Day 27: Topeka, KS to Saint Joseph, MO

Distance: 85.30 miles

Elevation gain: 2,727 feet

Avg speed: 14.9 mph

Max speed: 34.1 mph

Moving time: 5:44:02

Today we finally reached another state line crossing and entered our seventh state!

Along the way we traveled for many miles on a rather sketchy road, Kansas Route 4. What made this road so bad was the condition of the shoulder (as you can see below), combined with the attitude of many of the drivers. 

In case you can’t tell from this picture (courtesy once again of Steve Harvey), that area to the right of the rumble strip is gravel. There is no room on the pavement to the right of the white line, and riding on that rumble strip was not an option. As a result, we had no choice but to ride in the traffic lane. The road itself had one lane going each direction, separated by a dashed yellow line for the most part. Interestingly, I had commented earlier about how considerate Kansans are. Well, as we have continued eastward, the attitude of Kansans seems to have changed. Eastern Kansans are nowhere near as nice or considerate as Western Kansans. As a matter of fact, today we found ourselves honked at, shouted at, cursed at… we even encountered numerous people who made close passes for no other reason than they could (and apparently hate cyclists). In fact, at one point an 18-wheeler came roaring up behind me, laying into his horn. And despite the fact that nobody was coming the other way at the time, he chose to blow past me at probably well OVER 70 mph without changing lanes. It felt like he passed me with less than a foot to spare, though he probably gave me a LITTLE more space than that! I’ve been trying not to think ill of people or let people’s bad attitudes spoil my mood, but THIS guy, well, let’s just say I would not have been disappointed if I later passed his rig wrecked on the side of the road. Anyway….

Along the way I came upon the Saint Joseph the Woodworker Shrine, which was the steeple from a Catholic Church in Wamego, KS. It was relocated to Valley Falls, KS following the destruction of that church in a fire, and has been completely and beautifully restored. From what I was able to gather, the church in question was the SECOND one built on its site, and dates back to 1908. 

In retrospect, I wish I had taken a close-up of the newspaper article in this display - it would have helped to fill in the blanks. 

The view from the hill that this church now sits atop. 

I may have been the only member of my group that ventured up the hill for a closer look, but several people apparently did see me:

While looking for history regarding this beautiful sight, I came across this picture from 1909 - this was the church in Wamego, KS at the time, and I BELIEVE this is the steeple from that picture:

And, of course, I can’t forget about the day’s video:

Anyway, tomorrow we head to Chillicothe. Looks like it will be a rainy and possibly windy day. See you then!