Rusty Crank Coast to Coast Bicycle Tour across the USA on the ACA TransAM Route

TransAm Day #25 June 19, 2018 Cassoday, KS - Nickerson, KS 91 Miles Ride Time 6:55 Hours Tour Total  Miles 1868 details at: https://cyclemeter.com/4b2d99e24f1383f2/Cycle-20180619-0428-64223 I slept in my hammock stretched out in the Cassoday park gazebo last night as freight trains blared through town every twenty minutes. It wasn’t the most restful night’s sleep. I got cold in the middle of the night and had to pull out my sleeping bag. My alarm chimed at 3:30am, but it took me an hour before I was ready to ride. There was an issue in the outhouse trying to squeeze out what felt like a brick.  My map warned me that there were no services for the first forty miles. The ride was a perfectly straight line on a small county road. It was a smart idea to ride this in the early morning, and not under the blazing afternoon sun. The flatness, emptiness, and light spill from far away towns in the distance reminded me of my Sahara desert crossing in 1993. I’ve de...

TransAm Day #26 June 20, 2018 Nickerson, KS - Rush Center, KS 93 Miles Ride Time 8:29 Hours Tour Total  Miles 1961 details at: https://cyclemeter.com/4b2d99e24f1383f2/Cycle-20180620-0414-77004 I slept like a baby last night in my comfy bed under the thatched canopy in the giraffe room at the Hendrick Exotic Animal Farm B&B. The weather forecast called for severe thunderstorms, and it did indeed kaboom and shower during the night. Steve and I were unsure as to how to proceed. The forecast called for continued storms throughout the morning. We both set our alarms for 3:30am. When I awoke, I stuck my head out the door and it seemed do-able. Steve decided to get a few more hours of sleep.  When I left, it was pitch black and drizzling. I was gambling. I prefer rain and darkness to hot sun and wind. The first part of the ride was a fifty-eight mile stretch with no services. If a severe storm came along it could be life threatening. My sense was that it wou...