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 The birthplace of President Abraham Lincoln I woke up this morning thinking I had to get going to cover a lot of ground. But I stopped myself. The birth place of Abraham Lincoln was just minutes away. I could not be this close without visiting. I had read Bill Bryson’s less than enthusiastic description…but he basically hated everything he saw while driving through the USA so I didn’t feel it was a useful guide.
The birthplace park is small. There is a visitor center and a stone, monumental building that houses a log cabin. The cabin is supposed to represent the cabin that Lincoln grew up in. Unfortunately, the monument was closed for repairs, but the visitor center was interesting. The rain started as I got ready to leave the birthplace. The route would take me by the Lincoln homestead and another farm that Lincoln lived on as a child before the family moved to Illinois. The farm was in a little valley that was extremely picturesque. The steep hillsides came down onto a lush green field. If it had not been completely pouring rain I would have stopped for more than a couple minutes. Continue reading Day 72: Hodgenville to Bardstown, KY (November 9)
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 Missouri Barn Waking up to the noise of rain on a tin roof was not encouraging until I remembered that tin roofs magnify the sound of rain. Out of my tent looking out I could not even tell it was raining and the sound soon stopped too. I had decided to only go to Marshfield, about 40 miles, so I took my time. Going to Marshfield would get me on a better sequence for places to stay over the next few days.
More of the same up and down with steep hills. I had to get off to push up one hill for the last fifty vertical feet. I checked the grades of a couple hills with the inclination app on my iphone. One was 12% and the other 14%. Not sure what my accuracy is on that, but it seems about right. Continue reading Day 59: Walnut Grove to Marshfield, MO (October 27)
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 Missouri hills I woke up early this morning to the sound of thunder and rain. It was nice being warm inside my sleeping bag in a dry tent under the picnic building.
I was half hoping the rain would be torrential and I’d have a good reason to take a rest day in Golden City. That could mean three more meals at Cooky’s with more pie, a few naps, and reading. But I ate breakfast and slowly packed up. With everything away except my sleeping pad and tent, the rain stopped at 9:30, and I got going.
Up and down, up and down was the order of the day. The scenery is pretty nice with farm framed by hardwood woods. The trees are turning color. It reminds me a bit of New England. I kept thinking of revolutionary war battle grounds. Although there are not the stone walls like in New England. Continue reading Day 58: Golden City to Walnut Grove, MO (October 26)
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 Welcome to Missouri! Leaving Pittsburg the winds were whipping the flag at the post office when I stopped to mail home some maps I no longer needed. (3.5 oz) At least it was a south wind not a north.
The super cells that form over tornado alley from Texas to Nebraska are from hot, humid southern air running into cold northern air. The last couple of days with temperatures in the 80s in late October coincided with south winds. Tomorrow the forecast is for winds from the north and temperatures in the 50s. Luckily it is late in the year so there is no real danger of tornadoes. Continue reading Day 57: Pittsburg, KS to Golden City, MO (October 25)
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 Foggy morning in Chanute, KS When I woke up at 06:30, the fog was thick. I couldn’t see more than 100 feet. I could hear the cars and trucks on the highway a hundred yards away but couldn’t see anything not even headlights. I was going to have to wait for it to clear. I won’t ride if cars can’t see me and I can’t see them.
Eating breakfast and packing up, the fog was not clearing. I managed to cut my iphone charger cord with the cover for the RV hookup electrical box. Luckily, across the street was a Walmart. So once the fog suddenly cleared at 09:30 I headed across the street. Next to the iphone charger (ugly and clunky compare to the OEM cord) was an earphone that I could use in my iphone and other cheap phone. Unlike the original iphone headphones that hurt my ears after a bit, this one was soft and smaller. The biggest bonus was fitting into my cheap phone makes it an FM radio. (The radio function doesn’t work without the headphone connected — the headphones are the antenna.) Continue reading Day 56: Chanute to Pittsburg, KS (October 24)
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 Toronto Lake Reservoir Waking up at my usual 06:00, I got up and stiffly walked to the bathroom. I thought, “I don’t think I can do another 90 miles today.” Feeling a bit tired, I lay back down and instantly fell back asleep for a couple hours.
It usually takes me about an hour to an hour and a half to pack up in the morning. Partly to digest breakfast. Partly because I still think I have too much stuff and organizing it takes time.
The weather forecast for the day was good: west winds 5-8 mph, clear, 75+ deg. I started out wearing my legs, windbreak, silk turtleneck, cycling t-shirt and silk balaclava. In about an hour I was down to just my cycling T-shirt and cycling shorts. Perfect riding weather. Continue reading Day 55: Eureka to Chanute, KS (October 23)
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 My bike barely goes halfway up the wheel! Yesterday I was frustrated by the headwind. Today I accepted it. There is nothing to do about it but ride into it. I can’t control the weather. I am still not excited by only doing 35 miles on the flattest ground in the country, but that is the way it is. I have now done over 1800 miles.
Today the wind shifted to more of an eastern northeast direction so it was a real headwind. The flags in Ness City were straight out so again 15+ mph. Highway 96 heads pretty close to exactly where the wind was coming from. Once I had to play dodge-em with tumble weeds coming down the shoulder. Lots of tumble weeds that had been caught in the fences parallel to the road were rolling along. Continue reading Day 49: Ness City to Rush Center, KS (October 17)
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 High clouds from the front moving south I knew I was in trouble when I got up in the morning. The wind was whipping through the trees and flapping my tent about that was not secured only placed on the concrete in the city park gazebo. I left the park before the sun was up, but didn’t eat much. My stove was blown out by the wind so I didn’t make anything. At the edge of town, I stopped at the Dighton Bowl & Diner for some breakfast. I hoped that the wind would die down too. Knew it wouldn’t but hoped none the less. Continue reading Day 48: Dighton to Ness City, KS (October 16)
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 Massive grain elevator Last night I stayed at the Trail Ends Motel. It is the only one in Tribune. I needed to charge all my GoPro batteries, fix my flat, wash some clothes, plus reconfigure my bicycle for not wearing my backpack. Easier to do all those things in the motel.
I ended up buying the cheapest 2L plastic bottle of soda I could find at the gas station. I did not want one I liked so I wouldn’t feel guilty dumping it down the sink. If I had bought Dr. Pepper I would have wanted to drink it all. It was some sort of lime soda, and I did try a cup of it and only drank half before pouring it down the sink. The plastic bottle is to contain my water bladder that was in my backpack so I could put the bladder in one if my water bottle holders. After putting both in a stuff sack it all worked. Now I can drink easily from the bladder with the tube held on the handle bars using a retracting ID holder. That way the tube goes back to the same place each time I let go.
As soon as I got on my bike this morning I knew it would be a better day. I headed out of the motel parking lot to the southwest into a headwind. After crossing the highway an heading east I could feel the little bit of a tailwind. It was still something of a crosswind but at least not a headwind. A few miles out of Tribune the road turned to the northeast and it became a true tailwind. Continue reading Day 47: Tribune to Dighton, KS (October 15)
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