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.