Abilene to Topeka, KS

I can't come up with enough positive adjectives for today's ride.  This has to be one of the great days in the cross country trip.  Northeastern Kansas is beautiful.  We traveled on back country roads with very little traffic.  The Flint Hills are home to many cattle ranches as there's too much rock in the soil for plowing.  Everything was green and the roads went up and down (rollers) for most of the day.  The headwind (what else) was 5-10 mph and wasn't a significant factor in the ride.  It was, however, a long day, 107 miles and I had to find shelter for half an hour when a thunderstorm rolled through.  Tracy had given her Thunderstorm 101 lecture last night, so I knew what to do when I saw the lightening flashes.  It had started to rain and I took shelter with Heinz in a roadside construction hut until the thunder and rain stopped and the sun came out again.

In Dover, KS, is the Sommerset Cafe.  In 2008, Norma Grubb (yes, that was her name) won Good Morning America's Best Pie in America contest with her banana cream pie.  I got to meet Norma back in 2009 and sample some of her pie - excellent!  Norma has since passed away but the cafe and pies using her recipes are still there.  I was happier than a baby goat to stop and eat pie at mile marker 92.  Two pieces of rhubarb pie and a cup of coffee were greatly relished before finishing the last fifteen easy miles into Topeka.

7:15; 107 miles; 4165' climb; 5,030 Calories.

Lots of pictures