Day 29 Topeka to St. Joseph.

As you, as avid followers of the blog, may have noticed there is often a keen interest taken in the strength and particularly direction of the wind, as it can make or break the ride. Today we were essentially travelling NE and the wind was NNW and strong so we ended up fighting it most of the day. Because it was Sunday morning it was quiet at just after 7.00am when our 5 set off and ended up with many others of the group as we cruised out of Topeka and got onto the highway. The road was typical of the area with rolling roller-coaster type hills that seem endless and relentless. You climb one, zip down the other side to get up as much speed as possible to climb the next one. Sometimes you can crest it, others are too high, then it all starts again. It's like 'interval' training and really saps energy.
I was having trouble shifting the front chainrings as the 'new' bottom bracket wasn't doing the job.
By the time of the first SAG at 30 miles the wind had got right up making progress difficult. After the first SAG my front shifter wouldn't shift so I was stuck in the big chainring for the final 58 miles with lots of hills. Alan was also having difficulty with his front triple chainrings when the chain wouldn't lift from the middle to big ring, just lie between the two so he was, to use his words (at least the ones I can use before the watershed), pedalling fresh air! So with technical difficulties and the wind our progress slowed, but we finally got to the Missouri River at about mile 57 and the town of Atchison. We went over a pretty rickety bridge and stopped on it to take the photos as we left Kansas. Over the bridge and stopped to take the Missouri sign photos.
The road flattened out for while so being in the big chainring was not a problem, but that's not the end of the story. The second SAG at 69 miles was in a nice little park in DeKalb (weird spelling) and we almost missed it.
After that the roller-coasters returned with a vengeance and I found myself out of the saddle a good deal trying to get over the hills. We finally reached the outskirts of St. Joseph and had to go right through to the far side for our hotel, so we got the chance to see what is a lovely neat city with good facilities and lovely parks. We went through a huge park and near the far end came across another ex-Abb rider (remember Colorado?) who provided not only a warm welcome, but lovely drinks and nibbles as well. Jerry Mogg is a great chap and there will be more of him later. I for one was happy to haul myself into the hotel and my quads were wondering what was going on. Will need the rest day tomorrow to recover. The hotel provided free sweets, popcorn, soda drinks of several varieties, a 'goodie bag' and switched the TV to the final of Euro '08, so we sat in the lounge area (with a beer courtesy of Bill) and watched Germany lose to Spain. Al (who is German) was disappointed, but the better team won. Nice dinner and need to sort the bike out again tomorrow, but only after a lie-in!!
Today's distance was 88.3 miles. Total mileage is now 2191.05 miles.