Day 43: Cassoday, KS to Buhler, KS (71 miles, 1884 total)

Today can be divided into two completely different riding experiences for me. The first 40 miles were utterly miserable, the last 30 were comparitively enjoyable. So it goes, and each trying experience leads to a more memorable trip. Besides, if each day were a breeze, the trip would be boring, right? (I'll just keep telling myself that anyway).

We slept very well in the church and woke up early to try to get a few miles in before the wind picked up. Our oatmeal breakfast was welcomed after yesterday's experience (though I was still having a hard time getting things down). Before heading out, we stopped by the same country store where we heard about the church yesterday. Towns in Kansas are spread far apart and as a result, drink stops are few and far between. I wanted to grab a gatorade to drink later. There are 2 giant chickens that live at the store. Their names are Jim and Betty and we'll post a picture of them later. We got to watch them eat breakfast and I swear it seemed as if they were just trying to peck through the bottom of their dish rather than eat. I was asking all sorts of chicken questions and the woman working there finally asked me where I was from. Guess it shows that I didn't grow up on a farm.

A few miles down the road, we came upon a bull calf outside of his fence. He really wanted to get back in with his herd, and really didn't want to be out with us. He ran along the fence in our direction for a while. We weren't sure what to do, but at the next pasture, we saw 2 ranchers we had talked to the day before. We told them about the little guy but they didn't seem to care. It wasn't their calf, it was their neighbor's. Oh well, they were nice about it and we tried.

It was shortly after this that the trip soured for me. I haven't had much of an appetite lately and this morning nausea set in hard. That, combined with the heat and relentless wind, pushed me over the edge. I was miserable and really just wanted to bag the whole trip. Forget the bike. Give me a car, A/C, a bed, and 7 hours a day of NOT sitting on a bike seat and call me happy. I was a weepy basket-case by the time I caught up to a waiting Jeffrey about 5 miles outside of our lunch stop in Newton. We pressed on though.

We ate at a local and popular diner called CJ's and it was just what I needed. It was cool, but not so cold that we were left shivering in sweaty jerseys, and the food was great. We sat there for over an hour while I tried to recooperate. "Just 30 more miles," I kept telling myself. "Stupid August 7th deadline," the sassy part of my brain retorted.

With my first full stomach in days, we rolled out in the wind and heat again. This time was much better. As there was to be no town between us and our destination of Buhler, we stopped for groceries in Newton in case we were going to have to cook.

The land is starting to level off a bit. Eastern Kansas still has quite a few gentle rollers until you get west of Witchita (so we've been told). We are starting to see fields so large that they stretch to the horizon. The water tower for Buhler came into view about 6 miles before we actually got there. I was day-dreaming of cold drinks for a long time before it finally became a reality.

Buhler wins the Community Award of the trip so far. This small town is working hard to stay alive and it shows. The businesses in the downtown part are all mom & pop type stores and very well kept. We stopped in for pizza dinner at The Grape Vine and it was great! They have the best pizza we've had in a while. After resting and eating, it was time to find the city park to set up camp. Wheatfield Park is the heart of this community. It is very picture perfect with a large pond and several picnic areas, a pool, and various sports fields. We ran into the son of the City Superintendent who made us feel at home. We took a nice swim to relax our tired muscles and then showered too. Now we're sitting in the tent to hide from the mosquitos before turning in for the night. I'm sure I will sleep well tonight.

AKB

Note from Jeff: Yesterday at our lunch stop at Eureka, a couple of cowboys (complete with hats, spurs and the required poo on their boots) stopped to chat as they were leaving. We told them about the route and our plan for the day, and on their way out the door one of them said, "You're gonna have to pucker up down this road here, aren't you?" In near perfect unison we replied, "Oh yeah" as he walked out the door. I turned to AK and asked, "What does that mean?"
"I have no idea," she said.
"Yeah, either do I," and with that we went back to eating.

Does anybody know what that guy was talking about? We sure don't.