July 9, Hutchinson, KS

It “felt” right to stop here. The care attended to my posterior and my rest made for a great ride. But I decided not to push it too far today, so I turned off course 6 miles to spend the night here. Besides, my riding friend Dee called and said I had to stay here.

I’m typing this sitting on furniture in the nursery of the Zion Lutheran Church. Since 1982 the church has made its basement available to bicyclists for free. They provide towels, showers, beds, sheets, pillows, TVs and a kitchen for any cyclist passing through. You pick up a key from the local bike shop. They only ask that you clean up after yourself and that you sign the register. Looking through the register since 2005 I found people from almost every state and Holland, Germany, Sweden, Chile, South Africa, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Denmark, Wales, Ireland, England, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

The register allows riders to pass on information and bits of advice: “If you hate the last 500 feet of high passes let your lover/partner/friend go ahead and surprise you with a cup of coffee on the summit.” Stephen also advises: “Do not use dough balls or chips of beef jerky as fish bait! The fish take offense.”

Josh from Tasmania admits that he is having a “bum problem.” He didn’t mention it to me when we met in Montana about a month ago. I guess that’s because he has a positive outlook on everything he has experienced: “I really enjoyed Eastern Kentucky with its lower socio-economic population and howling mongrel dogs. It was a great experience.”

Stephanie from NY with boyfriend Sebastian offers the following advice: “Do not tie a jacket to the outside of your panniers (saddlebags); it may get caught in your chain and rip off your rear derailleur.” She also tells us “…wash your bike shorts daily...and let them dry in the sun. UV rays will kill any bacteria.”

Nine members of the Fox family from Castroville, CA passed through in August 2008. Eight rode while one drove a support and gear (SAG) van. They made the trip because they felt it would be the last time they could be together for an extended period since the two oldest daughters were going to college in the fall. Mom and dad were also using the experience to re-evaluate their careers. They also wanted to see if they could make it on their limited budget. Their final reason: “Why not?”

“Wish I’d had more mosquito and biting cow-fly repellant for Kansas,” wrote Stephen Tschopp of Switzerland.

This morning I stopped at an observation point in the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. “Plain Jane” was sitting in her pickup getting ready to go to work down the road. She’s a state-certified feedlot vermin exterminator. She kills rats, mice, flies and mosquitoes that hang around the huge feedlots in this part of Kansas. “You know that yard you passed with the purple sign, Ward’s? They run the cleanest feed yard in the state,” she said even before the question had occurred to me.

She then let me know that feed yards will boost a beef’s weight from approximately 500 pounds to 800 pounds in 90 days. “Hell, they shit 80 pounds a day so they have to take in a lot to put on that weight.” She threw some more cattle facts at me before getting a tad emotional: “I just love coming out here and listening to the birds and seeing the wildlife. It’s so peaceful. You know I came out here when 9/11 occurred. I sure felt secure out here.”