The battle of worst state

Since the beginning of the trip we've been talking about all of the bad things that may going to happen like the severe storms, the terrible roads, the first time that we want to quit, and we would say that all of those things would happen in Kansas. We really didn't have a reason for it, we just assumed that Kansas was going to be the worst state. Nothing but corn fields, cows, and flat! If today was any indication of how Kansas is going to be, it might just be the best state we've been to thus far. We had a short ride today from Kansas City, MO across the state line into Kansas Citu, KS and made our way 43 miles to Lawrence, KS. We had the wind to our back, a nice 73° and overcast, and smooth roads the entire time.

So which state is the worst. I think it's a little premature to say being that I'm still less than halfway through the trip, but Missouri and West Virginia are on the leaderboard at the moment. They were both beautiful states that had a lot to offer but WV had the WORST roads that I had ever ridden on. We usually call out potholes so riders behind us can avoid them. It seriously would have been easier to call out smooth road since we were hitting potholes left and right. While in MO we were on the Katy Trail for nearly 200 miles. Although the gravel isn't ideal for road bikes I could have gotten past that with all the natural beauty around us. However, the gravel was a different story. Out of the week we were in MO, I had gotten wet all but one day. There was so much rain that we literally had to ride through a foot and a half of water. It's terrible for our bikes but it was either that or walk through it. Either way it was a crappy situation.

I really don't mind riding in the rain, its the aftermath that I hate. Nothing dries, so we have to let the wet clothing that we have fester in our bags for several days until we do laundry. The shoes don't dry overnight and there is nothing worse than sticking your nice dry foot into a swampy shoe.

Needless to say I haven't decided yet regarding the worst state. I'm leaning towards Missouri right now, but I really need to sit down and evaluate their list of cons. I also want to wait to see what Kansas truly has to offer.