torsdag 10. juli 2014

Day 29: Kansas!

127.0 km

Happy that I had stayed inside during a major thunderstorm last night, I went out to the motel breakfast that consisted of eggs and pastries. The wind was out of the southwest which made the first part of the day until I reached Sheridan Lake pretty slow. I decided to take a rest stop here to regain some motivation. Here I met Eddy who was biking from St. Louis, Missouri to Vancouver, Canada. He had worn out his rear tire and was stranded here in Sheridan Lake, hoping that someone would give him a ride to Pueblo. We sat in the shade from the convenience store and talked for a good hour. After a while two guys - father and son  - cycling the TransAmerica trail from east to west, showed up. They were accompanied by a support car for only a few days and managed to make arrangements for getting Eddy a new tire. 





Feeling empowered by the rest and the snack I had in Sheridan Lake, I headed off with the strong wind blowing at my 2 - 4 o'clock which alternated between being a pain and a godsend. The temperature started to soar as I crossed into Kansas and after pushing it another couple of km I decided to wait some of the worst heat out in Tribune. I sought shelter outside a supermarket where I ate a basket of strawberries and a bowl of granola. People here were really friendly and many stopped to ask about the trip. All the little towns along the way in this area seemed to be centered around farming and seemed busy in a casual kind of way, with big trucks hauling even bigger farming equipment.





After deciding that I couldn't sit around waiting for the temperatures to drop, I headed out in the scorching heat. I put on my long sleeve shirt and soaked it to combat the heat. The riding from Tribune to Leoti was incredibly slow, and the last 20 km seemed just endless. I had been very curious about this part of the country because it is so different from what I am used to in Norway, with wide open, endless fields. It is truly something, to see the breadbasket of the world with your own eyes, and let yourself get sucked into its infinity. But the openness really makes you  fragile with nowhere to hide from both the constant wind and the sun which can be worrying if you're not cautions.








Having lost an hour upon entering central time zone, I got to Leoti too late to get hold of any other food than gas station food and after a poor meal, I spent the windy night at the city park in Leoti.

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