Jul/090
Day 29 – Long Day (120 miles)
Just a quick note to explain why after being in Tappahannock, VA we somehow teleported into Missouri… We have been ever so slightly lax with the posting over the last 20 days or so. It’s not the thing you want to do most after a day on the bike – tap out a post on an iPod. We’re trying to keep up with the regular posting and we’ll fill in the older ones as we get the time.
We started our first full day in Kansas today, hitting the road around 7am. Had a truly effortless first 20-30 miles. No wind, and only the person in front had to put any effort in, which meant we only had to work for it 25% of the time. Nice.
Pizza Hut buffet for an athlete’s lunch before heading out on the next big stretch to our planned stop at Toronto (population 300, as I said they like reusing place names).
Kansas is pretty damned flat and from what we’ve heard and seen, getting flatter. Makes a very nice change to the Appalachians and the Ozarks. The miles just go by without noticing. Towards the end of the day we let Blake go behind with one of our Walmart walkie talkies because we didn’t have far to go and he was struggling to keep pace on the hills with all the pots, pans, stoves, sinks and Christ knows what else he has in those bags. This wouldn’t normally be a problem – we could just slow down a little bit – but Cal had his headphones on and wasn’t really too aware of the pace… or pretty much anything to be honest. Autopilot. We got into the town we were supposed to be staying at and had a bite to eat at a small diner a few miles out of town because everything in town was closed. Me and Dowds were looking at the map trying to figure out what our plans were for the next few days and what started as a joke suggestion to carry on and do a 120 mile day eventually turned into a tempting idea. We knew the sticking point would be Cal but we sweetened the deal by promising to stay in a motel and he was up for it. Now the problem was getting hold of Blake who was just behind us. Out of radio range, left my mobile in the motel yesterday… bit of a nightmare. We ended up calling the camp ground he was staying at and leaving a message asking the ranger person to go tell him our plans. We also managed to leave a voicemail on his cellphone and told the owners of the cafe to tell him to check his voicemail. We managed to get in touch with him later and we’re meeting up with the Bostonian tomorrow morning in Eureka.
It’s 9:30pm now – way past bedtime.