I woke up decently early and got on the road by 7am, trying to get a few hours of riding before the now predictable south-west winds picked up and tried to foil my escape from Kansas. As I passed miles and miles of prairie land, I was looking forward to the nice scenery of Colorado, even though I will have to climb to 11,000ft to cross the Rockies and the continental divide.
Right before Leoti I saw a couple with a tandem changing their trailer tire. I stopped and chatted with them a bit and learned that they were only 2 of a group of 12 Christian cyclists, two families (the Schroeders and Halvorsons) going west, all on tandem bikes, most pulling 2-wheeled trailers. They were getting tones of flats in Kansas from "texas taks" or "goat head" thorns on the road and one of their trailer tires was being held together with boots and duct tape. I was very surprised as I hadn't had a flat since my 2nd day out, must be those Schwalbe Marathons!
I rode ahead and at the gas station in Leoti I met the rest of the crew, so many tandems and trailers! The family's kids ranged in age from 8 to 16, and I just thought about how it would have blown my mind if at 8 years old I was cycling across the country. I was introduced to everyone and heard about their journey so far, they had endured the 100+ degree heat of Missouri last week but spent the time going up and down the Ozarks while I was enjoying the KATY trail and its 1% grade. They told me they would probably be staying at a church in Sheridan Lake that hosted cyclists, the same place I was thinking of stopping at, so I told them I'd probably see them later today and went to grab food and hit up library to update my blog.
After a short 2 hours (it seems to take me a while to post updates) I was done at the library and continued my ride out of Kansas.
About mid-late afternoon I saw a big brown sign in the distance, getting bigger ever so slowly... could it be? "Welcome to colorful Colorado" I made it! Freedom from Kansas! I took a picture of my bike under the sign then hung out in its shadow for a few minutes getting a break from the sun. I want to start an organization to plant trees in west Kansas, lord knows they need more.
I stood up and looked into Colorado and saw beautiful mountain ranges... oh wait, it looks exactly like Kansas.... awwww... I guess I need to get a day or two into Colorado before I get into the interesting "wish I was back in Kansas" type of stuff.
I finished the day rolling into Sheridan Lake and stopped at the one gas station / general store to grab something cold to drink and something to eat for dinner. I then cycled up to the church where I saw a familiar sight, lots of tandems! I was greeted by everyone and told there was lots of space in the church but no showers but there was a hose! I walked inside and saw all their trailers unpacked with sleeping bags and clothes everywhere. I joked to the parents how after this trip they should get an honorary degree in logistics after having to keep track of 12 people's stuff.
I snagged a solitude space in the basement then took a hose shower. The church's pastor's family lived next door and were over visiting everyone and I ended up talking to a girl who was staying with them who wanted to interview myself and the families for the local paper. I microwaved the can of chili I bought and spent some time talking about my travels so far. The families went out to get pizza at the lone gas station and by the time they were back it was late and everyone wanted to sleep. They were all waking up at 4:30am, which was a little too early for me, so I set my alarm for 6am and settled into my sleeping space in the basement.
Start: Scott City, KS
End: Sheridan Lake, CO
Distance: 78.69 miles
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