June 30, 2001.
Sterling to Larned, Kansas. (60 mi.) Mile 1969
Out
West
At breakfast this morning, our
restaurant was decorated in a sunflower motif, across the street was a giant
grain elevator, and the farmers at the next table were discussing tornado
damage. No mistaking what state we are in. Over the course of traveling across
Kansas, though, we have progressed from Midwestern to Western.
More and more buildings use weathered
barn wood siding, the cattle industry influences the economy and decor, and
irrigation is necessary for crops and lawns. At a small country market, we were staring into the refrigerated beverages as is our
habit, when we noticed Starbuck's Frappuccino for sale. This isn't southern
Appalachia anymore. We can truly say we are out West here in Larned, once an
important post along the
old Sante Fe Trail, a major trade route between central Missouri and New Mexico in the
mid-1800s.
Many early
western Kansas settlers lived in sod houses like this replica at the Santa Fe
Trail Museum.
This morning we set a new personal
record of 45 minutes from the time we opened our eyes to the time we had broken
camp and were rolling down the road. No overcast, cool temperature today. The
temperature was soaring toward 100 again by noon when we made it into the Larned Dairy Queen to cool down. Today's pace was the fastest yet.
1) 
2) 
1) Over 100 degrees in the shade.
2) Mayapple blooms outside of Larned
Riding through the
Quivira National Wildlife Refuge
First order of business was to look
for spare spokes at the Larned bike shop listed on our map, or what is left of it, a
collection of bicycle parts in cardboard boxes stored in a garage. We pawed
through a tangle of old spokes and found a few the right size to carry as
spares. We have not had a broken spoke in two days. The next real bike shop is in Pueblo, CO,
not that far away.
This evening we are camping at the
city park by the city pool again, where we can use the showers. The pool is packed with squealing kids
enjoying the summer. So far, this is the "heart of
the watermelon of summer", and approximately the halfway point of our
trip. I remember having anxiety about bicycling across Kansas, but so far,
Kansas has been great. We were ready for flat land after the eastern mountains, and we will probably be looking forward to mountains again when we
have had enough flat land. Then, since it will have been a long time since
we have had an ocean, we will be looking forward to another one. It is good that
the country is organized this way.
