Day 56 - Ellsworth to Abilene: Yesterday's Ride Today.......We are in the Flint Hills! - Off To See the Wizard

July 24, 2014

Day 56 - Ellsworth to Abilene: Yesterday's Ride Today.......We are in the Flint Hills!

I think I have said it before but it is worth repeating.....What a difference A Day Makes! We did 61 miles today in the same time it took us to do 40 yesterday. Guess this is why we cycle tour.....the adventure of not knowing for sure what tomorrow will bring.

We left at , zero dark thirty, well actually 5 am. I have just always wanted to say that. It was dark.

Now in color ...doesn't look so bad but it was actually as dark as the black and white.

We were thinking that we could pound away the miles but we forgot that little thing about "old eyes". It took us quite awhile to get adjusted to seeing in the dark with our lights and then lights coming right towards us and in the end I think we only did about 9 miles the first hour. It was a little like riding in Braille. You could feel the ups coming but you could not see them. We don't think about how much anticipation we do in bicycling. You see a hill...you get ready, down shift, adjust your body position for climb. In the dark it is there before you can do all of that.

Soon enough the sun started peeking over the hills. We are now officially in the Flint Hills area of Kansas. I have always told people that I am from the pretty part of Kansas and it is so true. Especially this morning.....leaving Ellsworth we immediately started with the rolling hills. As the sun was rising we could see these beautiful buttes and bluffs. For a moment I thought I was back in Montana but no this is the Kansas I know. I am sorry that most of the TransAm riders don't get to see it because we are off route. The rolling hills lasted until about 10 miles outside of Salina. Then it dropped down to a more flat terrain and stayed that way all the way into Abilene.

We are in the North East portion of the Flint Hills.

We arrived in Salina before 10am....we were on Hwy 140 and we took Broadway off of that and that turned into Pacific which turned into Old Hwy 40. We didn't see hardly any of Salina. We did see the " gentlemen's club" Wild Wild West right next to the Livestock Auction. Didn't know Kansas had these kind of places. I didn't photo document what we think was going on in the parking lot...not to mention inside.

The Flint Hills. They smelled like a mixture if mint, clover, alfalfa and earth.

Once we were out of Salina and heading toward Abilene, the childhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the rollers were gone and replaced with fields of corn and soy beans. I wanted to get a photo of the Eisenhower Museum but we didn't go by it and it was way too hot to look for it. I have been there many times and recommend it if you ever pass this way.

Today's ride was so nice. We were cool in the morning and didn't have any wind until almost eleven. I was having such a good time remembering Sunday car rides growing up on these back roads. I felt like Dad was with me on the ride today. He loved these fields.

Janet looking for "Red Headed Doll Babies"....you know corn silk. It was right about here I was in such a euphoric state that I said to Jack...."let's ride in all the way to Junction today". He just shook his head, put on his head phones and headed out. We immediately turned into a headwind and the heater was turned up and I soon forgot about that! It would have been a 85 mile day......he is a wise man. He let's the event just happen. Usually works out for the best.

She found some! Dad always had us pick these right out of the fields. He always said "it's ok..we know them". I didn't pick any today but thought about it.

We stopped in Soloman for lunch. I had totally forgotten about this nice little town. We ate in the city park. One of the few times we were not eating on the side of the road.

City Park Boy Scout Building. Don't think it's been used in awhile.

Soon enough we were coming into Abilene. The wind was kicking up and so was the heat. It's like it just gets turned up all at once. You remember our traveling buddy Foster who is doing the TransAm race? (BTW he is in Kentucky). Well, he had mentioned that his uncle has an Expresso shop in Abilene, Ks and we decided to find it and get some coffee, iced of course. We found it (Sips Expresso Bar) and is right across the street from our Super 8 Motel. They make good coffee Cliff!!

Abilene is also known for Greyhound Racing.

Well that was the day and tomorrow will be the last day. I am not sure how I feel about that. I am amazed and excited that we have done this and I am not ready for it to be over. I am going to just try to stay in the now and take in all that is there. We will make it for the reunion. It starts tomorrow night. I just need to get to Moms in time to shower and change. Until tomorrow.....

Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 2,256 miles (3,631 km)

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