Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Lindsborg to Herington, KS

57 miles. It doesn't get much better than today's ride. The weather was great, a welcome change from the past 11 days. We enjoyed sunshine all day, temperature in the low 80s and a tail wind most of the day. To top it off, the scenery was idyllic - mile after mile of green fields, farms and rolling hills. We are in the Flint Hills region of Kansas and, although it will never be confused with the Rocky Mountains, many of the hills necessitated a visit to Granny - meaning we were spinning the weenie gears as the climbs were too steep to simply roll over.

We walked around Herington* for over an hour. Lots of beautiful old homes as well as some new mini-subdivisions. Economically this is obviously a healthy town. That is not surprising since eastern Kansas enjoys far more rainfall than western Kansas. With the rain comes crops, jobs, etc.
and a lot better opportunity to make a living. For the same reason, most of the counties in western Kansas continue to suffer declining populations. That explains many of the photos we have posted over the past week or so.

*We are usually sick of riding once we arrive at our destination, so we walk around the destination town.

More cows than people

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Countryside near Elmo, KS

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Prairie schooner

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Got anything to eat?

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Beef on the hoof

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The cow whisperer

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Silo

Near Hope, KS.
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House and grain elevator

Near Hope, KS.
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Countryside west of Herington pic #3

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Countryside west of Herington pic #2

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Countryside west of Herington pic #1

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Cafe in Gypsum

We had excellent fried chicken and rueben sandwiches for lunch, great training food!
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Main Street in Gypsum, KS

Someone from the highway department with a sense of humor erected an official-looking sign outside of town that says "Gypsum - Next 13 Exits"
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Final Lindsborg pic

How 'bout dem Bethany College fighting Swedes?
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Lindsborg pic #6

I think these are Swedish for "No shoes, no short, no service" and "Employees must wash hands before returning to work"
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