Day 21 May 18th Great Bend – Abilene Ks.

 

If this trip is to be a religious experience  as some said it was, today I went to the church & stood @ the altar.

Last night when I called home my wife must have sensed the desperation in my voice. She told me today she said a prayer last night for me & one for Justin.She just asked for good weather for me, not to cure my cold. She’s not greedy!  It would be impossible for me to put into words what today was. I told my wife last night that I just wanted THAT day, that day  you just wanted to enjoy a bike ride. Well today was that day. I prepared for the day like every other day, & carefully opened the hotel door waiting for the wind driven cold rain to greet me. But to my surprise I opened the door to sunshine & no wind? Odd. I mounted up & headed out @ sunrise to the local McDonald’s to breakfast & coffee. Leaving the McDonald’s parking lot I stopped @ the end of the drive & almost ran into a biker coming down the street. He pulled up to me & said “what the hell are you doing?” Mitch was a rider that left OceanSide riding somewhat the same route as I . He was from NJ 58 years old & animated in only the way someone from from NJ can be. In our 5 minute conversation he told of how this was his 5th trans America trip! We traded stories of the brutal winds, cold & rain etc. He was being followed by a support crew that he said “was the only thing that kept him alive through these conditions”. He informed me that he rode alone (fine with me) & we wished each other luck, took some pics, shook hands & left. Interesting guy.
 

I headed out of town, my goal was to try & make it to Salina Ks 80 miles up the road. Like I said this was a religious day. I rode 43 miles without stopping. Sunshine, no wind 70 degrees. The day my wife had prayed for. I stopped in Ellsworth Ks @ a small diner for a break & sat with an 87 year old local that shared stories of Ks life. Great guy, great stories. Back on the bike I headed east on the senic Rt K -140 up & down the rolling hills. I guess I was scared to stop riding in fear that stopping would piss off the biking gods & they would crank up the wind machine again! So I rode without stopping all the way to Salina 83 miles in. I stopped @ a DQ restaurant for a snack & met with another local Bill Henry. Bill was a retired farmer that has a son who owns a truck repair shop down the road. His son had also ridden his bicycle from Anchorage Alaska to Jacksonville Fl. What are the chances? The only way to describe riding today was like being a runner training with leg weights on for the past 4 days & now running without them. Effortless ! I rode with my head up taking pics, & taking in the beauty of the day & the country around me. Going into this ride this was the day I had imagined. Perfect. Not wanting to waste any of this perfect day I rode on all the way to Abilene, 107 miles in. The way that you can tell that you are having the perfect biking day is when you don’t want it end. I did not want this day to end. Abilene Ks is the home of Dwight D Eisenhower. An old cattle town on the historic Chisholm Trail. Reminds me of one of our old lumbering towns back home. Nice place. Reaching g town I rode around the downtown taking in the sites. Like I said, I didn’t want the ride to end.

Thank you to my wife for the prayer. I only hope Justin had as good of a day. I am now only 139 miles from Mo. & will be there by Friday. Ahead of schedule now. My cold has seemed to subsided & I can’t wait to get on the road tomo. What a difference one day can make!

I also must apologize to Ks for picking on it yesterday . This is a beautiful state with some of the nicest people you would ever meet. I think I may miss Kansas after all ! Thank You biking gods.