day 1 - so it begins

'm always anxious before a trip, right up until i start out.

a good start to the trip.  the weather was windy and a little cool, bot wonderfully sunny.  the first 25 miles out of lawrence were to the south so the nw wind was almost from the back.  good rhythm, 25 miles flew.  

down to lovelly ottawa.  there was a corner coffee cafe open and i actually passed it by.  didn't hurt that i had a couple of cups of tea before i left lawrence.  i ate lunch at an empty baseball complex.  sunday in the middle of kansas.  it wasn't right.

don't think i talked to a single person or made contact with a door pull until i stopped at a gas station to refill my water bottles, early evening in osage city.  the woman said "no", she said  they weren't allowed to,  so i went down the street to the subway.  the woman there had no problem.

saw two young men heading east, but i was off the trail eating lunch so i didn't get to talk to them.  and i shared a short conversation with two women on horseback as i waited for them to pass.  otherwise no human interaction.  the trail wasn't very stimulating either.  not much to look at: cows, farms, fields.

made it to pomona state park by 3.  debated for a while, but decided i better take advantage of the weather and keep riding.  the trail unexpectedly ended, so i had to get on the two lane, rolling hills, heading into a pretty decent wind.  10 or so miles later, it reappeared but under construction.  of course i rode it anyway, perfect place to set up camp without any fear of anyone coming by.   

it was windy and a cold night, difficult to stay out.  i finally crawled into my bag and waited for the sun to set.  the cotton cocoon bag insert i brought was perfect to match the 36 deg temp.  but i just could not get my feet warm even with wool socks on.  don't know how long it took, but i finally fell asleep, so i guess the warmed up in the end.