Day 49, Nickerson to Larned, Kansas

This feed lot is located just outside Larned. The smell carried for miles. And we were down wind.

We finally found one of these in action. Pretty cool, the thing moves on big wheels as it waters.

One of the few buildings we saw along the way.

This tree is huge. I estimate the diameter of the trunk to be almost four feet. Imagine the force it took to snap that thing.

More cows. They all left as soon as Lisa and I showed up. I didn't think she, I mean we smelled that bad.

These swamp things are all over the place. Be careful, Lisa says there's snakes in there.

So tempting, I just wanted to take off my shoes and run over there.

To be there and see stuff like this is really special. If I were on a car, I would have blasted right by it without a second thought.

I just thought this was kind of neat.

Another rare building on the plains.

All these trees died. i guess from all the stagnant water.

This wind mill was out in the middle of nowhere. And the thing was still working.

This is Ben and Robin from St. Louis. I shot them as they passed.

These guys were trying to get the roof fixed before it got too hot. I don't think they did it.

This hawk was circling above us for a while. I finally stopped and took this shot.

This is the deer you will read about bellow.

This snake didn't see me, looks like it was on the hunt.

I was thinking about buying one of these, but it wouldn't fit in my trailer.

Hemp. They grow wild all over the place. Don't get any ideas, I don't think these will get you high.

I saw this bird on a side road. It let me get pretty close. So I figured it wanted me to take it's picture.

We saw these two east bounders, but I missed the second guy.

I saw these two from miles away, so I got my camera ready as they passed.

Pulling into Larned. Tired, hot, thirsty, and ready to give up.



A close up of the dead trees. It reminded me of pictures I've seen of the bijou.


Some of these ponds look soooooo inviting. Especially on a hot summer day.

Our camp site at the city park in Nickerson. I wouldn't recommend staying there.


Day 49, Nickerson to Larned, Kansas. "Head Wind And Heat". 59.95 miles. Total=2032 miles.

It is Sunday, June 28, 2009. Today we passed the two thousand mile mark. What a day. I have mixed feelings about today. It started off great, we had an early start, survived the mosquito infested park we were at, and was now headed west under cool, comfortable, windless conditions. The forecast called for highs in the upper 80's. And they were right for the most part. At noon, it was still just 79 degrees. Since today's ride would take us through desolate, sparsely inhabited areas. We brought snacks with us to eat along the way.
At 7:00AM, we met Robin and Ben. A young couple headed for Astoria, Oregon just like us. They had started from St. Louis, Missouri, and had just joined the Bicentennial Route today. We would run into them several times on today's ride. Per and Markus whom we met last night at the park, had gone on ahead. They had a 93 mile day planned, and needed the early start. Lisa and I had breakfast at a Quick-Stop convenience store. The only place in town open at the time. After a wrong turn, we were on our way at last. We passed through very beautiful wet land terrain. Lots of ponds, and swamps. We entered a wetland wild life preserve, and was almost instantly treated to some of nature's surprises. As we approached a bridge. I pointed out to Lisa a whole bunch of birds on a telephone line. There must have been a hundred of them. As we got closer, thousands of them started coming out from under the bridge. It was nuts, we stopped, and I tried my best at getting pictures of them, but let me tell you. You had to be there for this one. We left with smiles from ear to ear. What an amazing sight. a few miles later, we neared a vantage point over look. As I was looking at this huge tree that had somehow snapped in half, I saw this female deer jump a fence no more than 20 yards in front of us. I yelled, "A deer!" As I did, it stopped in the middle of the road, looking at us. I tried grabbing my camera, but it turned, and jumped back over the fence in the direction it came, and ran along side the fence in the direction we had come. I just knew it was going to cross the road further back, so I put my lens at full zoom, pointed, and waited. Sure enough, it crossed the road about 200 yards behind me. I shot it. That in itself was worth the entire price of admission. Then, not a half a mile later, I saw an animal crossing the road in front of us. I yelled to Lisa, "What is that" The animal stopped and looked at us, then darted across the road. I could see now it was a coyote. It ran through a field with cows in it, and stopped to look at us again. By this time I had my camera, but just as I was about to fire the shutter, it took off into the tree line never to be seen again. I was devastated. But still, that was something you normally would only see on Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom". We also saw a snake swimming across a stream, too fast to get a shot, but about an hour later, I saw one in a shallow ditch, that didn't see me, and I was able to shoot that one.
By this time, we were getting a little hungry, so we decided to take a lunch break under the first shade tree we found. Luck would have it. There were no trees for the next 25 miles. Not only that, but the temperature by now, had risen to 101 degrees. Just the thought of it being that hot, made us feel even hotter. Maybe that thermometer wasn't a good idea.
We pedaled on in search of some shade. The road was flat and straight, for almost 50 miles, there was not a bend in it. I was low on water, and all I had left, was one bottle, and a bottle of Gatorade. The head wind had also picked up making it hard to maintain momentum even on the flat terrain. This situation lasted the rest of the day, turning a wonderful morning into hell in the sun.
We arrived in Larned, a city with a population of a little over 5000 at 3 0'clock. As we pulled up, the first thing I looked for was something cold to quench my thirst. We found a super market, and there in front of it was Markus. He was waiting for Per who was inside buying supplies for the rest of todays ride. The still had over 20 miles to go, and I was glad I wasn't going with them. Lisa and I found a Best Western Motel, and checked in just as Markus and Per pulled in. They had decided to stay the night and continue tomorrow. Smart move, I thought.
Tomorrow is another fifty plus mile day, hopefully it'll be better. Thank you everybody, we appreciate all you moral support and prayers. Aloha, Ted.