The forecast was for a light easterly wind, gradually increasing along with the temperature. We set an alarm so that we would be at the convenience store for breakfast when it opened at 7 o'clock. They must have opened earlier because a half dozen farmers were already settled into coffee and conversation. I guess there's not much else to do if you sold your cows and there's no wheat to harvest. One of them assured us we have "misery ahead: hot and windy". Thanks for that cheerful word.
We started riding with a light headwind, a blessed relief compared with the last two days. When we crossed into Kansas after an hour of riding, we had a long stretch of brand-new road, and the surroundings were much greener. I can only guess they have been getting all the rain Colorado was missing. Instead of a completely empty landscape, there was usually a farmstead or two in sight somewhere. And where the occasional oil well pumping unit was in motion, the farmhouse nearby looked pretty prosperous.
At a convenience store stop a farmer struck up a conversation with us; people around here are very accustomed to cross-country cyclists passing through, and seem to be perversely proud of how godforsaken this area is. According to this farmer, his grandfather always said "This isn't hell, but you can see it from here", maybe a reference to the fact that anything that stands above ground level can be seen a long way off. A town with a grain elevator is clearly visible ten miles ahead; quick to appear but slow to arrive.
We met only three cyclists on the road today, a solo young man from Boston quickly followed by a couple from Belgium. We are speculating that we will meet trans-am riders only for the next couple of weeks. If we were westbound, we wouldn't to still be riding in the Rockies beyond mid-September, if then.
The second county line in Kansas put us in the Central Time Zone. Making progress.
Our goal for the day was the pretty small (1500) town of Leoti, and we reached here by 2 p.m. CDT. We had time and energy to go further, but the temperature was way up in the 90's, so why should we?
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