It seems like the road is constantly going uphill here. I think there is about a 500’ rise in the 14 miles from St Francis to the state line. Well, at least going back it will be downhill. The wind started to blow after riding 8 miles or so. Guess that is to be expected – this is just plain open country here - nothing to stop the wind at all. I would imagine this could really be something else in the dead of winter. Made it to the state line about 7:40 a.m. where I had my picture taken by the Colorado sign and then the Kansas sign as proof that I was actually here. Put on sunscreen – let’s go! Wind is from the NNW with a temperature about 65.

Got in line for the official first start, but only rode 50’ feet or so. Wasn’t quite ready, but did leave a few minutes later. Now it’s up to my endurance, legs, bike and will power to ride the next 400 plus miles!! About halfway between the line and St Francis we had our first Sag stop. Met a rider there who had a sail attached to his bike. He was going to use it when he had a crosswind – was very confident that it would work. We’ll see. Returned to St Francis about 9:00 a.m. Am I crazy or what? I could be at home still in bed with my wife – sure would be a lot easier than peddling a bicycle across the state! Still glad I’m here and not home. Not that I don’t like home, but I have thought about doing a long distance ride since I was still a kid at home 35 years ago. It is perfect riding weather except for the wind – oh the wind! Fortunately it is a quartering tail wind and not a dreadful headwind. The airshow has some neat planes. I guess there are a lot of Stearman biplanes, but there appears to be quite a few WWII planes also. The engines on the WWII planes sound like they are big enough to fly a 747. They have a "wonderful throaty" thunder!! Decided not to stop by the show since I have seen enough airshows to last awhile and I know if I go in it ain’t gonna be for just a few minutes! Got some neat pix though of a flyover. Found the postoffice in town and mailed my cards. Came back to QT where I bought my supper last night to get some water and a sport drink. While standing outside I saw this car parked in front of the store with the front passenger door open. There was woman bent over into the car doing something when all of the sudden I heard an outburst of laughter and then comments coming from several people around the car. The woman had been changing the diaper of a baby boy and … well you can guess what happened!

Traveling at 15 mph you are provided with a whole different perspective on things around you. The wind whistling through the powerlines, smell of newly mown grass or hay, click of the bike gears shifting, clack of the chain re-engaging, the sound of the tires whizzing on the pavement… Each moment brings with it something different!

The shirt that I was wearing ( Get Cookies… Donate Blood) had elicited a comment from a fellow cyclist about the cookie guy. This gave me the idea to hand out cookies while wearing the shirt. While I was stopped at the QT in St Francis, I bought a box of vanilla wafers ($4.80!). At the second sag stop I got some duct tape and taped my box of vanilla wafers to my bike. I then set off on a mission to give cookies to riders that I passed. This didn’t pan out very well. I guess people didn’t want a dry vanilla wafer handed to them by someone they didn’t know. I tried to eat some of them, but found very quickly that trying to breath through your mouth and eating a dry cookie doesn’t mix to well! Oh well….

Noticed that the wheat in this area hasn’t been cut yet although it looks nearly ready. Several miles before Bird City, I saw a farmer next to the road working with his irrigation system. Since it reminded me of the system that I had worked with on my dad’s farm north of Alamosa, Colorado back in 1965, I decided to stop and talk to him. He was a very friendly and told me all about their irrigation system. We also talked about the high cost of seed corn – it was the new type matched with a herbicide, and other problems facing farmers today. What he and his son farmed (7,000 acres) used to support almost 40 families. Times have changed and the expenses of farming have gotten out of hand.

Rode on into Bird City – the only town of its name in the USA. I went downtown looking for someplace to eat, but decided I didn’t want to eat in a restaurant. So went into the local supermarket which had a small deli. The deli sold fried chicken, but since I’m not a chicken fan I asked if they had sandwiches. The woman behind the counter said they didn’t, but another lady came by and said they could fix me one. I ended up with a ham and cheese on white. Really thanked them a lot - they showed true hospitality! Buying a few other things and I went out and sat on the sidewalk in front. A woman rode up about this time on a recumbent and went into the store – the woman not the recumbent! Coming out a few minutes later with a can of salmon, she sat down near me to eat her lunch of pop and salmon. You do things differently on a ride like this! She was from Wichita and we sat and talked for awhile while eating. While we were sitting there I noticed a little, old lady walking slowly across the street. I wasn’t sure what she would think of us with our bikes and bike clothes, but she didn’t seem to mind and was friendly to us. What I didn’t realize was that a KC Star photographer / reporter were near there about the same time. They took her picture while we were sitting. I finally made it into a major newspaper. You can see my feet in a KC Star picture! My feet are famous!

After lunch, started on down the road for McDonald and the next sag stop. At the stop, there was the woman from Wichita fixing a flat on her recumbent. She thought she rode over some glass in a service station parking lot just down the road from there.

Most of the time I have been riding by myself, but occasionally would catch or be cought by someone and would ride with them. Caught up with a rider who was a chaplin from Des Moines working in an Alzheimers care center. He is a veteran bicyclist having ridden RAGBRAI 9 times, Nebraska 2 times and BAK 2-3 times. He has a definite head start on me!

East of McDonald, the road started going up and down some big hills. Just prior to Lewallen hill had another SAG stop. These stops are a good excuse to stop for a few minutes and get some carb’s from oranges, apples, cookies and candy. Lewallen hill seemed like it went on for a mile. I made several stops taking pictures of a bumblebee on thistle and old farm machinery. Several people passed me while I was taking pictures. After I stopped photographing and started riding again, I passed a father, daughter and son riding. The son was about 13 while the sister appeared to be several years younger. She was going strong at the 45 mile mark. The son took off and left all of us, although I eventually caught up with him in Atwood. He was a strong rider for his age!

Arrived in Atwood about 3:00pm having ridden 77 miles on the first day. This is a new record for me! The gym floor was very crowded, so I found a spot at the top of the bleachers between the top bench and the wall. This was a rather narrow space, but at least there was no one next to me and I had the benefit of an open window directly above. Ate a banana/pineapple smoothie, took a shower and ate supper. Since I was having some minor muscle cramps, I bought 5 bananas and ate three very quickly and was soon working on my fourth. Made my bed out and arranged everything for a quick departure tomorrow morning. I want to leave by 7:00 a.m. I was tired when I got here today. I had started the trip this morning praying, singing and finally talking to myself. The last third I was too tired to do much more than peddle. Hope I can sleep good tonight….

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