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Day 37 - July 14 - Dighton, KS to Larned, KS - 97 miles

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Another early start to beat the Kansas heat and wind. This is what the local teens do in their spare time. We experienced the most courteous drivers in Kansas.

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Mitchell & Erik were heading east at an aggressive 120 miles per day.  We stopped to help with a broken spoke. Weighing the bike on the scales at a grain elevator. These three Indians came charging over the hill.  We were able to out run them.

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Post rock played a vital role in the development of the treeless grassland of central Kansas.  Obliged to find a substitute for post timber, early settlers began turning back the sod and splitting posts from the rock layer beneath. Many of these stone posts still stand today. A lonely Kansas barn. One of those friendly Kansas natives.

 
We got started at 5:30 this morning after breakfast in our motel room, including coffee we made in a kitchenette near the office.  The weather was cool with no wind at all which made for great riding.  

Just outside Alexander there was a rest area so we stopped to use the facilities.  When we pulled in we saw two loaded touring bikes.  By the time we parked our bikes Mitchell and Erik came out of the rest rooms and greeted us.  Mitchell had a broken spoke on the rear wheel of his bike and didn't have any tools to remove the cassette to replace it.  Fortunately his bike was a Trek 520, the same as Carol's, and we had an emergency spoke that would work for him.  These spokes can be installed without removing the freewheel.  He replaced the old spoke and he was good to go in no time at all.

Just down the road we stopped at a grain elevator that had a soda machine out front.  Apparently no one works here on the weekend as the place was deserted.  We had fun weighing our bikes on the truck scale, had a PBJ sandwich, granola bar and can of soda for lunch and then headed out for Larned.  While we were on break an east wind started and it was slow going the rest of the way.  

We finally reached Larned, 97 miles from where we started this morning; our longest day.  Our room for the night is at the Country Inn.  We had 2 medium stuffed crust pizzas for dinner at Pizza Hut and dessert at Dairy Queen.  M-m-m-m-m.

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