Countiss 2023 USA Tour

  • Day 29: Ups and Downs

    Today we went up and down about 140 hills on a 75 mile ride from Chillicothe to Kirksville, Missouri. That’s a lot of hills. They weren’t just easy rollers, either: many were grades of >10%, which is pretty steep for a road bike. And it was sunny and hot. Several riders thought today was the…

  • Day 28: A Big Welcome

    Every March 15 the buzzards return to Hinckley, Ohio; every March 19 the swallows return to San Juan Capsitrano, California; and every June 2 Crossroads returns to Maysville, Missouri. Maysville is a small town, but to them we’re just as big a deal as the buzzards. First we’re met at the school with curious looks…

  • Day 27: Missouri and a Sigh of Relief, Unrelated

    The second radio station in Topeka, WREN, installed this bird statue on its roof in 1947. It was taken down in 1993 when the station changed its call letters. It was created in the 1930s when the station was located in Lawrence, Kansas. Chad and I were too tired yesterday to make a special trip…

  • Day 26: Pie

    Today was a beautiful short 67 mile day through rolling hills and cornfields in Kansas. The weather was perfect and the ride was picturesque and downright serene. The food highlight was a visit to the Somerset Cafe, which makes the pie named “Best Pie in America” by Good Morning America in 2008. sommersethallcafe.com/best-pie-in-america (Thanks to…

  • Day 25: A Uniquely Interesting Day in Emporia

    Today was an odd day. On an off day there’s usually laundry and lots of sleep. We did the sleeping in thing, and then Chad and I went to IHOP for breakfast. The hostess/server there took 3-4 minutes to even appear, and then was the most surly person I’ve seen in months. Rather than endure…

  • Day 24: Kansas Hills, such as they are

    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…

  • Day 23: Middle America

    Today was a shorter day, 64 miles due east across Kansas. Again the weather was good with mostly crosswinds and temperatures not too hot. We passed the small town of Chase, the town of Lyons (pronounced Lions), and wound up in McPherson. McPherson and neighboring Conway are actually home to huge underground petroleum product storage…

  • Day 22: The Middle of the Country

    Kansas was quiet today. We had an 87 mile ride to Great Bend with mostly crosswinds, cool weather, and no rain. We passed the park above, which is midway between New York and San Francisco. It’s not quite our halfway point, which is still 3 days away. The park also has a small museum with…

  • Day 21: Red Sky in the Morning

    Today was an 84 mile ride from Liberal to Dodge City, Kansas. The forecast last night was for thunderstorms all morning, and the sky this morning said “Take warning.” The storms never materialized and we wound up having a great ride with stiff crosswinds which turned into a strong tailwind for the last 20 miles.…

  • Day 20: Kansas

    Welcome to Kansas. Today was a short 42 mile ride from Guymon, OK to Liberal, Kansas. The high school team here are the Redskins. Liberal? Indeed not! Last night we had a ferocious thunderstorm in Guymon, and today we skirted more storms to our south and east. Alas, tomorrow they should catch up with us.…