June 17 Update

John and Pat and I have found ourselves to be compatible riding partners. Pat and I seem about equally fit although Pat has a 40 pound weight advantage over me. He is about an inch taller than me but 40 pounds lighter than me. He started in New Jersey and wound around Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio before joining the Trans-Am trail. He started around May fifth.
John started outside of St Louis and worked his way down the Katy Trail to join the Trans-Am. He is going into Colorado, but his destination is undetermined. John started later than us and does not quite have his legs under him yet, although he is doing quite well. I think Pat and I are working him pretty hard but he is hanging in. John is a vegetarian and doesn't drink so he does not join Pat and I for our afternoon beer and glutinous amounts of food.
Yesterday we rode into Ness City, Kansas where Pat had booked a room at the "Elite Suites" B and B, so John and I booked the "Kansas Suite" and the owner out in a tool out bed for me. The place was rustic to say the least, but clean enough. I ended up sleeping on the sofa because the rollout bed in the kitchenette was too warm. Pat and I walked up to the Cozy Corner Bar for some refreshments and to put our fingers on the pulse of the community. It was a working man's place, with low ceilings, one TV playing Jeopardy, and a collection of loud but very friendly patrons. We had a couple of beers and our second meal in about 3 hours and headed back to the Elite Suites. About six o'clock that afternoon we had a heck of a storm with hail  as big as golf balls and enough rain that we could have canoed down main street.
This morning We got on the road about 6:00, to beat the heat, and had a fairly easy 54 mile ride. The terrain was very flat although we gained almost a thousand feet in altitude during the ride. We rode into the city about noon, ate a good lunch, and John and I went to find the Hostel at a local private athletic club, kind of like the Sports Center in Concord, but not quite. It is a good place to stay with showers, a pool, and a racket ball court to sleep in. They gave us the run of the place, and a code to get in if we go out after the place has closed. I'm sitting here in the office with my feet proped up after everyone else has gone home. I would not want to live here, but there is a lot to be said for small town America.
Tomorrow we are headed for Colorado with a 75 mile ride into Sheridan Lakes State Park, then in about two days we will be in Pueblo, Co, and my journey will be half over. Although the days have flown by, it seems like I've been gone forever. I'm really looking forward to the next month or so, getting to see the Rockies, Yellowstone, and the Pacific Coast. I hope I'm ready for the mountains.
June 17 update.
John and Pat and I got up this morning at 4:00 and began our ride to Sheridan Lake at 5:00. We rode for over an hour in the dark with only our bike lights to guide us. Traffic was very light and it was cool, only about 60 degrees when we started, so we made good time and arrived in Sheridan Lake , Colorado around noon. We had ridden about 75 miles, but we weren't too tired, so after lunch we decided to push on another 25 miles to Eads, Colorado. It became very warm  after lunch and it was about 98 degrees when we reached Eads . A person can really eat when ridding a hundred miles, I ate five times today and drank a couple of gallons of liquid including 3 beers. We continued to see East bound riders in the Tran-Am race today. Every one of them had that zombie without look and the ones we saw off the bike  looked a bit stumble drunk. I admire there perseverance, but I don't envy their task.  Imagine doing over twice the mileage we did today for 18 or so straight days.
We also met a pair of West bound riders, Bob and Rick, who we rode with awhile, took pictures of each other at the Colorado border, and ate one of our dinners with. The  lady who owns the restaurant where we ate dinner told us that she doesn't normally open on  Sunday, but  that she would be there in the morning to serve us breakfast. How nice is that!  We will see Bob and Rick then, and probably start out riding with them. We are headed to Ordway, Co. tomorrow. It's only 65 miles away and it will be very cool and we will have a tailwind. It should be an easy ride, and we will be able to see Piles Peak in the distance.