Day 54 – Eureka, Kansas to Chanute, Kansas

Perfect Day for a Ride

As I continued into eastern Kansas on Monday, it turned out to be one of the best rides of the trip.  You hear a lot about how Kansas is flat and not very scenic, but this part of the state is fantastic, especially with the weather right now.

I was riding again with Charlie and after leaving Robyn’s house (the woman who kindly offers her second home to cyclists)  we were trying to find a place to have breakfast in Eureka.  The first place we went to was closed on Mondays so we asked someone what was around and were told to go to Cherokee Lanes,  the bowling alley up the street.

Cherokee Lanes was advertising an American/Chinese buffet, an all day breakfast, and of course bowling.  I love to bowl and at 7:30am had dreams of getting in a quick game on that side of the building while waiting for the breakfast. I asked the waitress about it and she said “Well, there was a fire…” What few lanes they had are apparently a little on the charred side.  So much for that idea.

As far as the route for the day, it was a 66 mile ride.  The winds were light and at your back on highway 54 with blue skies and a perfect temperature. We were eventually off the main road, going along back roads with no cars at all to speak of.  When you are riding on a day like this where everything is green and quiet and it feels like the outdoors is air conditioned at the exact right temperature, it doesn’t get much better and you fully appreciate it.

One thing I noticed was the appearance of more hills, which is a prelude to what is going to happen in Missouri in a few days.  From what I’ve seen on the maps it will be continuous uphill/downhill for days on end.  This part of the route has been referred to as “Misery” instead of Missouri for cyclists, but I can’t see it being all that bad. We’ll see.

Other than that, before arriving in Chanute I moved another turtle to the side of the road, and stopped at a gas station/store where the ladies who ran the place were happy to have people on bikes stop by.  They asked that you sign their guest book and, for some reason, give you a plastic lizard. I meant to ask why. –People have been nice everywhere, but I’d have to say that for cyclists, Kansas has been the best so far.

Chanute was a nice town, again a place where they allow camping in the city park. It was the biggest and one of the nicest parks yet.  However, the proximity to the road, the train tracks and a motorcyclist revving up his engine way too early before departing didn’t make for the best night’s sleep.

(Sad to report that a week after writing this post I received word that a 60 year old cyclist from Australia was hit by a car and killed early in the morning on highway 54 just outside of Eureka. The same stretch of road that Charlie and I were riding.)