Yay Laura!

 Day 24: Golden City to Hepler, Kansas

distance: 63 mi

Day 25: Hepler to Toronto State Park, KS

distance: 71 mi

Day 26: Toronto State Park to Eureka, KS

distance: 28 mi

Day 27: Eureka to Newton, KS

distance: 81 mi

Day 28: Newton to Lanard, KS
distance: 113.4 mi (yayuh)

Day 29: Lanard to Bazine, KS

distance: 54.5 mi
total distance: 2015 mi (yay!!!)

We ride along a very well travled route. The TransAmerican trail was mapped out in 1973 and since then, many a cyclist have embarked on the journey across the country. We have come across a lot of riders over the course of time. They either head east or west. We stop, we chit chat and we exchange contacts. We met Laura back in Virginia. Laura is a female solo-rider. That's right! I ain't the only crazy gal out there and this one is the real tough one. Laura started in Yorktown, VA and is heading to Montana! Our route is the same until we hit Colorado, at which point she will be heading north. She has been riding on and off with us during this trip and decided to join us through Kansas. It is definitely nice to have another girl to talk to once in a while. Boys are cool, but I don't want to talk about bikes and beef 24/7 (only joking, the guys have been awesome.)

We entered Kansas five days ago. And let me tell you that the legend is true... Kansas is flat!!! We have been riding on a single route all day long. Route 96 takes us through western Kansas all the way to the Rockies in Colorado. I enjoy riding on flat roads. It is such a relaxing thing and allows for much more time to ponder the world amongst other stuff. The scenery, despite what others may say, is gorgeous. Field after field of corn. Soybean plantations. Lots of hay. Sunflowers.  It may get a bit monotonous perhaps, but when you are riding through and just enjoying yourself, it is one of the most calming things ever. I look to my right and to my left and never see the end of the crops. It makes you feel small and big at the same time.

Day 22: Johnson Shut-Ins to Marshfield, MO
distance: 91 mi

Day 23: Marshfield to Golden City, MO
distance: 85 mi

Back blogging is a difficult thing. You can never give all the detail you would like to. The longer you wait to write, the more likely your memory of detail fades. I have an overload of stories I could tell you about of things just within the last week. Give me several hours and a tub of ice cream and I'll start talking. Finding internet sources is not an easy task on the road, and I gave up on the cell phone updates long time ago. It's just too much effort to thumb-type everything with character limitations. 

We are currently in Kansas, already over half way through. Missouri, despite the countless mountains, was a blast. Flowing rivers, lake reservoirs, and an abundance of greenery. To me, Missouri is the state of fresh flowing water. Everyday we took random pit stops at rivers and lakes along the route. At Johnson Shut-Ins, right in the midsts of the Ozarks, we floated down a river stream amidst rocks and boulders. The following day we touched base at one of America's coldest rivers (supposedly) "Alley Spring." My feet went numb after about 20 seconds of standing in 50 degree F water. But when you are riding your bike in over 100 degree temperatures, you try to ignore the freezing cold. We held our breaths and dipped heads into the cold. Next day, we discoverd a river flowing along a cliff. The river was wide and the water deep. How deep? Not sure, but deep enough for us to take a short hike to the top of the cliff and jump down 30 feet into the water below, without ever touching ground. I am not usually a thrill-seeker of this sort. Free falling from anything above 10 feet (without a rope) is scary. But somehow this jump was essential and peer pressure from my companions encouraged me to suck it up. Standing on top of the cliff, I took a deep breath, counted to three and stepped forward into nothing. Within a second or so I was down in the water, feeling high on adrenaline and shaky in my core. It was an amazing feeling.