Happy Anniversary, Patty

The one regret that I had in taking this 2 and a half month journey was that I was going to miss my 30th wedding anniversary.  Patty, I'm sorry that I'm not home.  You are the love of my life, and I'm thankful you're my wife.  Thank you for 30 years, and for being patient with my hobbies and travel.  We will celebrate in August, after I'm home.  

Anniversary cupcakes from our 25th at Lola in Cleveland

After resetting our goals during out "time against the wind,"  we have had a couple of good days on the bikes.  From our original plan for about 100 miles in the 100 degree (or close) temperatures, we scaled back to 40/60, and I think it did wonders for our condition.  First, we were able to avoid the hottest parts of the days, instead hunkering down in our hotel rooms with air conditioning during these scalding times.  Second, it gave us some time off the bike.  After all, my whole summer isn't about being on the bike, but being on the adventure.  I think we've found some during our travels.  

locomotive from the ATSF, the Atcheson, Topeka, Santa Fe.  Chanute was important to the R.R.

Today we were headed on the second part of our "Monday" ride, traveling to Pittsburg, Kansas (notice, no "h" at the end).  In the past two days we've been to Toronto and Pittsburg, and I've ridden on Cleveland street on the way to Great Bend.  We rolled out of Chanute, and after visting the local Walmart for a gallon of spring water (no more tap water, please)and some lunch sandwiches, we headed up the road.  For some reason the Adventure Cycling App gave us really terrible directions today, and after directing us to some side roads, those roads became gravel roads, which was definitely not the plan.  We didn't come here with gravel tires, nor were we hoping to blow tires by taking a shortcut.  I'm not sure, but I think the phone app that I use comes with the different maps pre-programmed.  Today we were starting on one map, but finishing on the next, and when we do that the directions get a little goofy.  I think the directions on the app don't follow the ACA Trans-America, but pick out the shortest way to get to the next map.  In this case, they didn't discriminate between paved and non-paved.  Kind of a bug.

We got ourselves back onto the main road, and things went well from there.  The wind had shifted just a bit, and today it was coming a bit more from the south, and really not that hard, maybe 5mph.  This was a revelation, and we didn't have to go into "coal mining mode,"  we just rode along - how wonderful.  We kept a good pace of 13-15mph most of the way.  Was this just the wind, or was it also because we had shed more weight, including our front bags?  I'm sure it was a little of both.  Even though the day was rolling quickly, we could see early that it was going to be a humid one.  15 minutes in today and my arms were glistening with sweat, at 7 in the morning.  It was going to be a hot one.

Another reminder (we've seen many) of the horrible things we did to the Native Americans

We stopped in Walnut, Kansas, home of about 5 buildings, including a convenience store that happened to have cold Gatorade and a place to sit down.  A nice rest for a few minutes.  We were off again quickly, heading toward Girard and lunch, another 15 miles away.  Again, no issues with the wind, so we sailed along pretty well.  We rolled into Girard, which looked like a nice little town.  We went past Ryan street, so we had to get a photo.  Another convenience store and another Gatorade, and we went to their town square where there was reportedly a gazebo on the town square with some shade.  We sat down and Jerry spied a barber shop, actually 2 on the same block.  He ate quickly and went in search of a haircut, while I took my time and answered e-mails while eating.  Arriving back with much shorter hair, Jerry was ready to go and so was I.  It was only about 14 miles to Pittsburg, but there's no reason to stay outside as the day grew hotter.

A familiar street

A cool spot for lunch on the square in Girard, KS

Again, the ride into Pittsburg went really smoothly, and it was nice to be able to finish up before 2PM, as it continued to get a bit more sticky as the day went.  We found another Super-8, this one located next to a Mexican restaurant, like Kremmling, CO, so we booked a room.  After taking showers, we began to think that the room wasn't really very cool.  I stepped out into the hallway to discover that the hallway was much cooler, and going back into the room was stifling.  The hotel owners were very nice and moved us into another room quickly, and it proved much better.  A working air conditioner is one of the things to cherish and definitely part of the deal with getting a room.  I'm now writing on the bed in a very cool room, and very happy about that.   After a nice Mexican dinner we're back in the room and ready for an early one tomorrow.

The numbers for today: 59 miles, about 1.200 feet climbed (it's getting hilly again).  Tomorrow we head to Ash Grove, MO, about 72 miles away.  We're hoping to get out early and get in miles before noon and the hottest part of the day.  The longer distance will mean we will have to be out in the afternoon.  Ash Grove is unique in that they welcome in cyclists to their town.  This is good because there are no hotels anywhere near, and this is the only town around.  I guess they have a house, air conditioned, with cots, for cyclists.  Their city pool is open, and as cyclists it's free for us.  And they have showers at the pool.  This should be really interesting, and I'm glad to hear of this.  In this sticky heat, camping, especially where there's no shade, can get pretty awful.  Let's hear it for the people of Ash Grove!  More tomorrow, if we have connections.