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Tuesday June 10--Lincoln, Kansas

(Don't miss today's Special Report by 13-yr-old Kristina Hilboldt!)

Today I traveled with the Bashful group from Stockton to Beloit and then traveled to Lincoln where I will stay with the Affectionate group this evening.

After a great BAK breakfast (paid for by Biking Across Kansas and fixed by the Spirit Squad at the High School), we traveled along a relatively flat and smooth road to Alton where the local ladies had a stand set up with everything from cookies to large cinnamon rolls for sale. Alton is where Gen. Bull lived with his pet elk until he was gored to death by that same elk. There is a large set of elk horns located in the museum in Beloit. Also from Alton is the founder of Russell Stover Candies. We then traveled to Osborne where the city and the EMS had a booth set up where they were trying to raise money to buy new uniforms for the local EMS. After Osborne we encountered our first construction zone where a new surface was being placed on the road. It was very smooth and the riders were the first to use the new pavement. Nearly all of the cities had the "Welcome" flags out and most had some type of booth set up to welcome us. In Cawker City, the home of the "World's Largest Ball of Twine", there was a gentleman handing out brochures and telling about the big ball.

Just down the road from there, the half way point of BAK was reached by those on the Bashful Route.

The other two routes are fairing well except that there was a fall by a rider on the Affectionate route which caused some pain but no lasting injuries. He cracked his helmet when he fell. On the Kongenial route there was a report of two bicyclists receiving speeding tickets by the highway patrol for exceeding the limit in a small town along Highway 36. On of those two also received a warning for failure to have his glasses on.

On a fun note, Norma and I were attempting to communicate with our new amateur radio's when a local gentleman joined the conversation and at one time asked if we had just received our licensees. I asked what gave him that impression. He just laughed. I knew we were newbees but always hoped that it wasn't that obvious. I guess we need to practice more. To that gentleman in Downs: (if he reads this) thanks for being gentle.

The weather today was wonderful!! We had no wind for most of the morning and after noon, a slight breeze came up from the south. The temperature this morning was quite cool and again most wore jackets to start the day. As a matter of fact, one of the Route Directors commented this morning that he was going to buy a blanket this evening. Later this afternoon, the temperature was slightly over 80--for a nearly perfect day of bicycling.