Day 27, Friday, July 01, 2005
McPherson, KS to Abilene, KS
(660 feet climbing)
63.4 miles, 14.9mph, 4hr 15min 15sec
Max speed 25.3 mph
Up at 5:00, 5:45 load luggage, 6:30 breakfast at Perkins Restaurant: scrambled eggs, pancakes, juice and coffee, 6:30 on the road.
Weather forecast was for ESE winds, 10 -15 mph. Our first 5 miles was due East, but it was quite calm. Then we turned North for the remainder of the ride (55 miles) to Abilene. The wind never was a factor in today's ride. It was a very scenic and pleasant country ride. It was so nice to get off interstates and major routes that carry so much traffic - 18 wheelers going 80 mph sometimes passing us 3 feet to our left, pickup trucks, buses, loud motorcycles, and so on...
I captured a beautiful sunrise this morning, it looks like the sky is on fire. Tina and I decided to ride the local 'baby buffalo' in the town of Roxbury. A little further down the road in Gypsum was the official half way point between San Francisco, CA and Portsmouth, NH. There was a sign in the street and as you can see, several pics were taken with my camera and most other cyclists did the same thing. This was a happy, sharing and fun time. (On June 29, we passed the halfway point between San Francisco and New York City.)
I arrived in Abilene at noontime and had lunch with Bill at a Subway across the street from our motel, Best Western Inn. Then I checked in and rode my bike 1 mile to downtown Abilene to get a haircut. I then went to the Eisenhower Center. Ike was born and lived here. There is a visitor information center, library, gift shop, museum, his house and a large bronze statue of him. I viewed a 25 minute film of his life. It was very informative and was very well done.
I got back to motel at 4:30, just in time for a shower and then go to route rap at 5:15. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant next to the motel. Now it is time to write and send today's journal to Ed. There is a wireless connection here but only in the lobby, so I'll write here in my room and go to lobby to send it. This is the 4th motel with a wireless connection. WOW! It is very fast!
Tomorrow is a 108 mile ride to Topeka, KS and 2,780 feet of climbing.
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