We passed into Kansas about 16 miles before our destination of Tribune. The biting flies were attacking our ankles so we got back on the road as soon as possible after snapping the photo.
We're camped by the gazebo in the town park in Tribune. It is actually quite nice. We can watch the softball game going on across the road, on the other side of the tennis courts. A bicycle tourist, a Lutheran theologian from Germany, was also staying there and just slept on top of the picnic table.
The pool house is adjacent to the tennis courts. They keep the bathroom and (cold) showers open all night and cyclists are welcome to use them.
This place at the entrance to Scott City has the cheapest gas anywhere.
And the phone booth is probably only ten cents.
There were reports of a big thunder and hail storm coming in this afternoon so we decided to bail because of the hail and are staying in a motel. We ran next door to a truck stop to grab some fast food to eat in the room and got back just a few minutes before the storm hit.
We had been thinking about stopping in Ness City since there didn't seem to be any camping or lodging for some distance past there. We stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant in town and talked to three fellows working on the harvest, one from South Africa, one from Brazil and one from Hagerstown MD, near my hometown (and destination for this tour) of Gettysburg, PA.
Just after, in rolled a guy on a fully-faired recumbent, called a "velo mobile". His name is Allan (with two Ls) and he said he had been hearing about us for days.
Several minutes later in rolled two other touring cyclists, Rosie and Kevin. They had met by chance back in Virginia and have been riding together ever since. Rosie had got tired of people complaining about her old-fashioned non-smart cell phone, so she bungied an old dial phone on the back of her rack and tells people that's her "old phone".
Allan told us that there is indeed lodging available in the next town of Bazine, "in the old high school building". So after a long conversation with Rosie and Kevin we pushed on.
Sure enough, the old high school building is now the home of a family consisting of David and Krista, their 6 adopted kids and two other kids visiting from Ukraine. We all had dinner together and then Greg performed some of his repertoire of magic tricks for the assembled audience. (Thanks Greg for this photo.)
After a beautiful plains sunset we had a thunder and lightning show before we went to bed.
The Adventure Cycling errata sheet for their route map recommended avoiding route 183 because the rumble strips installed on the shoulder make it unsafe to ride. So we took their alternate route which included 10 miles of gravel/sand unpaved roadway.
We're in a motel in Larned tonight because it is supposed to rain tonight and the alternative is camping in the city park with iffy access to toilets. When I was outside talking on my cell phone Allan happened by and later came over to the room to chat and to give us contact information for David (the father at the high school).
Later we met another fellow named Ryan who was moving from Missouri to Davis CA (his wife was driving. :=)
Later a guy in a pickup truck pulled over and wanted to talk. Jim is 89 years old now but used to do a lot of bicycle touring when he was in his 60s and 70s. His son works at the supermarket in Glenwood Springs CO where Greg does his shopping.
We had tailwinds all day, strongest in the morning. We were often cruising along at over 20 mph (32 km/hr).
We stopped along the way at a house that had a sign on the road that said, "BIKE RIDERS - WATER". We went through the gate to the house and talked for awhile with the lady that came out. But the hose with the water is hanging over the front fence by the road, which we didn't see at first.
After lunch in Nickerson we decided to push on to Newton. We ended up doing 111 miles. Greg did his first century.
I did get my first flat of the tour, a slow leak. Not too bad - one flat in 2000 miles. However, in the process of removing the front wheel I forgot to remove the wires for the generator hub first and ended up breaking one of the wires.
We got in so late to Newton that we knew we needed to find a restaurant still open even before checking into the hotel. Greg was checking Google for a place to eat when a nice lady on a bicycle stopped to give us directions. One suggestion was a Korean restaurant just a few blocks away, which perked up Greg's interest since he used to live in Korea and loves the food and culture. But it was already closed when we got there.
Another lady in a car then stopped by to help us out. People here sure are friendly. One suggestion was the 24-hour truck stop near our hotel which has a great chicken-fried steak. So that's where we went and had the biggest chicken-fried steak I've ever seen. I finished mine but Greg left a lot of it on his plate.
In the morning we rode to the Newton Bike Shop to have some minor maintenance done. Greg got a tuneup. I had them fix the broken wire to the front hub and troubleshoot a clicking sound coming from the bottom bracket area. I thought they had fixed the click, but later found it was still there.
The washing machine in the hotel is broken so we just washed out our clothes in the sink and hung them in the room to dry.
For dinner we made the 5-mile round trip to the Korean restaurant so Greg could get his Korean food fix. The Kim Chi was out of a bottle and the Pul Go Gi was more Chinese style than Korean style but it was a satisfying meal nonetheless.
Last updated July 2, 2018