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Day 5: Scott City to Tribune KS

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49.5 miles, 1,294 ft ascent, max grade about 2 %, elevation 3,616 ft, 4:46 riding time.  We started out day with breakfast a the Best Western, which was pretty good for a hotel. We continued riding West on the same Rt 96 we picked up back in Great Bend (which was 166 miles ago). Today the wind was out of the South and SouthWest, but the gusts were not as strong as yesterday, so it was not as difficult a day.  I have noticed there are big grain silos spaced at about every 10 miles, and there is often a town at each silo.  However, many of them are small and there are no services.  Bill described the silos as sitting on small islands of trees in a vast sea of wheat.  On a clear day like today you can see the silos from about 11 miles away.  If you see a water tower near the silo, then it is a bigger town with services.  The distances are very misleading because the silos are so large.  You think you are getting close, and it is still miles away. I w...
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Day 4: Ness City to Scott City KS

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55.8 miles, 1,214 feet ascent, Max grade about 3%, 5:37 riding time, elevation 2990 ft. Today Johannes, Bill and I got up, ate breakfast at the campsite, and set off for Scott City at about 0815.  Our luck finally ran out and the prevailing SW wind returned.  We were heading directly West, so we had a headwind of about 10 mph with gusts of 15 mph which increased to 15 mph with gusts over 20 mph as the day went on.  The skies were clear and the temperature gradually rose from about 60 to 96 F.   The headwind along with the heat made for a tough day.  Riding into an unrelenting  headwind with gusts is DIFFICULT.  Not only is it exhausting but each time a gust came along , the drag caused by the front panniers would create a twisting moment about the steering tube.  It made it very difficult to ride in a straight line.  In addition to that, Johannes pointed out that my rear rack is not rigid enough and the load on the back is wagging back and fo...
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Day 3: Great Bend to Ness City KS

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63.1 miles, 1,148 ft ascent, Max grade 4.6%, 5:12 riding time, Ness City elevation 2,261 ft Johannes and I started our day with a great breakfast at Perkins.  It is amazing how much I am eating on this trip (and I am probably losing weight!).  We then headed west with a tailwind of 4 - 8 mph, overcast skies and temp in the 60’s.  We werre on one road all day today.  The weather out here changes so much that the precipitation forecast is meaningless.  The forecast said 5% chance of rain, but we rode through rain on and off all day, but never very heavy.  We were able to find a convenience store with inside seating for lunch today, which was certainly better than eating out in the rain.  Many of the small towns we are riding through have no services, and if they did have something at one time, it has since gone out of business.  The geography changed significantly around mid-day today.  We rode along and over parallel ridges that looked like a ...
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Day 2: Nickerson to Great Bend KS

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54.7 miles, 885 ft ascent, 5:02 riding time.  Johannes and I started the day with a breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon at the exotic animal farm while we waited for it to stop raining.  It did stop around 0930, at which point we went to the grocery store in town to pick up food for lunch because there were no towns between Nickerson and Great Bend.  It was overcast, with temps in the upper 60’s, occasional rain and a wind of about 10 mph that changed direction during the day.  We rode from primarily farming country into prairies and grasslands with grazing cattle. The cattle must have thought we came to feed them. This is big sky country with loooong straight roads.  We are gradually going up.  By the time we reach Pueblo CO we will have increased our elevation by 2,000 ft.  About the last 15 miles into Great Bend the route turned North directly into a headwind with gusts of about 13 mph.   Our route took us along the edge of the Quivira Wildli...
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Day 1: Newton to Nickerson KS

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49.5 miles, 768 ft ascent, 3:28 riding time, Newton elevation 1,434 ft.  I started the day with homemade pancakes, peaches and homemade applesauce prepared by our hosts, David and Elena.  Breakfast was followed by great conversation.  I learned that David designed and built his house using the latest in energy efficiency.  His house is so well insulated that he heats and cools it with a 1800 W mini-split (that is equivalent to a powerful blow-dryer).  He has solar panels that generate more electricity than he needs, even in the winter!  We said our good-byes and continued west at about 0900 with cloudy skies, temps around the mid 60’s and a 10 mph tailwind!   This part of Kansas is quite flat with prairie meadows, fields with “amber waves of grain”, green fields with crops and brown newly ploughed fields separated by corridors of trees along roads, streams, and gulleys (basically anywhere water travels).   Roads are generally long and straight wit...
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Day 0: Wichita to Newton KS

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33.4 miles, 712 ft ascent, 2:32 riding time. Today I ride north to pick up the TransAm in Newton KS, so tomorrow will be Day 1.  Today started with an alarm at 0400 to make a 0630 flight to Chicago and then on to Wichita.  Sitting next to me on the flight was the former Dean of faculty at the Naval Academy, Mike Halbig, and the person that hired me back in 2002.  Small world. Truth be told, neither of us recognized the other.  My plane landed at 1210 and by 1230 I was at the Biycle X-Change bike shop in Wichita.  I had shipped my bike there about 2 weeks ago.  The guys at the shop were very helpful, so by1400 I had my bike re-assembled and was on the road to Newton.  The wind was blowing at 10 mph from the East and I was going predominantly North, so it wasn’t too bad. Temps were in the low 60’s and it was overcast.  I arrived at my WarmShowers hosts, David and Elena Wiebe, at 1730.  David made pizza dough from scratch using wheat they harves...
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Part 3: Prologue

It is hard to believe it has been 7 years since I completed Part 2.  A LOT has happened since then (COVID, my daughter’s wedding in Austria, a struggle with Cervical Radiculopathy, 4 grandchildren, and two hip replacements), which is why it has been 7 years.  I have never given up hope that I might someday get a chance to finish what I started, the entire TransAm from Yorktown VA to Astoria OR.  This year I will pick up where I left off in Wichita KS.  I will fly my bike to a shop in Wichita and re-assemble it there.  Then I will head North to pick up the TransAm route where I left off.  I was not able to complete the entire route in one part because my job and family did not afford me the flexibility to take that much time off.  Last December I retired after 23 years as a Professor in the Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering department at the United States Naval Academy, so I no longer have that constraint.  Consequently, it is my goal to finish ...
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