Thursday, June 2nd ...Today we crossed the river dividing Kansas and Missouri. We rode 86 miles and again had to deal with some head winds but that was compounded with an increasing number of "roller coaster" hills! They are not long climbs, but it is one after another! The roads were not the greatest. We rode for miles on roads that had no shoulders or paved siding. That meant we had to share the lane with everything from 16 wheelers to motorcycles. Also, the condition of the roads in many places is not good. It is very important to keep a close eye on the road as some cracks are bigger than the bike tires. The next five days are going to be a real test. All the rides will be 85 to 105 miles each. There will be a fair number of hills and it will get warmer!
Saturday, June 18th .... Today was a surprise. Four days ago, we were getting heat warnings and the temp was 94 with high humidity. This morning when we left Buffalo it was 55 and the wind was out of the NW at 15 mph and the sky was overcast. The ride was good. It was not too difficult even though we had 3400 ft of climbing. Most of the hills were short, less than a mile in length but some had spots where the grade hit 10%. Overall, most hills were in the 3-5% range. We will see more hills with increasing length over the balance of the ride The big milestone was we crossed the 3000-mile point and have less than 400 miles to go. It has been a trip I will never forget and has lived up to my expectations.
Comments
Post a Comment