Well, my worst fears were confirmed when I headed out onto the road. The break in the wind from yesterday was due to a shift in the winds, which are now gusting from the south-southwest. They were blowing pretty hard, too, and I crawled along at a mere 10 mph. Winds from the side make life more exciting, since you constantly have to compensate with your steering. To prevent myself from being blown off of the road, I had to almost lean to the left. The exciting part comes when a big truck zooms by, temporarily blocking the wind. I had to be fairly alert for the trucks to keep overcompensating and steering out into the road (and the trucks.)
The day was beautiful, but extremely hot and humid. Still, I was bolstered by a meeting of some of my biggest fans:
I have no idea what these cows are thinking, but when they saw me, they all ran over to the fence and watched me. I think they thought I was going to take them to a nice barn, where they could get out of the heat. Look closely. Every single cow is watching me, except for that white one on the right. Bitch.
Here's what the sky looks like in Kansas. It is unbelievably blue. Exciting, huh?
Here's what a Kansas sky looks like with clouds.
Sundays on the road really suck. The small towns that I pass through practically shut down on Sundays, leaving me no options other than Powerbars and M&Ms. I had to ration my water towards the end of the day, and ended up rolling into Newton dehydrated and exhausted. I showered and walked into town for dinner, and two different cars slowed down long enough to yell "Get a car," and "Get out of the road." Nice to see that the good, fat people of Newton don't just hate bikers -- they hate people who walk, too!