Day 27 McPherson to Abilene.

You would have suspected that the 4th of July had come early as nature provided a lightening display that made the one a few nights ago look like a damp squib. It was accompanied by torrential rain and I for one was confident that we would need outriggers fitted to the bikes, I think Shimano do one. Greg our resident meterologist predicted that the front would have passed over by morning, but going to breakfast was a squelch and the lightening display was still going on. Talk was that our 'weather angel,' that had done such a great job since leaving San Francisco, had deserted us. Probably struck by lightening. However, by the time breakfast was over Greg prove himself as the rain stopped and the storm could be seen to be moving away. It was quite windy so the roads dried quickly as well.
We did not rush to start and when we did our 3 plus Bill moved off at a leisurely pace. I was resplendant in my bright yellow rain top, but soon regretted it as it was too warm. After about 11 miles of a severe southerly wind whistling in through my right ear and emerging at the same speed through mt left ear, while the bike was keeled over at a 45 degree angle, the most amazing left turn in the history of cycling occured. At this point, the town of Canton, the wind was now directly behind us as we travelled north towards Abilene. The difference was stunning and the world was suddenly a perfect place. The road was a 'country road' (another John Denver song) and not a highway so there were picturesque farms and houses, loads of nodding donkeys and we bowled along with virtually no effort, pushed by the wind. I felt like we were cheating and kept looking behind to see if anyone was looking.
As a group of gallant chaps we assisted Sue with a front flat (one more for the stats) and at about the 30 mile point we reached the mark on the road that was the official halfway point of our ride. There were the usual photos and Steve had his taken lying in the road by the mark. There was more chance of him being run over by members of the group than by other traffic as the road was so quiet. Other riders arrived and there was a real school outing atmosphere as everyone was in good spirits because of the wind direction and now we were halfway through. The Sag was in the town of Gypsum (twinned with Cement in Moldovia) and there Al showed us his prowess on a borrowed BMX. Told you it was like a school outing. I bought stamps at the local Post Office and the postmistress (are they called that in America?) wanted to know all about the ride. We were taking it so easily that the 'Day Care' group caught us and at one point Steve Foley on his semi-recumbent overtook me and said, 'I've never overtaken you before!' It didn't last long though as I stuck my pump in his spokes (not really).
Abilene is a name I remember from the days of matinee black and white cowboy films and the old part of the town was quaint, though it still had the 'Kansas Cathedrals,' huge grain silos, in attendance. We left that area for the retail/hotel strip which is like every other American town and had a bit to eat in a 'Subway.' Later had a nice dinner in a diner that was dedicated to baseball, but don't start me on that!
I have now added comments to many of the early sets of photos on Flickr. Click the link on the blog to go to Flickr, click on 'sets,' choose the set of photos then click 'details' and the photos will open with the comments. Haven't done them all yet, but I will.
Today's distance was 64.5 miles.