Day 27: The Long Road

Great Bend, Kansas to Newton, Kansas- Coratel Inn & Suites

I got up early and started rollin’ at 5:20 a.m. Immediately, I could feel the oppressive heat, and soon found the brutal headwind was still in my face, unrelenting for the first 15 miles. For the past 3 days, my pace has been slower than it was when I was going up 5% grades in the mountains. That’s a pretty steep hill. My panniers are acting like backfilled sails, and I have been struggling to go over 10 mph. At one point, as I was really struggling against the elements, I looked to my right and saw a Bald Eagle about 15 feet away just cruising alongside me. He flew by my side for a while, crossed the road in front of me and perched on a fence rail not far off the road. Absolutely incredible! I managed to get a few quick pictures and a little video but just appreciated the moment. As the road turned, the wind broke a little, and I passed someone’s front yard who left water in a cooler for bikers riding the TransAm Trail. There are so many good people out there!

I’m still riding along the Arkansas River. It’s a lot smaller here than in Buena Vista! I just realized today that I’ve been riding “Bike Highway 76,” a continuous trail from the Colorado/Kansas border to Virginia. It’s well marked and a nice stretch of road where traffic is accustomed to cyclists. Luckily, it was cloudy in the morning, so I dodged the sun. It didn’t take long for it to burn through the clouds, though, and now it’s a scorching 106 degrees! That’s the highest I’ve read so far. Eventually, I got a tailwind and rode easily at about 20 mph. At the 70 mile mark I found a shady tree for lunch and relaxed for a bit. Unfortunately, when I got back on the road my tailwind was gone. When I was about 10 miles from my destination town (Newton), the weather turned nasty and blasted me with a scorching hot headwind. I stopped at a sprinkler along the way to cool down. Even my water bottle offered no relief. The water was boiling hot.

Finally, I got to Newton and stopped at the first restaurant I could find to eat and cool off. What a relief. I even got to watch some of the All-Star game! I decided to get a hotel to avoid the blazing heat and get a good sleep. Biking through the city, I ran into Everett, a commuter cyclist working at a hospital nearby. He’s hoping to do a big ride soon, and we talked a bit. Soon after, I got to my hotel and just relaxed. Andrew, at the front desk was amazing! He helped me wash my clothes in the industrial hotel washer and got me a huge bag of breakfast food, so I could head out early tomorrow morning. Great hotel choice for the night!

Distance: 100.70(1927.92 total miles)
Time: 8:09:59
Ascent: 1020
Descent: 1388

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