Day 24: McPherson, KS to Emporia, KS

Distance: 80.64 miles

Elevation gain: 1,240 feet

Avg speed: 16.6 mph

Max speed: 30.2 mph

Moving time: 4:52:20

We did it! We made it to the third rest day! (That last interval felt particularly long, given the wind a few days ago along with the fact that this WAS the longest stretch of consecutive riding days on this tour.)

Today is Memorial Day, so I chose to wear my US Army Jersey as a tribute to the many servicemembers who paid for our freedom with the ultimate sacrifice. I think I said something a few days ago about how my perspective has been forever changed by this trip. Well, today was no exception - we rode about 80 miles today, which was an “average” day and an “easy” ride. Going back to those 30 mile “long” rides on Sundays is going to seem a bit surreal. 

At the start of today’s ride, I was having some shifting issues. My rear derailleur seemed to be hesitating a bit, with some shifts being a little delayed, or with the derailleur not quite moving all the way to the next cog, or double-shifting occasionally. I suspected at the time that my rear shifter cable may be about to give out on me, so I tried to do as little shifting as possible, instead opting to stay in an “incorrect” gear at times rather than shifting to where I WANTED to be. By the time I reached the first SAG stop in Canada though (the town in Kansas, not the country to our north), it seemed to have sorted itself out. Perhaps it was just a case of a dirty drivetrain. Not sure, but we shall see. 

Our first SAG stop was at the Marion Reservoir in Canada, KS

As we continued along the way to Emporia, we got to experience the changing landscape of Kansas. The wide-open flatlands of western Kansas have gradually been giving way to the trees and rolling hills of eastern Kansas. We have really gotten to enjoy quite a variety of scenery in this vast, diverse country of ours. By the way, I don’t know what goes through a cow’s mind, or how much thinking they actually do, but I find it funny and entertaining to see how so many of them stop eating and watch us as we roll by. 

At one point, we were treated to a view of a bunch of cows off in the distance, silhouetting themselves along a hilltop. This picture does not do the view we had justice. 

Yet another vista where the picture does not do the view justice, but I’m trying….

As we rode into Emporia, I found a truck stop for my customary sandwich and chocolate milk stop. While enjoying my meal, I watched many of my fellow riders coast by. At that point I was only about a mile and a half from the hotel, but I couldn’t help thinking as I watched everyone glide past that I really should have continued on to the hotel, where a warm shower awaited me. When I got to the hotel though, as is often the case, I still had a while to wait before our rooms were ready. As it turned out, stopping to eat was the correct choice. 

Usually, my rest day routine is to try to get my laundry done as early as possible, and save the bike cleaning and prep for the rest day itself. On THIS occasion, however, I’m still waiting for my package from Holbrook, AZ to arrive. Since I want to wash the clothing that is in that package as well, and that package is scheduled to arrive tomorrow by 1:30pm, I decided to take care of the bike first. Since the back tire is starting to square off (while the front tire continues to look new), I chose to do something I’ve never done before - I rotated my tires! Usually I just replace the tires as they wear out, and generally go through probably three rear tires for every front tire, but I’d like to have these tires make it through without having to replace them along the way if possible, so I tackled that task and now have the somewhat squared-off tire on the front and the new-looking one on the back. Based on their current state of wear, they SHOULD now be good for the rest of the trip. 

By the way, I noticed a short while ago that my back tire feels a little bit soft at the moment, and my first thought was that I have yet ANOTHER flat. It dawned on me though that after my tire rotation I used my frame pump to reinflate them, so it’s entirely possible that I just didn’t pump that tire back up to full pressure. I’ll take another look at it in the morning and reassess if anything further needs to be done (besides pumping both tires up to full pressure Wednesday morning before departing for Topeka). 

Tomorrow is the rest day, as I mentioned already. I have something touristy planned for the morning (you’ll have to wait for tomorrow’s blog post to see what I chose), and after that I’m going to visit a local bike shop to buy a jersey as a souvenir as well as a new water bottle to replace the one I brought with me. (The nozzle on the top of the bottle is starting to rip and/or come apart, and it does not look like it’s going to survive the rest of the trip.) Also, I have laundry planned for tomorrow (I know, exciting stuff), and I think I will venture out a little further for lunch and dinner tomorrow, as opposed to tonight’s trip across the street to Pizza Ranch. I’ve gotten a few restaurant recommendations, so I’ll have some decisions to make. 

And, of course, this should go without saying at this point, but here is the video from today’s ride:

Well, that’s all for today - see you tomorrow night!