Bike Across Kansas 2006 - Courtney's Great Adventure

In honor of Bike Across Kansas week (June 9-16, 2007), Mark Johnson's account of his family's experience riding across Kansas in 2006:
Within the very first few miles we sadly realized that the wind had a greater velocity than that of the day before as our speed dropped from 14 mph, to 13 mph to 12 mph, to 11 mph, and finally to 10 mph, and oscillated within that range.

To make up for the constant wind, the countryside was becoming more scenic by the mile as we worked our way to Coldwater, our midway lunch destination. The hills and wind had been very tough but as we reached the intersection that would permit a short north stretch, a well placed sag was there to greet us. . . .

The scenery was now rather spectacular for KS, as parts looked like what one would expect to see in AZ complete with mini buttes and towers. We had a 'no town' stretch that lasted forty miles, but sags were placed every 6-8 miles to help struggling riders as the sag-in rate had become ridiculous. The wind actually died down some, and even though it was not in our faces, it had let up enough that we were able to roll faster. . . .

The final few miles to Medicine Lodge rolled well with downhills and easy occasional climbs.

We grabbed our bags from the truck, checked into our motel and did our laundry.

Tomorrow will be another day.
Read about the rest of the trip and see the photos here.

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