Trans-Am Five - 5.1 - Kansas City to Lawrence, Kansas: The Next Leg of the Journey Begins

 Forward: Segment Five of our transcontinental crossing began in Kansas city, Kansas and concluded in Durango, Colorado. It was the longest leg of the journey and presented some significant challenges to participants. Many things distracted me and effectively postponed the transfer of this travelogue, from another online site, to this blog. I am slowly completing the transfer, which can be painstaking, at times. The process can be especially tedious when moving photos and their captions. Despite all of that, it is worth the effort. It was a great trip that I hope you will enjoy following along with. 

5.1 - Thursday July 8, 2021, 49 miles

"It's deja vu all over again, and more."  Yogi Berra

On a beautiful Saturday morning back in June 1978, the ride across Kansas, on my loaded '72 Raleigh Supercourse began.  

At the border of Missouri and Kansas, Johnson County (KS), June 10, 1978.

Forty-three (41) years later, our crossing of the Sunflower State began again, this time where Part Four (2019 journal to follow later on) left off, at the state line between Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas. There, the Kansas University Medical Center is located. We finished (in 2019) and began anew (in 2021) at the Holiday Inn Express off of Southwest Boulevard.

Through attrition, our original group of 9 is down to 4 for this phase of the journey.  A cross-country journey is tough to begin with.  When segmenting it over a period of several years, priorities and lives change.  The COVID Pandemic precluded continuing the journey in 2020, which added another contributing element to the attrition of our group.

Starting out from the Kansas University Medical Center.

From the Medical Center, where we began on a fine morning, the route took us onto Southwest Boulevard, where there is a bike lane.  Eventually it turned into Merriam Lane, continuing through the city and into the suburbs. At the intersection with 32nd Street, there was a restaurant called the Tarahumara.  A Native American group by that name lives in the Northern Sierra Madres of Mexico and are known for running long distances across rugged and arid landscapes.  I considered it fitting to encounter this place as we began a phase of our Trans-Am journey that would cross some arid and sparsely populated areas of the USA.

The first 'burb was Merriam, Kansas, largely appearing as a continuation of the city until we rode onto a trail in Waterfall Park.  Taking the trail was a slightly confusing 3-block alternative to the main road that really wasn't necessary except to acquaint us with the area's Streamway Trail system.

The Streamway Trail logo, in Merriam, Kansas.

A right turn onto W 55th Street led us further out from the city and into some rolling hills.  Traffic in the community of Shawnee was rather manageable on this weekday morning.  In the Woodland section of Shawnee, It became necessary to go Southwest, eventually reaching Johnson Drive.  This would be a pattern as we would work our way to the South and West all day.

Undulating 55th Street... a precursor to the Flint Hills.

On Johnson Drive, we crossed under I-435 to eventually take a left onto Barker Road where we would again reach the Streamway Trail system, this time in Mill Creek Park.  This section, known as the Gary L. Haller Trail was supposed to lead us to Shawnee Mission Parkway (SMP) but it was blocked.  Backtracking was required to find another outlet to the parkway (Barker Road).  The park and the trail are shaded, peaceful, and do have some local use. But we were not having much luck with the Streamway Trails today!

The Haller Trail begins.

SMP is a busy and noisy road but it does have a wide shoulder.  A cyclist can use it for short distances and for connecting to more desirable roads.  That was our intent but another route blockage, this one due to construction, required a longer outing on the SMP.  We had planned to turn off at Woodland but since Monticello was closed, we had to go further West to Hilltop before leaving the SMP.  The route dove Southward again, roughly paralleling Kansas Route 7 (K-7).  At W 75th Street and after passing some tallgrass prairie grass, we turned right and crossed K-7 at a weird passageway.  A motor vehicle cannot cross here but a bicycle can!  Some additional South and West jogging was needed to reach W 83rd Street, the main drag through the town of DeSoto, Kansas.  There we had a pre-arranged rest stop and driver change point.  I had taken the first driving shift so my legs were now ready to rock and roll.

City Limits, DeSoto, Kansas.

For me, the chance to stretch my legs was at DeSoto, where Kansas began to actually look like the version of the Sunflower State of my memory.  It was quieter, there was farm equipment around, a windmill greeted people at the city limits, there were fewer houses, and the land opened up.  It was also getting very warm outside near midday.  With fewer trees about, there would be less shade and fewer places to escape the heat.  

As we rolled through and out of town, it became clear that DeSoto was larger than it originally seemed.  John-F got a horn blared at him for coasting through a stop sign.  I was startled because I didn't see him and thought the horn was directed at me for some unknown reason.  After it all "blew over," we got onto Lexington Street and eventually on a long straightaway called W 103rd Street.  It was here that we left suburbia mostly behind and started to see more of what Kansas is about.

DeSoto, Kansas

We followed the arrow straight W. 103rd Street for nearly 4 miles.   Along its course, a sign for the California Road was encountered.  Early pioneers passed through this area on their way West.  It was exciting to know that we were roughly following their paths.

The California Road

Eventually, it crossed K-10 and entered the community of Eudora.  Although the name of this town made me think of a famous author, I learned it was named after the daughter of a local Indian Chief long before Ms. Welty made her mark on the American Literature scene.  In a shady residential area, we took a short break before moving on toward our final destination for the day.

Chuck takes a break in Eudora, Kansas.

We were again running parallel to K-10, this time to the North, for several more miles before crossing it again on the outskirts of the city of Lawrence.  After jogging South and West a few more times, we got onto the Lawrence Trafficway Trails (LTT) system and continued to parallel K-10.  The LTT was far enough away from the highway to provide a completely different enviornment of peaceful scenic landscape as we passed through Lawrence.

The Trafficway Trail, Prairie Park, Lawrence, Kansas.

Our final destination was an Air BNB in a residential area of town.  The owners were very accommodating to us.  Jin, one of the owners, stopped by and I went with him to feed his backyard chickens and Koi fish in the pond.  After going out for a dinner, we came back to the house where we were able to relax, debrief, and get a great night of sleep.  The first day on the road was a success!

Backyard chickens at our Air BNB, in Lawrence, Kansas.