Today was an 81 mile ride to Emporia, Kansas, the self-proclaimed gravel cycling capital of the world. There’s a big series of gravel rides this weekend, some of which require several years trying through a lottery system to enter. We’ll be here for a rest day tomorrow but gone by the weekend. We rode through rolling hills and flat plains with a light crosswind and warm temperatures. The photo above is from the Flint Hills area, where the layers of sediment from the time when this was seafloor are pretty obvious. There are also wide open plains.

Emporia, Kansas is a (very) quiet little town which is basically closed on Mondays, especially Memorial Day. We are sharing our hotel with some long term avian residents.

Tomorrow is an off day. Peter discovered a large crack in his bike’s titanium frame, so he needs to buy a new bike tomorrow. No such excitement for me and Chad. Wednesday it’s on to Topeka.