Day 27 : A Hot and Sunny Day of Cycling...

From Eureka, KS to Newton, KS - ~ 78 miles

Time on bike: 8:04:06

Max Speed: 26.6 mph

Average Speed: 9.7 mph

We left the park and headed to a gas station to grab something for breakfast. We managed to find individual cereal bowls…which we have been craving. So we bought 2 for each of us and a half a gallon of milk, which we ate and drank most of.

We had a tough (thanks to the wind), but pretty uneventful ride for the morning. It was 35 miles for us to get to one of our notorious gas station/grocery store/restaurant. When we first got to town, it appeared that there was no longer a place for us to get food, which made us quite concerned to say the least. However, after asking someone in town, we found the gas station.

The morning heat was getting pretty rough by the time we arrived…it was especially tough on cailyn. So, we decided that we would hang out there for a couple of hours before getting back out in the heat.

We set out from there again at about 2:30. We had 38 miles to ride with absolutely no services or stops to get to where we were going for the night. Thankfully, the ride seemed to go pretty smoothly and the heat didn’t cause too much trouble. About 5 miles before we got to Newton, we saw a speck in our rearview mirror that seemed to be slowly approaching. As it grew a little closer, we recognized it as a familiar sight…it was another loaded cyclist. It also quickly became apparent to us that he was moving much quicker than us. We exchanged pleasantries as he passed as we all continued pushing to the finish.

Before much longer, we arrived in Newton. We had planned to just find a place to grab dinner on our way to the park where we would be camping for the night. As we were almost to the park, we came upon a dairy queen and decided that would suit us nicely for the evening. And as we pulled into the parking lot, we discovered that the cyclists that had passed us had also chosen dq for the night. We went in, ordered food, and sat down next to him to find out a little bit of his story. turns out he is a teacher (physical education) from Virginia…and the craziest thing that we found out is that it was his 15^th day of riding (it was our 27^th day of riding). He is pretty much the only person that we have encountered that is doing it faster than us, and this guy isn’t even close. He is averaging more than 100 miles per day. Absolutely crazy to say the least!! As a side note, he was in what appeared to be amazing shape.

After finishing our dairy queen, all three of us cycled a few more blocks to a rather large city park where we camped for the night. It was another hot night…the one saving grace, was that there was actually enough wind to be able to get a little bit of breeze going through the tent…which helped at least a little.

With only a couple of towns along the route today, and less interactions with people, we had a little more time to observe the sides of the road today…so we thought that we would share with you a few of the things that we cycled past today. Here’s a list: a wrench, needle nose pliers, a lock, a steer (he was on the wrong side of the fence), part of a door, and plumbing supplies.

I think it is also time for the long awaited…Brad and Cailyn’s rules for Driving Around Cyclists:

Rule #1: Get Over (Substantially)

If you are not able to get at least half a lanes width over when passing a cyclist, then wait. If it is possible, get completely over into the other lane. This may not seem necessary, but from a cyclists perspective, this is much appreciated.

Rule #2: Don’t Pass When Approaching a Corner

If you can’t see clearly around an upcoming corner and make sure that there is not oncoming traffic coming around the corner, don’t pass. Wait until the cyclists have gone far enough around the corner that you can see clearly.

Rule #3: Don’t Pass When Cresting a Hill

If you can’t see over an upcoming hill to make sure that there is not oncoming traffic, don’t pass. Wait until the cyclists have gotten far enough up the hill that you are able to see clearly past the hill and you know for sure that you have adequate space to pass.

Rule #4: Be patient

I cannot begin to tell you have many times we have almost seen head-on accidents or oncoming cars forced onto the shoulder because a car was passing us (giving us plenty of room) when they couldn’t see if there was oncoming traffic or not…only to have oncoming traffic show up and then force them to have to make a split second decision to avoid an accident.