bak 2010 - highway 24 revisited

Today, like yesterday, and the next couple days, is on old Highway 24, more or less straight east. I stopped for another picture of the Van Gogh sunflowers in the morning light, and headed for our brunch stop in Brewster. BAK was providing this meal for us, and since the days mileage was so short, we were treated to biscuits & gravy, homemade caramel rolls and muffins, and juice or tea at the Lions club hall. I met a guy from KC wearing  a Tour de BBQ jersey. 17 BBQ places in a 60 mile ride! Yum.

Highway 24  runs for a long way parallel to the train tracks, and like many state and county roads throughout the Midwest, it passes through small towns about every 10 miles. I guess you could call western KS part of the high plains. Elevations from 3000' to over 3800' and roads that are able to run straight and flat.

In case you didn't see it coming, a sign announces the curve ahead.

A short day of 39.5 miles got us to Colby where we stayed on the campus of their beautiful community college. I rode into town with a guy named Mike who works as a Third Party Administrator with the company my wife used to work for, except he's in Hutchinson, KS. He was also ex-navy, but what I really found interesting was his Carmichael Training Systems kit. He actually trains with Chris Carmichael and his team, and is headed to Vail later this month for "climbing school". Then he's scheduled to the Triple Bypass in July, Three mountain passes in a tough 120 mile day.

The short mileage gave me the rest of the day for sitting in the shade, enjoying a book, and visiting with other riders. It was a little warm when I turned in so I left the flaps open on my rain-fly. It felt good as the temperature dropped into the 50's, but in the middle of the night I heard rain, and it took me a minute to realize that I need to zip up or get all my stuff wet. The rain had stopped by morning, but I had to pack a slightly wet tent. That wouldn't be the last time I got wet during the week.

The first several songs on my Playlist are dedicated to my puppies, Maddie, Buddy, and the newest member of our pack, Button.

Three Dog Night?