Day 22 – Ash Grove, MO to Girard, KS

Kansas. It’s hot, flat, and built on a grid. This is not what you’d call great cycling country. That said, it’s in between the Rockies and the Appalachians and we have to ride through it. So here we go.

We got sort of a late jump today since we started so far outside of Springfield. It was already a bit warm at 8am when we hit the road. Temps (and wind) only climbed form there. We had a few subtle hills on the way out of Ash Grove, but before too long things got flat for serious with only small rises noticeable over each little rise we came over.

Bobby got a sweet action shot out the MCC window.

And Heidi captured this awesome shot of a train going by. You’ll be able to purchase prints online 😉

JP managed to get in 42 miles in Missouri before needing a little help to get to the Kansas border. We rallied just before the border and rode over it together. The sign for Kansas wasn’t very impressive. Heidi even missed it the first time and had to loop back.

I managed to kick out 83 miles today. The wind was basically out of the south at 15mph and most of the route was due west. In fact, one stretch of the route was 33 miles due west. No turns, nothing. The wind was pretty difficult to deal with towards the end of that stretch. But the few times I got to point the wheels north, I was flying. I ran out of gears a few times on the flats and was pegged out at nearly 30mph. That almost made up for the westward sections (almost).

Heidi and the boys stopped at the Crawford County Historical Museum while they waited this afternoon. While Crawford county may not be the most well known county, the museum was pretty cool. They even opened up early for the crew as they pulled in about 45 minutes before opening time.  This steam shovel looks a lot like the one from Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel if you ask me.

The museum even had old computers on display from local businesses that were no longer around. I think I’d find that amusing but I’m sure none of my kids know what a floppy disk actually looks like.

Trying for 92 miles tomorrow. Leaving at 6a to make it happen. We’ll see how it goes. It’s going to be hot and windy again, and this time we’re spending the better part of 45 miles on the same road heading due west. Can’t wait.