DAY 29: JUNE 29: TOPEKA(KS) TO ST JOSEPH (MO)

Time Zone : Central (GMT -6)
Todays Distance: 88 miles
Cycling time: 6 hrs 22 mins
Average Speed: 13.4 mph

Today’s cumulative ascent: 3391 ft

Average Heart rate: 121 bpm

Distance so far: 2136 miles
Ascent so far: 69,893 ft.
Centuries so far: 6
Punctures so far: 3

Today’s Profile:

Today’s Route:
Dedication: Today is for Cheteri and his team (not all in the photo) who efficiently look after the needs of the Abbey contingent during their periods in St Edmunds. God be good to ye.

Another good day’s cycling; another state and across a major river and the prospect of a rest day tomorrow
No adverse weather signs this morning as we loaded up the luggage and set out for another day’s cycle. We have now been cycling for 4 weeks with only 2 days off. Today was a mere 88 miles to St Joseph. As usual we set off into the rising sun through the up and down streets of Topeka.
In the city centre we crossed over the wide Kansas Riverin full flow, which eventually joins the Missouri. Some local connections with Topeka – it is referred to as the Golden City but a little bigger than Golden (pop 125,000). We couldn’t match that even with a West Final up in the field. Also the word ‘Topeka’ is a Kansas tribal name meaning “good place to grow potatoes” so it would be like Ballyporeen at home. These type of thoughts really set you in the mood for a long spell in the saddle.

I cycled alone today from the 10 mile marker. My usual Sunday cycle is done solo so this was no different. The rolling hills don’t make for great paceline work; each one just have to take them on at their own pace. No threar from the weather but generally we faced a headwind or side wind for the day. It wasn’t gale-force but I’d prefer one from the rear. To minimise the effect of the wind I spent most time on the drops (unusual for me) and felt that it was paying off especially up the hills. But , when I returned to putting my hands on top, I felt I had my hands raised high above me; that someone had interfered with the bike. Weird.
All day we were up and down but especially when we crossed into Missouri. These were serious rollers just like Tuscany. There was no relief on reaching the top, as I knew that it was going to start all over again. But a good number of the roads were sheltered with trees – very like yesterday. In Missouri especially, corn (maize) seemed to be the dominant crop
First SAG came after 30 miles and the next would be almost 40 miles further on. So bottles filled and the extra bananas and bars in the pocket after signing in.

I noticed more flowers today than on previous days. A good number, especially golden Aubretia but they were on down slopes and I was reluctant to stop to take a photo. All possible momentum was needed for the coming climb. I was making good progress without any tiredness or fatigue and had 40 miles (almost half way) done before Mass time in Kilfeacle. I felt quite pleased with myself and the day’s work. I should get to the motel before the hottest part of the day.
Not as many silos to be seen as a few days ago so I snapped this one – it might be the last one I’ll see for a while. Not right. They continued to crop up and in Atchinson our last town in Kansas there was the mother and father of a complex with silos lining the roadside for almost quarter of a mile.
At Atchinson I finally came to the Missouri and crossed it on a narrow but busy bridge. Usually at this time of the year, I am told, it is a mere trickle but the heavy rains up-country have ensured a strong flow and carrying plenty of silt. I believe crossing the Mississippi on Thursday will be a different matter.

Just across a photo opportunity presented itself at the Welcome to Missouri sign. Luckily Forrest was there at the same time and we accommodated each other with the cameras. Otherwise it would be difficult to capture that special moment. Missouri is referred to as the ‘Show-Me’ state and that appears on the car reg plates. One explanation is that Congressman Vandiver from Missouri in 1899 stated that he was not impressed by talk or eloquence ‘I’m from Missouri. You have got to show me’ Good yarn anyhow! So this is our 6th state. All the large square states are done. The other ones will topple in relatively quick succession. [Kansas is known as the Sunflower State]
All our cycling in Missouri today was on country roads and shadows could cover a hazard especially when wearing sunglasses. I got my first experience with dogs today. Two well-fed (I hope) animals suddenly ‘appeared out of nowhere’ and started snapping at my heels. No use in roaring ‘Suigh síos’ to those…they wouldn’t understand like the ones at home. The thought of canine teeth grinding against human bone enabled me to make a quick decision. Out of the saddle, big gear and pedal like hell. The plan worked and I left them for dead in about 20 yards. Sorry, that I have no photo. Didn’t seem to be a good idea to hang about. Still, over 2000 miles before I was treated like the proverbial postman. Not bad.

July 4th is fast approaching and fireworks are on sale in many temporary premises on the roadside. They were to be heard quite often as I passed through the suburbs of St Joseph. Stores are full of red,white and blue stars and stripes in preparation for Friday. There is a competition for the best turned out cyclist with the best turned out bike on the day. (See Seen Today below)
St Joseph was taken to be the gateway to the Wild West this due largely to the fact that it was the westernmost point in the United States accessible by rail until after the Civil War. During 1860, 1861 the Pony Express started here and transferred mail to Sacramento in California. I appreciate that distance now…June 2 to June 29 by bicycle on good roads. I wouldn’t fancy it cross country on a horse. In 1882 Jesse James was shot in his home here, now a museum and the hole in the wall made by the bullet is still to be seen. He was living under the alias ‘Mr Howard’ and the song records "...that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard has laid poor Jesse in his grave."
I cycled through the city’s Parkway, a 26 mile green-belt park that runs through the city. Wooded, peaceful and lots of sports facilities in certain areas. Just as I entered the Parkway there was an unexpected but welcome unofficial SAG sto organised bt Gerry and Sandra on their front lawn. Gerry is a keen cyclist and heard we were passing the way…lemonade, water, ice tea, trail mix, chairs etc. Thanks Gerry and Sandra, it came just at the right time. He was telling me that St Joseph is much greener this year than previously. Other years grass would just be turning brown at this stage.

I reached the Motel at 2.15 pm ahead of our luggage so the badly needed shower had to wait a while. The European Final was on the TV in the lobby but I was more excited to hear that Golden had beaten the Kickhams and qualified to take on Eire Og in the West semi. I also see that Taoiseach Brian Cowan is coming to New York on July 16. We’ll be in upstate new York that day. I suppose him joining us for a day is out of the question!

A god day’s cycling and I enjoyed having the road to myself. I wouldn’t do it every day. A new state; over the Missouri and a Rest day tomorrow. I think we deserve it. There will be an interesting blog tomorrow.
Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.


Seen Today: As part of the build-up for July 4th one banner store was advertising its wares on the roadside but I didn’t like the unsporting anti-Clare bias in their wording…. “DIRT CHEAP BANNERS”

DAY 28: JUNE 28: ABILENE (KS) TO TOPEKA (KS)

Time Zone : Central (GMT -6)
Todays Distance: 109 miles
Cycling time: 7 hrs 27 mins
Average Speed: 14.7 mph

Today’s cumulative ascent: 3672 ft

Average Heart rate: 112 bpm

Distance so far: 2053 miles

Ascent so far: 66,502ft.
Centuries so far: 6
Punctures so far: 3
Today’s Profile:

Today’s Route:
Dedication: Today is for all the children in Providence including Bansara, Banrap, Sylvester, Jeet, Angelene, Robistar, George, Kitbok and Stanley who work well with their good teachers.

Today was our 6th Century of this trip and our last full day in Kansas and a day of rolling green hills.
At set-out this morning everyone donned raingear as drops started to fall just as we were loading. It wasn’t as ugly-looking as yesterday morning but heavy black skies were all about. We had escaped yesterday so we couldn’t be as lucky again. As it turned out we were. I was given credit for bringing ‘the luck of the Irish’. Once I don’t bring ‘the weather of the Irish’, my well-being is safe. Within half-an-hour of leaving Abilene the rain-gear was discarded and we settled down to covering those miles. After 15 miles to the south of us fork-lightning was visible for a short period but didn’t interfere. The morning was cool and cloud cover was there till noon. And no wind worth talking about. A perfect day for a century.
Today we saw very little grain although there was plenty of young soya on either side. Grass rather than grain was the flavour of the day and the ripples on the landscape together with plenty of trees made it homely. In the distance the silhouette of grain silos looked like Norman castles or keeps
At the 56 mile mark today as I approached Eskridge I came to the half-way point of my trek from San Francisco to Providence. (marked on the profile with cross-hairs) I marked it with chalk on the road for posterity. It’s there for the next one to take on this challenge. Decision time? Would I go back or go on? That was a no-brainer. More adventures ahead to be experienced and all for the sake of the lads in Providence.
So 2000 miles covered in 158 hours of cycling over 28 days having burned 122,719 calories, climbed 66463 feet and given back 65,502 of them. And now the same all over again. I t was a moment to savour.
All of today we had some shelter from hedges and trees should the wind blow up. It added variation to the route wondering what might be around the next stand of trees. More birdsong to be heard than previously and on one occasion we .were followed for a long period by a beautiful golden song bird flitting from one side to the other of the road.
It was all up and down today but never a long grinding climb. After a short uphill it was give-her-holly on the down slope to build up a bit of momentum and free the muscles of lactic acid. And the road ahead looked like a mild roller-coaster as it stretched away. The navigation today was longer than other days as we were on country roads from start to finish. But reading the cue-sheet now has become very straight-forward for me.

Today wasn’t as full of interest as yesterday. But two items caught my eye but not a sinner within miles to shed light on them. On the left hand side I spotted this rather forlorn tree with items such as ties, golf-balls, golf club, fishing rod etc hanging as if ceremoniously placed there. Very much like bushes near wells at home as in St Sednas in Clonbeg. No one within miles to explain. Outside a farmers place stood an unusual piece of art consisting of bicycles in all shapes of destruction. This is what could happen should you smack into one of those mighty trucks.
It seems that the farms (ranches) around east Kansas tend to be family owned from my observation. Often enough, small places were situated by the roadside with the usual farm machinery about. And no sign of irrigation but the hollows in fields held small permanent lakes. Cattle around here are spared life in the feed-lots, for the time being at least.
I reached the Holiday Inn Motel in Topeka at 3.45 pm as the day was warming up. Only in the last hour did high temperatures become noticeable. They had been in the 70’s for most of the day.
It was a smooth century free from rain, wind, big heat and stiff climbs. I cycled most of it on my own to stretch the legs and expand the lungs at my own pace and to get in before the big heat and the chance that a headwind would pick up. Really enjoyed it.

Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.

Spotted Today: I noticed so many familiar place names either on the route or on sign-posts like Dover, Manhattan, Detroit, Woodbine, Enterprise, White City, Keene, Holland and Hope.

Result of Competition: The winner of Name the Bike competition is Sinead Mullins who showed great imagination in her choice. Using the VW PASSAT as a base her suggested name was RW PACAT ..... RW obvious, PAC for the starting point at the PACific (soft 'c') and AT for destination at the ATlantic. Well done, Sinead. Your prize will be winging its way to you in the post. Thanks to all those who submitted a name.

DAY 27: JUNE 27: McPHERSON (KS) TO ABILENE (KS)

Time Zone : Central (GMT -6)
Todays Distance: 67 miles
Cycling time: 4 hrs 23 mins
Average Speed: 15.2 mph

Today’s cumulative ascent: 1047 ft

Average Heart rate: 104 bpm

Distance so far: 1944 miles

Ascent so far: 62,830 ft.
Centuries so far: 5
Punctures so far: 3
Today’s Profile:

Today’s Route:

Dedication: Today is for the children of Providence who come long distances to school in difficult circumstances; arrive with a happy ‘Good morning, teacher’ and work hard for the day just like Surolila, Purnima, Balari, Partima, Balakmen and Merisha.

In spite of things looking blue (metaphorically speaking ) at daybreak, today was pure pleasure;the main group passed the half-way point and we ended in Abilene KS which has a Tipperary connection.
Alarm went off at 6am and I decided that today I wanted to be finished before the big heat of the day arrived. Then I opened the door and was faced with a downpour of rain, howling wind and sheets of lightning. Heat now wasn’t an issue In thee breakfast room the TV was giving updates on the storm that was sweeping up over Kansas with the odd shot of flooding. Spirits were down a bit. Then on the other hand we had had 26 days of uninterrupted sunny pleasant warm weather. For me that doesn’t happen too often. So be grateful and complain not, man. . Sure, didn’t the bit of rain just ensure that we(those of us from Ireland, Wales and England) wouldn’t be homesick.
Back to the rooms and alter the dress for the day. At loading the raingear as well in evidence. Some even took a newspaper to add to protection. Fortunately as we pulled out from the Best Western onto Route 56 East the wind eased and rain stopped and not a sign of lightning. The storm had passed on, clouds were breaking and revealing some blue and things were looking up.
As we covered the first 11 miles we were heading due east with a strong wind hitting us hard on the right shoulder. But we were prepared to put up with it as we just knew things would change. There was plenty of evidence in the fields of the heavy rain last night. No need for irrigation today!
At the town of Canton our route turned due north with a strong tailwind and we knew that the rest of our route today was in that direction all the way to Abiline with the odd piece of road turning east or west for short periods. Now we cycled along country roads and it was a pleasure.
Still it was grain (some cut, some standing) and soya with plenty of greenery. By now, the sun had got the better of the clouds and the windbreaker that I had started out with, was off. Possibly that fear of the big heat wasn’t so far off the mark. As the wind was with us, better make use of it. I didn’t dare imagine what cycling against such a wind would be like. And it could happen over the space of 30 seconds. Make hay while the sun shines.
In so many places the fields (smaller that we have seen for the last few days) were surrounded with hedges and stands of trees. It was like a scene from home except for the long straight roads. Without scarcely pedalling we sailed along at 20 mph as the miles just kept mounting up on the odometer.
At 28 miles out we arrived at the official half-way point of the cycle to New Hampshire. Writing on the road marks the spot and many ceremonial photos were taken. Some lay down on the road, others straddled the line, some built a pyramid of bikers. For me it is not my half-way point; that happens when I clock up the 2000th mile tomorrow. I’ll have that occasion all for myself. That’ll be a pyramid of just one. Shouldn’t be a problem.
The SAG stop came shortly in the town of Gypsum. With O’Reillys Autocare in every large town and Gypsum today, a coachload of Cavan supporters (after been beaten by Meath!) must have ended up here years ago. Gypsum was quiet at this early hour of 9 am with 33 miles under our belt already.
Our SAG stop was at a gazebo in the city park where drivers also stopped to stretch their legs. Only one SAG today but it marked the half-way and cup cakes were on the menu to celebrate. The artistic squad had been up till the late hours formulating an appropriate design….and did a good job. Pity we had to do a demolition on it.
Within 6 miles of Abilene we ran into serious greyhound country with some very large kennels on both sides of the road (Old Route 40). And then there on the left was the HQ of the National Greyhound Association. It had vast kennels, runs, track and offices. I met Katie in the office and enquired about greyhounds in the locality. ‘Yes’, she said ‘you’ll see plenty more as you ride into town.’ Yea, she knew Pat Dalton (Golden) who comes there twice a year for the Spring and Fall meetings. She redirected me to the Greyhound hall of Fame in Abilene itself just across from the Eisenhower Centre. These were the first greyhounds I had seen since I’d left home.
I pedalled on into Abilene(wind in my back) and with the words of the George Hamilton IV song running through my head and hoping they were true
“Abilene, Abilene Prettiest town I ever seen. Folks down there don't treat you mean In Abilene, my Abilene.”
As things panned out the folks lived up the lyrics; except that the song was written about Abilene, Texas. Ah, well!
In the Tourist Information Centre I was given a quick resume of the city. Dwight Eisenhower grew up here and it is his final resting place. Besides his achievements on the world scene he was instrumental in the construction of the Interstate Highway system in 1956. Late in his life he stated “The proudest thing that I can claim is that I am from Abilene” The Eisenhower centre consists of the family home, museum, library, visitor’s centre and place of meditation and burial.
I arrive at the Greyhound Hall of fame and eventually stayed longer than I had planned. At reception I was greeted by the two resident dogs (retired racers who now only chase after your heart and afection). One was hobbling about with a bandaged foot (corns) and with satisfaction I learned that the other was called Abby. Serendipity. Of course there had to be a photo. The extensive museum gave the history of greyhounds from the time of Ulysses and Argos. I was thrilled to see a full section on Master McGrath, the Waterford three times winner of the Waterloo Cup and a national icon. He was invited to appear before Queen Victoria (a greyhound owner herself) at Windsor Castle. He travelled over by train accompanied by his trainer John Walsh (probably called Sean by his friends!)
Lots of interesting bits of information: In the Middle Ages clergymen protected greyhounds and bred them for the aristocracy. In the 10th century any commoner caught owning a greyhound was severely punished and the greyhound’s toes were cut off to prevent it from hunting. Elizabeth I was a coursing fan and devised a set of rules for coursing. Coursing became known as ‘The Sport of Queens’
I next went to the Hall of Fame established in 1963 by the now National Greyhound Association to recognise great figures in greyhound racing. Both dogs and owners are inducted with suitable citations and is the highest honour in the game. Wasn’t I proud to see Pat Dalton of Golden up there with the greats? A full account of his greyhound career and his citation read ‘For outstanding contribution as a kennel operator, owner and breeder of racing greyhounds’ Come on Golden/Kilfeacle. Beside him was Don Cuddy of Raheny, Dublin (For outstanding contribution as internationally recognised trainer of racing greyhounds). A most interesting visit and anyony into greyhounds would really enjoy it. I said goodbye to Abby and came away.
On my way to the hotel (I had arrived in Abilene at noon and it was now well after 2 pm) I called into the Shamrock Gas Station (surely an interesting connection in here) and ended up having a great chat with Rev Charles Huse of Holy Spirit Ministry (USA). He gave me his life testimony and how he had gone preaching the Word of God in India (near Madras) in November 1999 (the same time as when I first went to Shillong). An interesting meeting, gave me his literature and appreciated what I was cycling for. After all that I finally arrived at Holiday Inn Express at 2.45 pm.

Such a great day. The cycling was great and exhilarating through lovely countryside. What looked like impending disaster at breakfast time turned out so beautiful. Had such interesting visits and people to meet.
Thank god for the health and thank God for the energy.

Seen Today: “ A dog is a pet but a greyhound is family” in the greyhound Hall of Fame