Rain or shine we were moving on!

Mike set out this morning at sunrise and we were going to leave Hutchinson, rain or shine! Well we got rain, but it was a light warm rain so Mike powered through it for 75 miles and almost 6 hours.


It appears we may have rain on and off through the rest of Kansas so we've decided to try and get through it as fast as we can. The plan for tomorrow is to do just under 100 miles to a town called Chanute.




Tonight and we are in Cassaday, Kansas, which is a small town filled with cows and dandelions (so needless to say, I kept busy today).

Held back by the weather in Kansas!

Nothing exciting to report today. We are still in South Hutchinson, Kansas. We woke up to an amazing electrical storm, shut the alarm off and turned over.

After a couple of hours the storm died down and I think Mike regretted not going ahead. He did manage to take a 4 1/2 hour nap so I'm thinking his body needed the break!

We plan on moving on tomorrow rain or shine!

Don't forget to check out all the images from Kansas and the rest of the trip at www.focalinstincts.com!

Against The Wind!

Mike rode against the wind for 74 miles today! But in spite of wind, snow, and freezing rain, Mike has ridden over 1,500 miles so far (1,569 to be exact).


We are in a town called South Hutchinson, Kansas tonight. The weather channel keeps promising rain every day this week and so far we haven't seen it.


Today's ride was interesting as we rode through the wet lands of Kansas. Not something I'd expect to see in Kansas. I spent some of my down time today playing with farm animals and watching egrets and wild turkeys.





I even found some time to save a turtle who was trying to make his way across the street.

Cold winds from the north!

Cold winds blew from the north as Mike took off this morning from Ness City and rode 64.7 miles!


The sky looked pretty dark and scary at times, but we never got a drop of rain. We arrived in Larned, Kansas today at around noon. It appears the storms have all moved well into the east and are no longer a threat. Although, from the way the locals talk, it could change from one minute to the next.




While doing some bike maintenance outside today, another couple walked up and announced they were doing something similar. They are actually WALKING from California to Jerusalem. I guess they hop on a freight liner for 9 days to cross the ocean. They said they were on day 109 or 110, they weren't sure anymore. They are planning on completing their journey within 2 years. You can check out their walk at www.walkingeast.com.

Here is a shot of Mike doing his bike maintenance. You can see he's lost some weight but his head seems to have gotten big! (I love playing with my wide angle lens!)

Chasing the Storm!

Today we left just after sunrise at 6:50 a.m. It had rained last night and we felt like we were chasing the storm for all 54 miles today into Ness City, Kansas.



Luckily the wind had shifted overnight and Mike had some tail wind on his side. His average speed was about 16 miles per hour. Here is a shot of what it's like supporting a rider in questionable weather.



Not much opportunity for much photography today, but I did happen upon a couple of wild Spring Turkey's.




A few things we've learned about Kansas in the few days we've been here:

1 - No pheasant cleaning in hotel guest rooms is allowed.

2 - When you have a choice between ham or chicken on your chef salad, the chicken will be breaded and fried.

3 - It appears that when you buy a satellite dish to put on your single wide mobil home, it comes with a free trampoline!

4 -Based on the activity in the towns we are visiting, we believe that we are either living an episode of the twilight zone, or the adults have been wished out to the corn field.

A day cut short by the weather.

Mike started out this morning hoping for more tail winds and flat lands like yesterday.


Well, the flat lands didn't change but the wind direction did as well as the temperature. This morning the ice cold head winds cut our day short. Our short day took us 24 miles to Scott City, Kansas. We're staying at the Lazy R Motel. As I was checking in to the hotel, the elderly hotel keeper informed me that we have an air conditioner and a heater and asked us to please not run both at the same time. She also made sure I was aware there was an alarm clock available for our use. Once inside the room there were all sorts of rules and information we needed to pay attention to.




Since we arrived early, there is really only so much you can do in a small town in Kansas, so I did what I'm sure anyone would do in my situation. I went outside and played with a barn! I'm pretty sure it was Dorothy's barn in the Wizard of Oz. I kept expecting to see Toto and Mike riding through a tornado on his bike!





Hopefully the weather will improve by tomorrow. There are tornado warnings all over much of the state. It appears we are just on the outer rim of those warnings. The room also had a handy "Notice To The Public" as to what the various warnings signals mean, so we are in the know!

High Plains Rider!

Today Mike was the high plains rider, riding his way into Kansas!


Mike rode 78.6 miles and we made it into Lioti, Kansas today just after 1:00. It would have been closer to noon, but we rode into Central time so we had to adjust the clocks again. We are staying at the Hi-Plains Hotel and we were pleased to find that the hotel is much nicer than their sign 7 miles out of town.



The road was long, straight and flat again. The wind was on Mike's side today and his average speed overall was about 18 miles per hour. He caught up with me several times at about 35 miles per hour.



At first glance you wouldn't think there is much to capture photographically out here, but I've learned if you just get out of the car and watch, there is plenty of beauty in the mid-west.

115 Miles Today!

Today Mike had planned on riding 54 miles, but when we reached our destination at 10:30 a.m., we decided to continue on and knock out another 61 miles. Tonight we are in Eads, Colorado, which is our last night in Colorado.


Today the road was long and flat, and with a nice tail wind it made the ride very smooth.

As promised in yesterday's blog update, Mike is back in the picture!


The scenery was much of the same most of the way, so I decided to be creative with what I was given! I was excited to have flowers and butterflies back in the scene, as well as even more antelope today!









Next update will be from Kansas!!