McPherson …through amber waves of grain

 My God, what a glorious day to be on a bicycle.  

Mother nature cleared her throat with violent storms overnight, and when we got on the road, the weather was spectacular. Cool with a nice tailwind along a smooth road with little traffic.

We made very good time, even with a flat tire in the last 6 miles.

There is something about wheat fields in the wind…

(Credit Mark Hansen)

We had one sag stop at which I saw this delightful contraption. 

(Abby…THIS is the princess seat!)

Now that is how a child bicycle seat should work. 

And an old timey grain elevator !
(Credit Jodie Oates for the photo and my dad for correcting my misimpression of what it was)

All in all, a chill day of riding at high speeds over gorgeous terrain, with a tailwind making life easy for us.  No deep thunks for the day, just a giant smile on my face and an appreciation for the joy of the open road and the wind in my face.

Finished the day watching the end of the Indy 500 with my new biking friends and eating at Applebees.  For you Survivor fans here is the burger that caused Liz to lose her mind this season   

The Bourbon Street Mushroom Swiss Burger

Pretty pretty pretty good.  

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Here’s a better shot of yesterday’s dust bowl  (credit Alena Grubb) 

After tomorrow, another 80 miles and our ninth straight day of riding, we get a rest day. I was scoping out the location and saw that there’s a movie theater a short walk from the hotel. Not even sure what is showing but I’m going to be there with a giant tub of popcorn in hand.  Possibly twice.

My other plan for my rest day is to compile some new music playlists. Getting tired of my old standbys. For anyone still reading this far… Please drop some music suggestions into the replies. And I will load them for the next week plus of riding.  If context matters… We will be finishing Kansas transiting Missouri and getting most of the way through Illinois before our next rest.

Ideas people!!