Day 25 : Anybody Got an Extra Sail???

From Pittsburgh, KS to Chanute, KS - ~ 60.2 miles

{note}
thanks to our friends justin and tracy, the story in numbers is back...they gave us the cycling computer off of his bike...

Story [in numbers]:

Time on bike: 5:25:57
Max Speed: 26.8 mph
Average Speed: 11.1 mph


Story [in words]:

since we had ultra nice accommodations for yet another night, we decided to sleep in till 7 and grab some really good food at the free continental breakfast, before getting the bikes loaded up and heading back on the road. it was about 9 before we were out of the hotel.

as we came out of the hotel, i quickly noticed what i thought was a good sign. i headed over to a section of grass to see if i could confirm what i thought was the good news. i grabbed a few blades of grass, threw them up in the air, and sure enough...just as i had thought...the wind was coming straight out of the east. i felt like we couldn't get on the bikes soon enough...and if we would have had a sail, i would have thrown it up for sure. having the wind in your direction makes all the difference in the world. it is amazing what a new day brings.

we cycled with little effort as the wind blew us along from behind. although, we did have to go about 12-15 miles north today, so the wind did have it's drawbacks at times. at about 11:45, we were passed by a car out in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere...after passing us, it pulled onto the shoulder and driver rolled down the window, waiting for us to pull up next to him. it was a older looking gentlemen...his speech was a little hard to understand...but he was excited to tell us that there was a lutheran church just up the road that serves lunches on thursdays. we thought that sounded great...so we cycled on a couple of miles and found it just as he had said. a church with a full parking lot...we parked our bikes, and headed in.

it is always so funny to see the looks you get as you walk in. it is not one of shock or surprise really...since they are on this route, they are pretty used to seeing the cyclists...it is more one of excitement that you are there, and a desire to take care of you and make sure that you really enjoy their town. we quickly were engaged in some great conversations with people...then we grabbed some good food as well! they were even excited to give us a tour of the church...truly a small town community. they were just great people, though, a real bright spot in the middle of a bunch of farmland! it is so heart warming to be reminded of how good people are...we are created in the image of God...every single one of us, whether we realize it or not...and i am reminded of that at times like that.

we got back on the bikes and continued on towards chanute. today was the first day that we listen to headphones for a good portion of the day. cailyn started listening to the harry potter books on her ipod, and i was able to get espn radio reception on my phone pretty much all day, so i enjoyed some sports talk. it was the kind of day that just seemed very appropriate to just listen and ride...so we did, and it was quite enjoyable to say the least.

we are now sitting at a great little sub and yogurt shop in chanute. we are going to go and find our campground for the night and hopefully get cleaned up, before mark (cailyn's old boss), his husband, and two of the people she worked with meet us here for dinner. they are flying down in mark's personal private jet. it will be nice to have one more visit before we really head west for the next couple of weeks.

as a small sidenote...keep your eyes out in the next day or two...i am going to have a special section in a post entitled..."Cailyn and Brad's Tips for Driving Around Cyclists"...