Clay Center, KS

Hi!
We're in Clay Center Kansas tonight. I was sweep on a 40 mile ride today with Boss Brian. We found a daylight donuts in Manhattan and stopped for an hour before heading out. It was great. The ride today was excellent. The road we were on turned into a gravel road so we had to detour to find our route. The people in the front of the group did an excellent job at rerouting the group and making sure everyone else in the group knew about it. I was really proud of the communication between group members today. Boss and I took it easy, but since it was only 44 miles, we all made it in by 12:30. I didn't get much sleep the last few days, so I took the chance to take a 3 and a half hour nap this afternoon. I woke up later with a tiara on my head and apparently people have some awesome pictures of me sleeping. haha. oh well. I guess thats what I get for sleeping around 30 crazy cyclists!

The last 2 days have been amazing. We rode 90 miles from Lawrence, KS to Manhattan, KS. Barbara and I rode the first 26 miles together at an average speed of 18.6. We got up early to try to avoid the heat and headwinds. After the first lunch stop, we joined with Jenny and Christina and rode on to the second lunch stop at mile 66. We made it there at the front of the pack and we were all running low on steam. Christina and I left the 2nd lunch together and thought it was going to be smooth sailing. We were wrong. The wind picked up a lot and there were 2 decent sized hills before Manhattan. It slowed us down a lot, but we still made it in by 1:00. My family came to visit me and I was really glad to get to see them all. My girlfriend Sarah also came and surprised me while I was napping. It was so good to spend time with everyone!
We had a day off in Manhattan as well which really helped me get adequate amounts of rest on my muscles for the first time in weeks. Days off make me happy. At this point I love riding, but a day off is just luxurious. I also got to stay in a hotel room for a night which was awesome! I hope you people reading this enjoy your actual beds.. because you're spoiled! haha.

Anyway, we have a 60 mile day tomorrow before a stretch of three 90 mile days in a row. There will be some long days, but we will be in Denver before you know it! I'm getting excited about the Rockies.. and the day off in Denver.

Well.. I'm going to sleep so I can be rested for tomorrow! Thanks for reading!