy5X3v

Grandma's House

Friday, August 11, 2023

Herrington to Peabody Kansas 

We got up early to try to beat the heat today.  We grabbed coffee and a breakfast burrito from Cenex since the Herrington Inn didn't have much. We started pedaling around 7am. We headed west out of town. 

We went by Ramona... no services. 

We made a pit stop at the park in Tampa ... also no services. 

As we headed towards Marion Reservoir, we met our friend Sue Olsen (I had texted her that we were coming, so she rode out to meet us). 

We stopped for a snack at Wendy's in Hillsboro. Then we headed on to Peabody.  We got to my mom's house around 2pm. Fortunately, the sky was partly cloudy which kept the temperature around low 90's.  

Tomorrow... home.

57.8 miles

1,060 feet climbing 

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/UppWmrvAbCb

Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vdvmXp1LVxq

South of I70

Thursday,  August 9, 2023

Milford State Park to Herrington Kansas 

We managed to get some sleep in the cramped little cabin... except maybe Kay and Darryl who were jammed up in the loft. We woke up before 6am. Since there was no food or coffee, we packed, cleaned, said goodbye to Darryl and Kay, and hit the road by 645am. 

Brenda and I headed out on K57 across the dam while Darryl and Kay drove off to Pamona Lake where they are spending the summer (or where Darryl spent the summer while Kay was riding across the country with me). 

Then we headed west on K244 to Milford Lake Road. 

We stopped for breakfast at Grandma's House in Chapman around 800am. Back on the road by 845. 

We got to Woodbine around 10 for iced tea and lemonade.

We went south out of Woodbine on Rain Road to the road into Herrington.  This was a very good route with good roads and little traffic.

We got to the Herrington Inn at noon, checked in, unloaded our bags then rode downtown for food. We got snacks and a drink to take back to the motel for dinner then, we ate a big lunch at Broadway Station.  It was good.  Then we went to Cenex to get an ice cream snack. 

Tomorrow we go to Grandma's house. 

42 miles

1,348 feet climbing

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/PVFdne2V9Bb

Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vmqXwm575o6

Milford State Park

Wednesday,  August 9, 2023

Leonardville to Milford State Park Kansas 

We woke up early as usual but knew there would be rain. We had coffee and breakfast. Chris (Kay's sister) made some delicious breakfast burritos.  She left for work around 9. The rain had stopped and the radar looked clear so we headed out around 930am. We took Green-Randolph Road to county road 875 to Leonardville, then US24 to K82 / US77. We passed by the gunnery where we saw and heard a helicopter shooting guns. We also saw an unmanned drone flying around. 

We got to Milford around noon in search of coffee and pie... only found a bar. So we went on to Acorn Resort to the restaurant for cold drinks. Then we went on to the state park. We can't check into the cabin until 4 so we went to the picnic area for snacks and shade.  

Darryl arrived around 3 and discovered that our cabin was reserved for tomorrow night.  He worked it out for us to get a different (smaller) cabin. Darryl and Kay are going to sleep on air mattresses in the loft, I'll have an air mattress and Brenda gets the bed.  All good. I'd camp (because Darryl has all my camping stuff) but it is very humid and no wind at all. Darryl also saved us because he brought sheets, pillows, and towels since we noticed last night that these cabins require you to bring your own. 

View from the cabin.

Darryl drove us to dinner at The Cove at Acorn Resort. Darryl and Kay are heading home tomorrow while Brenda and I continue to Wichita. I'm making another route change... hopefully this one will work out. 

34.6 miles

981 feet climbing 

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/aTOTLZtk8Bb

Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vmqXwWRrZL6

Welcome to Kansas

Tuesday,  August 7, 2023

Wymore Nebraska to Leonardville Kansas 

We had a long day ahead so we wanted to leave at 7. I took some stuff out to my bike and noticed Kay's back tire was flat.  We quickly got it changed, found the sticker, and patched the tube. We had coffee and a little breakfast then still left by 7am. 

We really enjoyed getting to know and staying with Mike and Carol Braun. Hopefully, we'll keep in touch with them and also their friend Sherri Ottersberg. 

We finished riding the Chief Standing Bear and Big Blue River Trail into Marysville where we toured the depot and had 2nd breakfast (I had cherry pie since i already had 1st breakfast at Mike and Carol's!). And... we are in Kansas! 

 

There is a Pony Express museum that looks worthwhile to visit. I'll have to come back. 

We had decided last night to modify our route to stay off of US77. So we went west out of Marysville in search of a road we thought was paved. It was not. We ended up going to KS148 (Hanover Road) then south to KS9 then back east to Waterville on US77. This added about 12 extra miles.  But, it was pretty.

We had lots of hills to climb today and a bit of a headwind.  About 6 miles after a water stop on KS148, Brenda realized she had left her water bottles at the gas station.  Kay let her have her spare. And at the next water stop in, yes, Waterville, Brenda bought a couple of water bottles and I filled my empty thermos with ice water for anybody who ran out.With our extra miles and long bills, we finally made it to Kay's sister's house on Green-Randolph Road near Leonardville around 430pm. 

75.6 miles

1,962 feet climbing

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/2GAua6WR6Bb

Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vQvyoJEW346

Tomorrow is a short day.