Day 34 - Immanuel Lutheran Church (West of Girard, Kanas) to Toronto, Kansas

Saturday, May 28,2016 74.5 miles(119.9 km)

After a good night sleep at the Lutheran Church I headed out fairly early as I knew I had a fairly long day of cycling.  I had forgotten to fill one of my water bottles before I left but was not concerned as I would come to the small town of Buffalo, Kansas in a few miles.  I went into the convenience store and it was the first place I have come to that charged to refill a water bottle.  Needless to say I didn't purchase anything else in the store but oh well, I was on my way.  They did have a nice looking old gas station in Buffalo which is pictured below.

Old Gas Station

I saw many areas which were just covered with the wildflowers pictured below.

Wildflowers

Some of the early history of Kansas occurred in this area including early missions both an unsuccessful Presbyterian mission and a more successful Catholic mission.

Historical Marker

The ride was through mostly rolling farm and ranch land. The hills were all fairly small and there were not many of them.  The wind was generally good either as a slight tail wind or a slight cross wind with no head winds for the day.  The day finished heading mostly heading north and the wind was from the southwest so it was a good way to end the day of cycling.

Friendly Horse

Kansas Countryside

I had noticed near the end of the day that my real wheel was not tracking correctly.  I had made some adjustments to fix the problem but they were not enough and my rear well somehow bent its mounting spindle.  This did not happen until I was approaching my campsite for the night.  I was able to get every back together but knew I would need to get it checked out at the next bike shop I would come to which was in Newton some 100 miles away.  I just hoped my fixes would get me there, fixes I made did get the wheel into alignment but the spindle was still bent.  (Note after the fact - my fixes worked fine and I got to Newton with no further problem.  No parts were needed and the bike mechanic there was able fix the problems and get everything fine tuned for me)

I camped the night at Cross Timbers State Park near Toronto, Kansas.  It was a nice state park to camp at.