June 28, Day 28

June 28, Day 28
Abilene to Topeka, KS
Mileage: 108.7
Weather: Iffy in the morning but great as the day progressed

Dear All,

OK, OK maybe were a bit off with respect to Kansas, at least the eastern part of KS. Todays ride although long was delightful and could have been in Western NY or PA. Rolling hills which required a bit of effort but unlike the mountains the hills weren't long.

The day started with overcast skies and as we rolled out of the motel the rain fell although not hard. But, because all of you good people have been praying just the right prayers to the weather gods, within an hour the rain jackets were off and the skies began to clear. The best rider in the group, George, from Frisco, CO, hates riding in the rain so much that most of us believe that he hermetically seals himself against the rain. It actually looks like he's heading out to clean up a toxic site.

At the 10 mile mark we were to cross what were described as Bad RR Tracks. What makes railroad tracks bad (for you non bikers) is that they are frequently not at a right angle to the road meaning that the rider goes over them at an an other than at a right angle. Trust us that's dangerous. We always try to adjust our ride to take the tracks at as close to a right angle as possible and we slow down. But no matter how cautious one tries to be RR tracks are still dangerous. We learned that today when three of the very best riders in the group went down, two of the HARD. Again, helmets proved their worth when one of the riders head obviously hit the pavement since there was clearly a ding in the helmet.

Our first SAG was in White City. Now it might be difficult for most of you to recognize that in eastern KS you can in fact be a City with only 800 souls residing in the place, but that is the case. As we rolled into “town”, Amy made the comment that the place looked a little down around the mouth with a number of boarded up building down Main St. (we thank it's not only Main St,, but the only street). Low and behold White City is in the midst of a renaissance of sorts with a growing population. Apparently there is a military base nearby and families are moving there wanting their kids to grow up in a small town. Well, they found one.

We rolled on with ever increasing steepness to the hills, but they really were sort of a welcome relief from the days and days in western KS where the road did nothing but go straight and never went up or down. Today there were curves in the road. Yup, real curves where you could actually lean you bike into a turn.

At one point we stopped for water and there was a small cemetery. There was one headstone that was just a tad unusually so John had to take a picture. It clearly represents the final resting place of a cowboy who died with his boots on.

At the 72 mile mark we stopped at a little cafe across from Lake Wabaunsee. Apparently this Lake is a spot that people from Topeka and Kansas City come to vacation. It's cute although by Western NY standards the lake is pretty small. We learned, however, from a local that the lake area was a German prisoner of war camp during WW II. The building across from our cafe was the mess hall and the smaller buildings were the barracks. Again, according to the local guy, the prisoners built a dam and actually increased the size of the lake. Pretty interesting.

As we came close to the 100 mile mark we found an interesting sculpture. As you can see it is a bunch of really messed up bicycles. We worried about the riders, but upon reflection we assumed that it was simply one man's attempt at art. Not bad.

The day ended with a smile on our face. All century rides are hard, but this is one we would do again in a heartbeat. It had everything.

Thanks for reading and your prayers (to the weather gods and for our safety). Keep sending the good vibes. Don't forget the comments.

Amy and John