Backroads Touring - April 3, 2011

April 3, 2011 .... with the temperatures forecast to be in the high eighties, felt it was time for an extended solo ride into the Flint Hills.

Started off in the morning with a paved backroads route running from Wichita to Cassoday. Being a first Sunday of the month, the town was starting to fill with bikers of all shapes, models and sizes. Stopped to fuel and met-up with fellow rider Ireland Turner, and we proceeded into town to peruse all the activity. Ireland had other commitments, so after we grabbed a bite to eat, I headed out alone into the hills.

First stop was the ghost town of Wonsevu in the southwestern corner of Chase county. All that remains today is the school house and Church. Proceeding along Cedar Creek, I rode to the northwest to Cedar Point, another ghost town, to get shots of the old mill that sits on the bank of the Cottonwood River. By this time, wind speed was rising, gusting to 40-50 mph. I decided that staying the valleys would afford better control on loose surfaces.

Turning east, I rode to the ghost town of Clements to see the 1886 double-arched stone bridge. Bank erosion is taking its toll on the southern edge of the bridge, and I saw a great deal of damage to that end of the structure. Leaving Clements, rode south to Coyne Creek, then followed the minimum maintenance road and its numerous water crossings. Riding down into the Rock Creek Valley, I traveled to Bazaar, then turned south along the Sharpes Creek Road.

At the termination of Sharpes Creek Rd., turned west and rode on to Matfield Green. The cafe there was doing a brisk lunch business from all the bikers heading north on K-177 out of Cassoday.

With less than a gallon remaining in my fuel tank, jumped onto the blacktop for the ten mile hop to Cassoday and fuel. After topping-up, it would be massive headwinds all the way back to Wichita. Hedgerows (tree windbreaks) were my friends today! All told, a good day to ride, all 220 miles of them!

In the parts of Chase County that I rode today, about a third of the prairie had been fired, and the smell was definitely in the air. As soon as the winds calm, the rest of the prairie will go under the torch, rapidly followed by the new emerald green bluestem and other prairie grasses and wildflowers.

... rb

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