A basic hotel breakfast was had at 6am. However, this was more than sufficient as Patrick invoked the, “you buy, you eat it policy” with regards to the left over pizza from last night. Accordingly, I had pizza, cereal and orange juice for breakfast. Just what the coach ordered for another day in the Kansas office on the bike!
Route maps were given out and 6:45am which showed an initial 10 mile slog into wind before turning across the wind with some tail wind stretches likely later in the day.
Departing the hotel just after 7am, under yet another clear blue sky, it was already warm, 22°C in fact.
There were a few turns to get out of town and one involved turning at an intersection where the street sign name on every corner was different. As we are riding on the right side of the road, the group read the sign on that side of the road, which was not the right name, so carried on another block or two before deciding the turn had been missed. Returning down the road, the correct street name sign was visible and the correct turn was made.
After the initial head wind stretch, the winds were not as cross as yesterday and mostly had at least a small tail wind component. We crossed the railway line a number of times with some having very large gaps and acute angles. The scenery also became more and more New Zealand like with gentle rolling country, green fields, trees rather than endless miles of straight roads.
We reached the first sag in White City at 35.8 miles in reasonable time.
Back out on the road, we saw some buffalo but as they were in a paddock, they were not roaming and in fact looked at us as though we were crazy.
Some gentle climbing and tailwind pushes saw us reach lunch at City Park in Eskridge just after 11am. By this time, the temperature had risen to over 30°C and hydration was essential. By the end of the day, the temperature had peaked at 38°C and I had again been through over 10 bottles of water. The temperatures are mid-summer like and near record ones for this time of year.
After lunch, we passed some interesting bike art.
With 5hrs 59m of riding time showing on the clock, we rolled into the hotel at Topeka after 176km of cycling at an average speed of 29.4km/h just before 2pm. It was good to get into the air conditioned room.
Route sheets for tomorrow were given out at 4:30pm. A new route is being used this year on rural roads and there are only two sag stops scheduled. It is supposed to be very hot again so another 10 plus bottle day of hydration is expected. We should also get some benefit from the wind as we head into Missouri. It is a 129 mile day with more climbing than today so a helping hand from the wind will be appreciated. Breakfast is at 6am at the hotel with luggage load at 6:45am.
Unfortunately the hotel is around 1-2 miles from any food places so most riders ate at the restaurant at the hotel. I had a nice t-bone steak and Patrick then bought pie from the service station across the road.
Numbers for the day:
Departure time: 7:04am Distance: 109.4 miles (176.0km)
Riding time: 5hrs 59m
Average speed: 18.3mph (29.4km/h)
Maximum speed: 40.3 mph (64.8km/h)
Vertical climbing: 4,823ft (1,470m)
Temperature range: 22-38°C
Arrival time: 1:53pm
Weekly (Monday – Sunday mileage) to date: 109 miles (176km)
Total kilometres ridden to date / approximate kilometres to go: 2,736km / 2,823km
Rolling last seven days total kilometres ridden including today: 1,167km
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