Day 27 – Friday 6/24/22

Achison, Kansas to Falls City, Nebraska – 60.8 Miles

I woke up around 4:30 AM this morning to the sound of thunder. Since I wasn’t planning on riding that early, I went back to bed. A couple of hours later it was looking like this:

I got on the weather app and saw that the storm was due to end by 11:00 AM, which was perfect because check-out time was the same. This would give me a late start towards my destination of Falls City, Nebraska, but I’d stay dry and could spend some time dealing with all the little things that had turned into bigger things while I’d been away. On departure, I rode a short loop through Achison, then turned north on Highway 7.

Compared to Missouri’s roads, Kansas has them beat. The elevation profile for today was hilly, but it turned out to be nothing. Rather than the intense climbs of Missouri, where a defibrillator is optional equipment, Kansas has gradual climbs and long descents that make it easier to get up the hill and recover on the way down. Moving Ishmael along wasn’t a problem, and it got even better later. Between the green of the corn and the road, a house made an appearance now and then.

I was pleased with the low volume of traffic. This made riding less tense because I didn’t have to track incoming vehicles behind me. Here’s a sample:

It’s not all corn all the time. Kansas farmers raise cattle, and they were out in numbers today. These longhorns were having a meeting as I passed by.

There were few towns listed as having services on today’s ride, so the ACA ran the path through the town of Troy, which is a couple of miles off the direct route. Before I got there, I passed by a country cemetery. One grave marker got my attention from the road.

It’s also interesting to find Civil War veterans, even if they’re a long way from Ohio.

Troy was an attractive town with a lot of vacancies.

I stopped by “John’s Market” in town for snacks and pizza. It’s an old-style grocery store with two registers and had a nice selection of items. In the front window of the store, they allow people to post announcements and advertisements. These two ads by young entrepreneurs got my attention. I hope they are successful!

Unbelievably, the wind was blowing at a good speed in direction I wanted to go. After working hard to do 9 or 10 mph across Missouri, Ishmael and I were running at 17 to 20 mph easily. When I saw this sign, it was just more incentive to keep going.

On the way to White Cloud.

White Cloud, which is near a spot where Lewis and Clark had camped in 1804, is on the Missouri River. It also has an impressive grain elevator.

Suddenly, this sign appeared.

Which led to this.

The first miles in Nebraska were flat.

Over the last 13 miles to Falls City we were back to going up a hill and coming back down. Not super-steep, but enough that I felt there were better things to do. Once in town, I checked into the Vision Inn and went out to dinner at a good Mexican restaurant. The town has some beautiful homes and a well-kept downtown area. Population here is approaching 5,000, so there are enough people to support a variety of businesses. Here’s a sample of what I saw on my walk.

An Art Deco style building for sale. This architecture is attractive and rare.

Friday night downtown.

The courthouse with de rigueur Statue of Liberty

A two-chair barber shop with shoeshine stand.

This was a movie theater but looks to be in a state of disorganization inside.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, I had to use this to get in the room.

Plans for this weekend are to move towards Omaha \ Council Bluffs. Hotels are booked solid in the area, so the tent may have to come out soon. If it does, the updates to the blog will come early next week. Have a good weekend!