63.1 miles, 1,148 ft ascent, Max grade 4.6%, 5:12 riding time,
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 blanket has been through down over the land.
We gained some elevation and eventually found ourselves on a plateau with wheat fields as far as the eye could see in all directions. It is hard to imagine the scale of the farming operations out here.
We met some farmers when we stopped for lunch that explained the dire straights they are in with a lack or rain and potentially failed crops. Their life is a cycle of accumulating debt in bad years, and paying off the debt when they are fortunate enough to have a good year. We also met a fellow westbound cyclist, Bill, just before lunch, and ran across him again when we stopped for the day at a city park in Ness City. The park has a clean bathroom, but no showers. Another sink bath had so suffice.
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