Day 44: Buhler, KS to Great Bend, KS (72 miles, 1957 total)

After I slept like it was my job, we woke up in Buhler to be chewed on the most relentless mosquitos ever. As soon as we stepped out of the tent, they were all over us like flies on poop. I must have killed 25 before we left. I was wishing my sister Aimee was around because the mosquitos think she is a lot tastier than I am. AK said she barely slept at all because of the heat and the squeaky windmill that stood near our tent.

Speaking of Buhler, if any of you have not seen "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," you need to see it before I have you deported.

We packed up and blasted out of town ASAP to avoid the barrage of bites. About 20 miles later, we arrived in the town of Nickerson, which is yet another small town that gets by on the grain business. We could see their co-op grain elevator towering above the town for miles out. But even before we saw that, we spotted a trail of grain on the road that ran right into town all the way to the grain elevator. Apparently, a major portion of some unfortunate farmer's crop spilled all over the road when the gate on the truck did not close completely. It was amazing how much there was, and it was impossible to ride on.

In town, we decided to stop at a café for breakfast which turned out to be a great call. It was the best breakfast we've had in weeks, and we met a nice couple that gave us a donation. So for future cyclists, stop in the Sunshine Cafe in Nickerson for a great meal at a decent price with friendly service too.

After breakfast, we battled a few more miles of crosswinds from the south before heading north and riding an awesome tailwind for nearly 20 miles. Thanks to Dale's recommendation, we have decided to go off route for a day in order to ride a section of road with services available more regularly. So, turning north on the 96 (which actually joins the route again in Rush Center and then will take us out of Kansas in a few days), we blasted through Sterling and into Lyons before turning west through Chase and Ellinwood.

Each and every one of these towns thrives on the grain industry. Harvested and unharvested fields seperate each and co-op grain elevators tower above each town. Grain trucks shuttle grain from the fields to the co-op constantly this time of year. Every time one passed us, the 60mph smell gave a reminder of our Maker's Mark tour.

Except when we were riding a tailwind, we were blasted with an increasing crosswind from the south as we headed due west on the practically square-straight roads of Kansas. According to the Weather Channel this evening, at their strongest, the winds averaged 22mph, so who knows about the gusts.

Anyway, the wind forces us to ride leaning to the side and passing cars cause quite a problem with changes in the consistency. Even when you are standing still, the gusts can practically blow you over. As a result, AK suffered the first wipeout of the trip, albeit a slow one thankfully.

Just after pulling back onto the road after a break, a gust got the best of AK and forced her to the point of instability. She was barely moving forward, but still slammed hard onto her left side into the middle of the road. Luckily, no cars were coming, so we had time to quickly get her up. Other than a banged up elbow, AK is fine. Her bike's left shifter got smacked out of place, but surprisingly it still works fine; I just had to put it back into position.

Kansas is becoming flatter and flatter everyday, but with that comes more wind. The greenery that we wrote about a few days ago has started to vary. From one vast field to the next, the scenery changes from green to brown and back to green as the crops change. The fields are stuffed full of corn, soy beans, wheat, sunflowers, or cows. Each is amazing to see as they explode beyond the horizon, even the cow pastures have bovines as far as the eye can see.

I've thought of some names for my future pet turkey and chicken. The chicken will either be called "Grace" because that is what we will say before we eat her, or "Original Recipe" to distinguish her from the extra-crispy chickens. The turkey will be called "Stuffin'"

Jeff