Day 50-53

Day 50 Tribune to Scott City

We were sad to leave the Robertsons! We felt like we were a part of their family. It wasn't our final goodbye just yet. About 20 miles into our ride, we met up with Karly and Shannon at the pharmacy they work at. It was hard leaving our new friends, but staying in touch will be easy with the power of Facebook.

Back on the road again! We had about another 50 miles to the town of Dighton where we planned on calling it a night. The expected happened and we got our favorite part of Kansas....headwinds. We rode about 5 miles in these strong winds until we saw a rest area and decided to stop for lunch in hopes the wind would stop howling after we finished up lunch. An hour goes by and we finished lunch, but the damn wind just got stronger! We figured the best solution was to take a nap. We passed out for about 3 hours haha! Good news was that the wind died down a bit when we woke up...

With it being dusk now, we knew we had no shot of making it to Dighton before it got dark, so we decided to ride to Scott City which was 20 miles away. It was a lonesome ride with the winds at our faces the whole time. Having headwinds the whole time in Kansas, we have become experts with just dealing with the wind and not have it ruin the day. We made it to Scott City right before dark. With me being so hungry I convinced Kristen to grab Mexican food before we setup our home in the park. The food was great and we topped off the night with Dairy Queen millshakes... mmmmmmm my favorite!

Night Mark

Day 51 Scott City to Dighton

The winds today were ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get sideways! We were, I was miserable. We rode 25 miles to Dighton and were planning on taking a rest for a bit and then heading back into the winds. That all changed when we met Vicki Hubin. She was so energetic and outgoing and invited us to stay with her and go to the town fair that was going on that evening. When Mark heard there was a hot dog eating contest and live country music/dance, we couldn't resist! We have been looking for an eating contest the entire trip and Mark was confident he could win!

We relaxed at the house and met Vicki's family Joe, Kelsey, Joleen, and Kyle. They were all so nice! We watched some TV and took showers to get ready for the big event! It started storming and we were so happy we were not on our bikes! The storm passed and we watched the parade, it was almost like Halloween except we didnt have to move, everyone in the parade just threw us candy! We raced to the fair for the hot dog eating contest and guess who won!!?? Thats right, the out-of-towner from Chicago! He ate 9-10 hot dogs, I was suppossed to be the counter, but got sidetracked, in 12 minutes! One other guy ate 9 but he puked, eeewww! The world champion hot dog eater ate 67 in 12 minutes! That is gross! We learned how to dance the two step and fit right in! We had so much fun and experienced something so new! It reminded us of what you see in the movies, small town country fair!

We had a great time and want to thank the Hubin's for taking us in! We again felt like family and it was sad to part ways. Although we only rode 25 miles today, we still had a once in a lifetime experience, which is what this trip is all about! Mark was even invited back next year to be the reigning champ of the hot dog eating contest!

Kristen

Day 52 Dighton to Larned
Today we rode 98 miles! After leaving the fair a champion, Mark and I got a great nights rest on a very comfortable couch! We woke up to breakfast being made for us by Kyle, a lovely chef, and on our way out the door were given candy, chips, and Gatorade to keep us going! We said our goodbyes to the Hubins and headed east!

We rode 32 miles and reached Ness City where we grabbed some lunch and sat under a nice shady tree to take a rest. The ride has been, let's see how should I say this, plain? The great plains are very plain! You can always tell when you are coming into a town because there looks like there is a wall of trees ahead. When the tree wall looks close, it's really about ten miles away, there's just nothing else standing in between!

We rode another 33 miles in a crosswind, the wind was present the entire day just not as strong as the previous days. So as the light wind was our inspiration, we kept pedalling! I got a flat but we changed it quickly, I'm getting better at it! We made it to Rush Center and the only thing opened in town was the pub and grill, let me rephrase, the ONLY thing in town! We began chatting with Steve and Doug, two motorcycle dudes we had seen twice out on the highway, whom we had given the secret "biker" wave to. They bought us a nice cold beverage which refreshed our parched thirsts! They were very inquisitive about our trip, and we had a few laughs with them as well!

About 6:30 we headed out for our last 33 miles to Larned! And for once in my life we had a tailwind!!! Granted we had changed direction and were headed south for the first 19 miles and it felt like we were on motor bikes! That all changed when we started heading East again and that tailwind was now our crosswind! We reached the lovely city park at about 9, just in time to see a beautiful sunset! The city pool was open for a private party so we snuck in to take showers! We met Ben from England who was westbound! We chatted for a bit and decided it was best to sleep in our sleeping bags under the pavilion and not bother with the tent.

Mark was getting cranky because he was so hungry so we rode into town and the only thing open was Sonic, probably never going to willingly eat there again! Blah! I think I dozed off before my head even hit the pillow!

Day 53 Larned to Hutchinson

We woke up early and hit up the grocery store to grab some food. We got on the road and planned to ride about 78 miles to Hutchinson, a city of over 40,000 people! The biggest one we've seen in awhile! We encountered some winds, although light, they were still annoying! We stopped about halfway into the ride and ate some lunch under a tree. There was nothing for 60 miles, only wet marsh land and a lot of road kill!

We made it to Nickleson to grab a cold drink and Mark fell asleep on the table while I was talking to a farmer! The heat was very noticeable as we pedalled the last 9 miles into Hutchinson. We rode past an exotic animal farm where we saw a real live ostrich and zebra for the first time ever! We made it into the city and headed to the swimming pool to cool off, just in time for it to be closed....so sad. We were riding back to Main St. when we saw a water fountain, play thing for kids...you know it shoots out of weird looking contraptions and all the kids run around and squeal. Perfect for a shower! We put on our bathing suits and shampooed our hair, while we got interesting looks from onlookers! We didnt care, it was so refreshing!

After feeling fresh, we made it to Zion Lutheran Church, noted in our maps as a bikers hostel! They had two beds, a kitchen, shower, and tv for us to use. We also found a guestbook and a bulletin board for people to leave advice and places for us bikers to stay along the way! We grabbed some pizza in town and enjoyed a nice comfortable sleep! It was all free and it is so awesome how people are so trusting and generous! I love the people in Kansas!

Off to Cassoday! Write soon!
Kristen