Today I rode in honor of SGT Christopher Tarte. Thank you SGT Tarte not only for your service but for your sacrifice. You are a hero! Please take a moment to read and watch his inspiring story and thank you for your support!
A good ol morning breakfast of hotel oatmeal and boiled eggs was just what I needed to start my day off right. I do have to admit, I passed Wendy’s and almost stopped for a bacon egg and cheese biscuit though. I started my ride at 8am. My goal was 100 miles. I made it 90 miles.
It was pretty nice weather wise in the beginning of the day starting off at 64° but as all summer days go, it got hot quickly. Ave temperature was around 96° and the Garmin registered 114° with the heat radiating from the asphalt. NICE! But of course, I had the winds of Kansas to keep me from overheating. Headwinds, sidewinds, tailwinds, you name it, I had it! Just when I was getting use to on direction of the wind, it changed on me. Gave me something to keep guessing at all day. My biggest concern of the day was finding a place to pee out here in the middle of the wide open spaces. I chose the big round haystacks. Works perfectly. There are a plethora of them dotting the fields.
I was blessed to meet Sandro and Phil early on in my ride. We gave the Powerade and cold water. They told us they got caught in that same storm I saw coming upon me last night. Said it was the storm from hell and that they had to find shelter in nearby barn that was off to the side of the road. We had a lovely conversation and then parted ways. We both wanted to make 100 miles today. Great guys.
The roads here are wonderfully smoother than those of CO. Thanks Kansas. People are super friendly by getting in the left lane when passing too! woohoo! I actually really love Kansas. It is relatively flat, some ups and downs, but pretty much flat. It reminds me a lot of IN, my home state. I had forgotten how much I love miles and miles of farmland. It is so beautiful to me, a different kind of beauty. There are endless wheat fields. Some are being harvested so there are large combine harvesters that are out on the road. They are HUGE!!
It got to be close to 5pm when I called it a day around Rush Center. We had a 4 1/2 hours of driving tonight to go to our hotel at the Hampton inn in Lincoln, NE. Yep you read that correctly, NE! This definitely wasn’t on any agenda at all! Last night my son texted me about one of his best friends from high school who was going to be pitching in the college World Series tomorrow. Andrew Beckwith is like a son to me! I googled how far it was to Omaha and since I was so close I just couldn’t miss this once in a lifetime event of watching him. So tomorrow is going to be my day off of riding and I’m going to be watching some great baseball!! I am so excite.
Enjoy the photos! I will catch up with y’all later when I’m back on the road. Thanks again for all who have supported us through your prayers, encouraging texts, and your donations throughout our journey. You’re the best! We appreciate you so much! Thank you also to those who have supported HFOT. Your donations to them help disabled vets, like SGT Christopher Tarte, get a chance at reclaiming some of their personal freedoms in a new home. Many thanks!
