#Newton kansan from lyons kansas full

#Newton kansan from lyons kansas full

The only minor mishap was a “Road Closed” barricade on our main route about 10 miles out…riders gathered and discussed the options…we decided to bike ahead 2 miles and check out the closure which was a bridge under some sort of repair…it was easily passable so we proceeded accordingly…Īnother interesting moment was when we came upon a number of Buffalo…while somewhat camera shy, after some mowing on our part and other encouragement the entire herd of about 20 including two young Buffalo started to run….we biked along side…no photos unfortunately…it is not possible for me to bike and take photos at the same time…Ĭhanute was a typical Mid-Western city with many old brick building still in use…like most of the Mid-Western cities we passed through, however, a large percentage of retail space and other buildings were vacant…small family farms have given way to larger corporate farms…business is more regional and less local…populations have diminished as people have moved to larger metro areas for education and employment opportunities…ġ) Police HQ and Court House…a full city block…ģ) Old Sears store still open for business Our ride on July 2 was from Eureka, KS to Chanute, KS a moderate 65 miles ride, again mostly flat…the weather was excellent…mild temp, light wind, diverse scenery, etc…we passed through some very sleepy, very small towns…Neal (no services), Toronto (services, but not easy to find), a “Wonder In Family Dining” restaurant at mile 27.4 which did not appear to be open, Coyville (apparently had a restaurant, but again not easy to find), Benedict (gas), and eventually our destination of Chanute. We ended the day at the Blue Stem Motel…it was a strange name…I was informed it was the name given to the wild grass that grew in the area and was excellent food for the grazing cattle…I wonder it is a cousin of Kentucky Blue Grass?

Our ride on July1 from Newton, KS to Eureka, KS was a 73 miles day mostly flat with a nice downhill finish…Eastern Kansas, in contrast with Western Kansas, has a greater diversity of terrain and landscape and cattle ranches are more prevalent…corn is still a common crop as well as soy beans… I stopped at the 57 miles mark in the small town of Hesston for lunch…rather than a restaurant with typical uninspiring Mid-West fare I stopped at Hesston Foods, a small, but well supplied market…I bought real food…a banana, a half cantaloupe already seeded, and a couple Powerades to hydrate…it was one of the best lunches I have had…being vegetarian in the Mid-West is like being a fish out of water…there are often some pretty good options, but often there are no good options…the food store vs the restaurant, when there is a food store, is the best bet… Our ride on June 30 from Lyons, KS to Newton, KS was 72 miles…another rainy start…again we waited for a storm cell to move out before we got underway…after that the day improved and the sun came out…we went through a small town of Sterling, KS a well-manicured college town featuring an equally manicured campus…pictured below is one of the original buildings…the school was founded in 1887…Īs we had done many times since encountering the mighty Arkansas River in Colorado we continued to cross its path…here is another crossing… Our ride on June 29 from Lacrosse, KS to Lyons, KS was about 67 miles…our start was delayed due to thunderstorms…on good advice we simply waited until the cell passed over and the rain stopped and then started our ride…Rush Center, KS, 5 miles from our start, was front and center on the Weather Channel which was tracking numerous storms in Kansas and elsewhere…once we were underway it was an uneventful day… Today we arrived in Pittsburg, KS our last Kansas stop…tomorrow is July 4 and we will lay over in Pittsburg for a rest day…no doubt there will be Independence Day celebrations in which we will participate…typical celebrations include hot dog eating contests, three-leg sack races, pie eating contests, parades, etc…stay tuned… Today is July 3…the Jelly Belly marker has been moved to Pittsburg, KS our current location…