Day 28: Abilene to Topeka

Today’s Highlights:
It was another delightful day for cycling. The weather was beautiful, with a clear blue sky in the morning and high puffy clouds in the afternoon. Comfortable 60-degree temps started our morning, and the heat of the 90-degree afternoon was offset by a north wind. Our 108-mile route from Abilene to Topeka took us through the Flint Hills region in eastern Kansas. I had not known about this area, and was pleasantly surprised by all the rolling hills and lush green landscape. A shallow layer of limestone made it impractical for early settlers to farm here, and as a result it has been used for cattle ranching. It is the last expanse of intact tallgrass prairie in the nation. Once, millions of bison roamed here, but unfortunately they were nearly exterminated. It was amazing to see the green prairie stretching for miles and miles, especially when we crested some of the higher hills and could see it in all directions. What a sight it must have been with its wildlife centuries ago. Today, I saw occasional herds of cattle, but none of them very large. I saw one coyote also.

In a few places, the road was cut through a hill, and a cross-section the honey-colored limestones below the topsoil was visible. I also saw a few old buildings and barns built from this stone. I am not certain, but the church in picture 6034 looks like it was built from this local stone.

Some farms with corn, wheat or other crops were seen on our ride today, but far fewer than central and western Kansas. We rode through a few very tiny towns. White City, only a few blocks long, had a brick main street and a nice town park where we had our first rest stop. Eskridge was slightly bigger, and we also enjoyed their local park for our second rest stop. The village of Dover had one cafe and not much else. Across from the cafe was a piece of yard “art” made from discarded junk, including a bicycle. In the next several miles, I saw several other yard ornaments made from discarded bicycle parts and other stuff. I had to stop for pictures just because of the bike theme.

I completed my ride in Topeka at 2:06 PM, a little under eight hours elapsed time. I had a better-than-average pace going for the first seventy five miles, but heading into a strong north wind during parts of the last twenty five miles cut my overall speed down. Still, it was a good pace for me, and a pleasant 108 miles. We ended at the northwest corner of Topeka, and will leave tomorrow heading northeast. We will not see any of this big city except the hotel we are in. That’s okay. We get to see plenty of the beautiful Kansas countryside.

Pictures Of The Day:

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Statistics:
Zoom and pan the map to explore the route. Click the name or ‘View Detail’ to view more information at Garmin Connect.