Day 30 Lyons KS to Herington KS

Today I'm on support & currently waiting for the riders at our 1st rest stop. I've completed my 1st 4 day consecutive stretch of riding. Before now, the days between support have been broken up by events or days off. In the last 4 days, I rode 300 miles. The 1st 3, I've already written about. The 4th day was 96 miles from Ness City to Lyons KS. As usual, the day began with cold & wind. I once saw somebody write about RAGBRAI in Iowa: "The scenery is always changing. Sometimes the corn is on the left; sometimes the corn is on the right." I think that what corn is to Iowa, wind is to Kansas. It seems there's always wind. Sometimes it's from the left, sometimes from the right & sometimes straight on. I'm sure that it can manage to come from behind, but we haven't seen it.

Here's a pic of the ubiqitous tumble weed. I wanted to get a video of them blowing across our road at some ridiculous speed. But I would've had to stage it with some help & that was just too much to think about while we were riding & fighting the wind.
Fortunately the last 2 days, the weather has gotten better as the days go on. The wind has died down to be even pleasant & the sun has warmed us nicely. Yesterday support team D even arranged our last rest stop at a DQ where we all enjoyed some sweet deliciousness.

We stayed at the high school. High schools are good since we always get showers & occasionally laundry. The best is when we can use the home ec room for meals. This morning support team E (my team!) made pancakes (a R4WH 2009 1st) that we a perfect start to the day. The day began as usual for Kansas.... cloudy, windy & grey. Even a little drizzle. My hope is that the weather improves & the riders have a more enjoyable afternoon as we arrive in Herington.

A bunch of us will be going to the middle school there after lunch to give a lecture . Then, Christina will take a few people to the airport about 2hours from Herington so they can head out for a couple of weddings in Ohio. Branden's girlfriend, Katie, has been with us for a week & she's also heading home today.

We've crossed the 1/2 way mark for dates & distance by now. We're all looking forward to Kansas City this weekend & our next major event there. Stay tuned. --Steve