The Winds continued...

Now that I have Internet AND time, let me update you on the last three days of riding, where wind (and rain) continue to be the theme.

On Thursday, we had a 118 km ride to Prairie Dog State Park just outside of Norton, Kansas. While the previous day, the wind was a crosswind, today it was more behind us. Boy, does that make a difference. It pushed us along so that my average speed was 30.3 kph, the fastest so far. I was in camp at 12:30, where the winds continued to blow.

We stayed in a state park. In the afternoon, I went on a two hour leisurely hike and saw: prairie dog colony, three deer, some birds, and the natural prairie landscape. There was also a man made lake for swimming. We also had an awesome sunset.

There was concern about Friday's ride, as it was a century ride (162kms). What would the wind do? A head wind would defeat us. But thankfully it was a calm day. We stopped at Prairie View Reformed Church, for our first SAG, where they offered drinks and goodies. At the 100 km mark, we stopped at a burger place, who offered FREE ice cream to every rider (the owners were related to one of the riders.) We crossed the border into Nebraska.

We were just heading into the town of Red Cloud, our stop for the night, when the heavens opened with a torrential downpour. The rain was almost horizontal at times. I could barely see and the streets soon flooded. Thankfully, it was only for a kilometre to camp. Unfortunately, at camp, the sudden downpour got into the duffle bags. I wasn't too bad off, as just a small portion of my sleeping bag and      one side of my pillow got wet. We could stay in the community Center to sleep. By bedtime, they were sufficiently dry to use. I was tired from the day's ride and slept well. In fact, for the first time, my alarm woke me up at 6am.

We all expected Saturday to be an easier day. After all it would only be a 120 kms. Oh how foolish we were. Today, we encountered headwinds, slowing us down, as well as many rolling hills. Towards the end, we also had 16 kms of rain. However, two-thirds through, we enjoyed a second breakfast at restaurant that had a railroad theme.

We are now in Fairbury, Nebraska, a small town of 4000 where we will rest tomorrow.