65.36 miles, 4:48 hours riding time, 13.67 average.
Well, this was quite a day which actually started last night. The excitement last night was an approaching storm that was of real tornado potential. We turned on the TV after dinner only to find that a possible tornado was approaching Chanute at 35mph and that everyone in town should seek shelter with in the next 10 minutes! Well we didn't wait to count to 10. We grabbed a flashlight, computers, rain jackets, and camera and went down to the first floor of the hotel where we discovered there was a "regional" shelter in the hotel basement. So down we went with other hotel guest and local residents where everyone pulled out chairs and watched the weather alert on a TV located there. Occasionally someone would venture upstairs to watch the rain and the flooding of Main Street which overflowed onto the sidewalk almost coming into the hotel lobby. Quite the excitement but thankfully no tornado. In the morning the streets were back to normal but there was a lot of saturated ground.
Well, this was quite a day which actually started last night. The excitement last night was an approaching storm that was of real tornado potential. We turned on the TV after dinner only to find that a possible tornado was approaching Chanute at 35mph and that everyone in town should seek shelter with in the next 10 minutes! Well we didn't wait to count to 10. We grabbed a flashlight, computers, rain jackets, and camera and went down to the first floor of the hotel where we discovered there was a "regional" shelter in the hotel basement. So down we went with other hotel guest and local residents where everyone pulled out chairs and watched the weather alert on a TV located there. Occasionally someone would venture upstairs to watch the rain and the flooding of Main Street which overflowed onto the sidewalk almost coming into the hotel lobby. Quite the excitement but thankfully no tornado. In the morning the streets were back to normal but there was a lot of saturated ground.
This leads to the next part of the story which involves a little mountain biking on our part. After we ride through the old residential part of Chanute enjoying the really beautiful old historic homes there, we get back onto route. About 7 miles south of town we are to take a left hand turn but encounter signs saying "road work ahead" "Bike trail closed". Well, not seeing any detour signs we continue figuring surely they will post a detour. Well, they never did and eventually, a way down the road we came to the closure and nothing but muddy road. We forge ahead until we reach the actual construction area where the workers looked at us in astonishment and maybe some disgust too. Finally we enlist the help of the foreman who, after some prodding, tells us a way out on dirt/gravel roads, about 4 miles worth! And this after about 1 mile in mud. This is him below with Martha and our Adventure Cycling Map.
Along the way we find a Crawdad walking across the road. He gets photographed for posterity. Luckily we do not get any flats (a miracle) and when we finally reach a paved surface both us and our bikes are filthy muddy yukky. Luckily within one mile we find a hose to clean off the bikes. No worry about us. Tonight's shower will take care of that.
Now that we are back on the road we can enjoy the glorious day. And it really is a nice day, the best we have had so far in Kansas. Sometimes when we actually had a tail wind, the countryside was very pretty, towns were interspersed to give us a nice place for a short rest or bite to eat and the temperature was perfect. We finally had time to identify the green leafy plant you see which was growing everywhere - SOY BEANS!
We took a lot more pictures as we were on back roads and didn't have to fight semi's speeding by us at 65mph or the wind blowing into our faces at 15+ mph. As always the people we met when we stopped were nice to us. Everything was very green, and apparently this area has had an unusual amount of rain in the late summer.
We find beautiful old houses, falling down barns and even see a flock of 7 wild turkeys! We get into Pittsburg and head to the bike shop where we leave Martha's bike which is still making terrible noises. Roger, our newest bike mechanic, finds the problem and hopefully Martha will have no more bike problems for the rest of the trip.
After dinner at the local Asian Buffet, which must have had 50 at minimum choices, we retire.
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