July 8, 2019
Dear Kansas,
From the moment I heard about this trip, I've been envisioning myself biking through amber waves of grain that stretched far into the distance in Kansas. I've even been thinking of the songs I'd like to listen to in Kansas, most of which are from the soundtrack to the running scene in Forrest Gump:
Running on Empty by Jackson Browne
It Keeps You Runnin' by The Doobie Brothers
I've Got to Use My Imagination by Gladys Knight & The Pips
Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac
On The Road Again by Willie Nelson
Against the Wind by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
And then we started our trip. As we biked over the hilly Appalachians, whenever we were pushing up a hill, I was looking forward to Kansas, the promised land. If we could just make it to Kansas City, we'd have a break.
And we did make it to Kansas City! As soon as we crossed the border, it seemed as though the road was clearer and the trees were greener. Both Maile and I seemed to be losing our minds as we crossed into Kansas.
Kansas lived up to our hopes. When we were there, we finally switched out our rental car for a beautiful GMC Denali with no mechanical issues and plenty of room for all of our gear. We completed our first century ride of over 100 miles in one day. We started to get fewer flat tires. I haven't fallen off of my bike since Missouri. We met Evan's family and played with fireworks on the Fourth of July. We got to stay at a Fire Department in Colby. It was awesome!
Biking through Kansas itself has been a dream. People had warned us of the prevailing headwinds we'd be facing as we biked westward, but a lot of the time, we had a tailwind on well paved roads. We biked far more miles in one day than we had ever biked before, and it was easy!
But today, we had to leave. It's time to move on. We've got to leave the flat fields of Kansas and start biking towards the Rockies, the Sierra Nevadas, and San Francisco. I'll definitely miss you, Kansas. It's been a beautiful ride.
Thank you, Kansas.
Sincerely,
Erin Leydon
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