Day 24 - Mon, June 2 - McPherson, KS to Abilene, KS - 62 miles - 1600 feet climbing

Today's 62 mile ride was a more relaxing ride than we have become accustomed to. We had a light right-front headwind for the first 20 miles and then turned north for a 40 mile straight run to Abilene with a light tail wind. With no head wind to fight for the last 40 miles, I rode alone and took pictures - as did many other riders.

The photo above shows one of several large dairy farms that we passed south of Abilene. The scenery was very green and the traffic was light with just an occasional auto or truck passing us.


This photo shows our sag stop at about 30 miles out and at the half-way point.


A view of much of our scenery today. The land appeared to be used mostly for cattle grazing with some cropping. Many of the cropped areas appeared wet and not, yet, planted. Some corn was 6-8 inches tall and looked as though it had recently been setting in water.


Fifteen miles left until Abilene - less than an hour away with the light tail wind.



A Sonic drive-in or Dairy Queen always hits the spot at the end of a ride. In the photo are Scott from Virginia and Noreen from Canada.

We were threatened with rain again today but, once again, escaped it. After arriving in Abilene, we learned that there had been softball sized hail in the area this morning. It seems that dangerous hail storms have been following us for several days but haven't quite caught us yet.

Several of us had supper at the Kirby House, a historic mansion in Abilene. The Kirby House sent a van to the motel to transport three loads of us to the restaurant. We agreed that this was the best meal that we'd had since starting the tour. It's style of serving was very similar to Cafe Phoenix in my home town of Grinnell, Iowa. Cafe Phoenix is also situated in an old house.

As I post this entry (Tuesday morning) I hear on the Weather Channel that Grinnell, Iowa, has trees down from a storm. I called home and Kim says they did just have a storm pass through and that everything is okay in our end of town. Of course our dogs, who do not like storms, are hiding under the bed.

Tomorrow (actually, now, today) will be our third rest day - very welcomed after nine days of riding. Abilene has a population of around 6,000 and has the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum which some of us plan to visit.