Day 16: El Dorodo KS to Pratt KS

So today was a good day with a tail wind - more about that later.

First, a little background on this trip, and my colleagues from isee systems. I have been thinking about this trip for a while, and when the conference site repeated itself that kind of nailed it. But a little over two years ago I broached the idea while enjoying a fine spring day with everyone at work of making an event of it for the whole company. Do a bunch of biking, convert an old school bus to a portable office - lots of cool ideas.

Of course this all left me wondering whether anyone was the least bit serious or if they were just humoring me. I was largely convinced of the latter, but decided to put it to the test one step at a time. So at the end of 2017, I said I wanted to organize a team to ride in an annual fund raiser called the Prouty - a 100 mile ride with variations.

Four people said yes, one ended up backing out, but last year we road the Prouty together. I thought that was the first step to a carnival of bicycling across America.

But, in the end, it was the Prouty, not Albuquerque, that won out. And this year, four people finished the Prouty (35 and 100 miles) while I road through Kansas:

Sarah, Ginger, Hilary and Jeremy at the finish line

So that makes my mileage.... No, I am really just proud of them. Congratulations all around.

Before I left, they gave me a cake, to help put on weight:

Get fat cake (chocolate)

And they also took a photo of me just for reference. Much like the scientist in the Heart of Darkness was measuring sculls. Just as in that case, most the change is on the inside:

Before and During

One of the funniest things I saw today was the White Water River:

White Water River in Kansas

It turns out there is a town called White Water - not sure where that comes from.

Passing through Wichita was an interesting experience - kind of like Cleveland in reverse. I came in by Wichita State University which is a pleasant looking modern campus with a big stadium (this is Kansas after all). But the road turned into car parts, steel recycling, and the most curious collection of semi industrial activities I have seen. That gave way to houses - seems I missed downtown again. Then a nice spot for second breakfast:

Wichita Kansas

Leaving town was entirely delightful. There is a bike path on the west side of the city that runs parallel with the highway starting from my second breakfast stop. I saw many more bikers today (Saturday morning) than I have seen on this entire trip.

Remember how I said there would be even fewer trees as I went west. This turns out to be true. I found myself hiding from the sun under overpasses.

Hiding from the sun under an overpass

In fact I started timing my breaks by them, stopping for a drink and short break under every one.

Not much more - I ended early hoping to get a good sleep. We will see if I can wake up in the morning.

Till then.

July 13, 2019, Pratt Kansas