Kansas!! Day 3: Cottonwood Falls to Newton

Getting into the heart of Kansas today with a 69 mile ride to and around Newton. I left Cottonwood Falls around 6:30am and arrived in Newton just after 1. 

 

Over hill and dale and though the mist of the Flint Hills on this scenic byway to Cassoday.  It was a great ride on a great morning. 

A sign of the defunct symphony that was blown/rained out a few nights ago. It would have been a beautiful hilltop setting if it happened. 

☹️

The only “town” between Cottonwood Falls and Cassoday 26 miles away was Matfield Green. I hadn’t had breakfast yet and 12 or 15 miles in I was getting a little peckish. 

Unfortunately there was no food but there was this very cool micro-version of a Kansas Stonehenge.  I anticipated this problem and gotten a little apple fritter at the Casey’s back in Cottonwood Falls in case of a caloric emergency like this. 

This roadside stop gives more insight to the Flint Hills and the art scene among other features. 

If your ever looking for a great 20 mile bike ride I definitely recommend this to you. 

I really like the cows along the way and the way they behave when you pass. They almost always look at you like you’re an alien life form, sometimes closing the distance to you or trotting away. These guys all had both ears pierced which made me start thinking it’s a cool thing and time to get my right ear pierced too!

In Cassoday I finely get on the Trans-Am route.  I saw a total of 7 cross country cyclist today as I headed west from Cassoday. Note the warning on the map about No Services for next 38 miles. 

The only place in Cassoday to eat was the Country Store and Gas. The lady there whipped me up a sausage egg muffin and hash brown.  I topped of my 2 water bottles and headed west. 

Angela and I are thinking about getting a dog again one of these days. This little 5 month old Corgi mix at the Country Store was so cute I almost emptied my handle bar bag and stuffed her in. 

Miles and miles of devouring asphalt now lie ahead of me as my route will mostly run in straight lines to the west. 

10 miles out from Newton I felt a little bonk coming on. It’s been about 35 miles riding in the sun since I ate in Cassoday so I found some shade under a tree in someone’s yard and gobbled down the last of my fritter and water.  

Newton, where I meet many people!

At a gas station I stopped at for a soda and to top off my water bottles this guy approached me twice, first to warn me (I think jokingly) about mountain lions in the area and to be careful if I camped.  Then he came back a few minutes later to ask me if I knew about a 1918 law in the US that kicked out all of the “illegals” and that Trump was going to pass the law again.  He said it was a little known fact and that because I lived in Colorado it would cause a lot of problems with our laws. 

🤔 

This older gentleman struck up a more typical conversation about 2 wheeled adventures, his on motorcycles. James was a very nice man and gave me his card before getting back in his car to head to the hardware store. 

This guy photobombed my picture of the time and temp. Curtis struck up a conversation with me as he to is a touring cyclist. He confirmed I could camp in the city park, swim and get a shower there. He also pointed me to a nearby Warm Showers host who would be glad to take me in. 

I checked out the park and they let me shower and swim for free. Maybe they thought I was down on my luck or just smelled really, really bad after my ride. 

I opted for the Warm Showers host at this old Victorian house. 

Janet and Orvin Voth, my hosts, have a very fat cat named Tiger. 

I was joined at the Voth’s by a cycling couple from India, Prashant and Lydia. They have been on the road for 41 days, 1,700 miles and are headed to Astoria, OR from Yorktown, VA on the Trans-Am Route. That’s Janet on the right. Orvin was farming which made him late for the very nice spaghetti dinner Janet made us.