Velowander

Day 37: Mag exhausted end in Ellinwood, KS with Greg & Jane

I could see Mag was struggling with the winds all day and, though a good cyclist, was losing her strength. I was fed up with my hot water and wanted to cool down though I was in a bit better shape than Maggie because I didn't have her soreness from having ridden an upright bike the previous day for 80 miles.

My plan was to stop and try to find a place in Ellinwood like a church or if lucky, a host family while Maggie rested (we would not continue to Great Bend). We were very lucky that Greg & Jane met us at our first stop in Ellinwood at the service station. We talked with them, quickly establishing that Maggie was too tired to ride much farther and couldn't make it to the accomodation in Great Bend so we had to find something in Ellinwood which lacks formal accomodation for travellers.

Fortunately, they offered their house as a place to stay and we loaded our bikes in to the back of their pickup. We met the whole family (husband Greg, wife Jane, sons Sam & Bill; their daughter got married recently and lives elsewhere). They made dinner for us and took us to see sunflowers (all dead unfortunately, due to drought) and inspect working oil facilities in the area.

Labels: Bike Touring

posted by David @ 3:14 PM