we rode 62 miles from smith center to Lucas, Kansas.
we'd heard about Lucas's artist community and we got to play an impromptu gig at the hundred year old "Garden of Eden".
we also got a tour of the town by Don and Erica of "The World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things" - a Roadside Attraction that travels around the country with miniature replicas of things like the Largest Doughnut and the Largest Ball of Twine (the one we saw!)
It was a very warm evening and we were happy to see so many folks come out to hear us play in the garden. We also met a real Ditty Bop - a Morse Code Decoder from the Navy who told us how to say our names in Code. What a fun surprise.here is some folk art taxidermy in Lucas
we rode 52 miles from Lucas to Salina
Getting up pre-dawn to race against the heat, we found ourselves near some farms with some scary barking dogs in the dark. that's become a staple of these parts so far. not our favorite aspect of the trip.
we rode 60 miles from Salina almost to Manhattan, KS
Another 4 am morning. 90 degrees even that early. rode under the mooon and stars and had a visit from head wind who slowed us down and kept us cool. we rode along our route to a military base. at the gate, a handsome soldier told us bikes were allowed with photo id. we weren't carrying our id's. amanda showed the soldiers a Ditty Bops sticker, telling them it was sort of like a photo id, we were pictured on it, we had a website, could we please get through, we'd ridden all the way from LA. no dice.
we turned around and tried an alternate route, a frontage road that dead ended at the highway that didn't allow bikes. we had already ridden 60 miles and the heat was climbing so we met up with Euro Van and hitched a ride the rest of the way to Manhattan, Kansas. Upon arrival, Abby got sick again. amanda is not permitting her to ride tomorrow. it's time for recovery mode. it's supposed to be 108 tomorrow.
