McPherson, Kansas to Abilene, Kansas

Today is Memorial Day!

I am now in Abilene, Kansas! This feels like a big accomplishment, even though today's ride was not particularly long.

Today's ride was only of 62 miles duration, but this was the ninth consecutive day of non-stop riding. I have never previously ridden for nine straight days in a row. (It is no wonder that I have early saddle sores now!) Our last full rest day was way back in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I can hardly remember that far back now. Nine days and 688 miles since Santa Fe, we are now here in Abilene, Kansas. This feels like a huge accomplishment. I am happy to be here, and happier still that I have tomorrow fully off.

Abilene is northeast of McPherson. We left McPherson this morning and we traveled straight east on route 56. The wind was, sadly, straight out of the east today, that actually all day long. This made for a really unpleasant start to the day. The wind was not super strong, but it was directly set against us. It was hard work to even maintain 10 mph. At 22 miles into the trip however, we mercifully turned off of route 56 and we went straight north on route 15. The prevailing east wind became a much more tolerable right crosswind. Still not ideal, but not nearly so bad. After 40 more miles then, we made it here to Abilene.

I was moving along pretty well today initially. At the SAG stop, roughly halfway into the ride, Bill and I noted that Jan was really moving slowly. He and I were in no rush today, and the ride today was short, so we stayed back with her. We kept her company during the latter part of her ride today. It was fun to slow down and talk with her a bit. It is nice to get to know people better. I think that this ride is proving to be more difficult for her than she had anticipated.

There were fields and fields of beautiful farmland, all along the way today. Some corn, but much more wheat. Jan pointed out how the wheat is already changing color, that indicating that it will soon be ready for harvesting. I see that it is indeed changing color, but I would feel that it is awfully early in the season now. I have to admit to total ignorance regarding wheat, however, so she is probably right.

Abilene seems like a nice town, at least from what I saw riding through town. We are on the northern end of town, well far from the downtown area. Interstate 70 passes by, just north of Abilene, and we are staying just north of I-70, just beyond the underpass under I-70.

Abilene is the home of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Probably the best known attraction in town is the Eisenhower museum and home. We rode by there, a few miles ago, as we passed through town going north. It does look impressive. Many of us are planning on visiting there tomorrow. I surely intend to do so.

Looking ahead, we leave Abilene on Wednesday, June 2. On that day we make the long ride, 106 miles, straight east to Topeka, Kansas. (I do hope that the winds are not still from the east two days from now!) We are informed that this will be a difficult ride, with lots of climbing. Regarding the climbing, the net difference in elevation, between Abilene and Topeka, is probably trivial. The entire ride however has lots and lots of ups and downs, all along the way. Oh joy! We are further informed that we will have more of these "roller coaster" hills in northern Missouri. Oh joy, again!

What is very special about the ride on Wednesday to Topeka is that it is the halfway point, in mileage, for our entire trip! That concept really is exciting to consider! It is difficult to believe. I am sometimes actually daring to believe that I really may make it to Boston!

Great Bend, Kansas to McPherson, Kansas

Today involved a 63 mile ride. All went well. (My new tires are great.) The weather was merciful for us, as intermittent thunderstorms had been the prediction. We saw threatening skies all along, and not really pleasant winds, but no rain by the time of our arrival at McPherson. I suspect that it will rain later tonight.

Pretty country, but nothing truly remarkable. This is central Kansas. Hence, no photos to adorn today's post.

I haven't yet had the courage to check the weather prediction for tomorrow, but I probably will later. As Michel has pointed out to me, there really isn't much point to checking the weather prediction anyway. The weather tomorrow will be what it will be, and we will ride in it regardless, so why worry? He does have a point.

Michel and I found a WalMart in walking distance of the motel. We went there and I stocked up on more sunscreen. (I do seem to go through that pretty rapidly.) We bought more powdered Gatoraide also.

Even though today's ride was short, I am pretty tired. I will probably go to bed early tonight. Then again, I go to bed early every night, so that is nothing new.

Right now, I am sitting on the floor as I type this, in the guest laundromat here in the Days Inn. There are not enough machines, but at least I am next in line.

Tomorrow we have a ride of similar distance, that to Abilene, Kansas. That will represent the ninth of nine consecutive days of nonstop riding. Pretty cool! We have a scheduled rest day on the next day, Tuesday, June 1, in Abilene. That will be our first full rest day since Santa Fe.

I am ready for a rest day.

Dodge City, Kansas to Great Bend, Kansas

Today's ride proved to be difficult. This was a long 86 miles, as it turned out. The ride was punctuated by two punctures, first the front tire and then the rear. The latter happened only 1.8 miles from the final destination today, here in Great Bend, so that made it extremely frustrating.

At least I can look on the positive side of things. I really am becoming quite good at changing tires. Not that long ago, I was only too happy to have the experts at the bike shop fix a flat for me. Like so many things however, you do get good with practice. Honestly, I am beginning to think that I could change a flat almost as easily as I could insert an intracoronary stent!

When Michel's alarm clock went off this morning at 5:15 AM, I made the comment to him that it was time for him and me to "Get out of Dodge!" Being in Dodge City at the time, this seemed hilariously funny to both of us. We laughed as if it really had been a genuinely funny joke. At least I had thought that my attempt at humor was mildly original and clever.

After getting dressed, we met with other cyclists for the early morning slogging down of coffee, orange juice, and mass quantities of protein and carbohydrates. In that environment, I saw that my "Get out of Dodge" joke was being used by everyone! It seemed that everyone else had come up with the same idea independently. There were countless times when a cyclist would find some way to make a joke with some variation on the theme of using the words "Get out of Dodge". Amazingly, each time this happened, all of us would laugh as if it was the most incredibly clever, original, and funny joke that we had ever heard. This was not fake laughter..., we really were genuinely amused each time. To the reader of this blog, the scene may sound like some sort of a Saturday Night Live skit that had gone horribly wrong. Actually however, it wasn't like that at all. To understand the scene, simply remember that all of us now have the general emotional maturity of a perfectly normal 13-year-old boy.

The trip today was windy. During the first half of the ride, this was a crosswind. Later however, the wind was nicely at our backs. I was tired, but otherwise doing OK. With my two flat tires en route however, that really slowed me down. I did not sign in at the destination today until 1:30 PM. By that time, it really was geting hot outside. It is now 92 degrees outside. Even though I am using copious amounts of SPF 70, I can see that I am getting more sun than I should. I was really tired by the time that I finally got in today.

Our ride today took us through Spearville, Offerle, Kinsley, and Larned. Kinsley purports to be "Midway USA", as they have calculated that the city is exactly equidistant between San Francisco, California, and New York. Neat!

Back to my flats..., my problems today were disturbing especially because I did not find the usual "culprit" explanation of embedded pieces of metal or similar objects. That has implied to me that the problem was that of the tires themselves. The tires were put on new during the middle of summer last year. They now have roughly 2,000 miles of wear, and they are looking more than a bit thin. That being the case, I just bought two brand new tires today. Michel helped me put them on. I now have new tubes, new tires, and a nicely clean and well lubricated bike. Tomorrow may go better!

I need to finish washing my clothes and I need (more importantly) get something to eat. I will therefore end this post now.

More tomorrow.

Liberal, Kansas to Dodge City, Kansas

Another great ride today!

Not only that, but another blog post beginning with a sentence fragment!

The weather seems to be getting progressively hotter and hotter. Lately however, it seems that both the heat and the winds mercifully don't really pick up until after 1 to 2 PM. That gives us an obvious goal. We like to push the ride pace, at least a little bit, in order to try to arrive at the destination by 1 PM or so. So far, that has been working out.

We did 83 miles today. We left Liberal, Kansas, at the usual time of 7:15 AM this morning. We went northeast, on US 54, initially. The start of the ride today was great, as it was pleasantly cool, but not cold. I wondered what the temperature was, and I knew that Doug has a high-tech bike computer. Taking a chance that it might show the ambient temp, I asked him as we were riding. He happily told me that he did have the temp, and it was 19 degrees!

Gotta love those British!

The pace was fast, but comfortable. I felt really pretty good. We had our only SAG at 38.6 miles out, that in a town called Meade. The Dalton Gang Hideout and Museum is there. That actually was the SAG location. I am learning to get in and out of the SAGs quickly. I just pull up, drink and eat a bit extra, refill my bottles, and don't linger to talk a lot with the other riders. I try not to rush, exactly, but I try not to waste any time on these longer days, especially with the heat and the winds approaching.

At about 50 miles out, I had yet another flat tire! The culprit was easily identified, and it was the same thing that seems to be still happening to many of us. It was a tiny wire, embedded in the tire, puncturing the tube. These are small and malleable wires, probably one-half to one centimeter long, of a diameter probably similar to a 25 gauge needle. These wires really aren't all that terribly sharp, but they surely do like to embed in our tires. I am told that these are wire pieces that are shed from the steel-belted radial tires of the larger trucks. Whatever. It is annoying. Oh well. I am getting well practiced at tire changing.

With the tire fixed, I was soon back on the road. At roughly 60 miles out, the route changed to US 283 north. The winds were directly from the south all day. Turning from a northeast to a north direction then resulted in an absolutely perfect result. The resultant "favorable headwind" enabled me to do the last 20 miles at 20 to 24 mph easily. I made it to Dodge City at 12:35 PM. That felt good.

The best thing about "favorable headwinds" is not so much their facilitation of speed, but their remarkable silence. It is so pleasant to have a nice wind at your back and get the result of a wonderfully quiet ride, not just a fast one.

Dodge City surely seems to celebrate its Wild West heritage. There is a huge and impressive, larger than life, statue of Wyatt Earp in the center of the historic downtown area. There is also a Boot Hill cemetery and museum.

Michel and I walked around in that historic downtown area a bit. We were impressed with how seemingly deserted the area seemed. For an early to mid Friday afternoon, we were impressed at how few people were out and about.

Regardless, we had fun.

Tomorrow we have another longish day. We go to Great Bend, Kansas, tomorrow, that at a distance of 86 miles. Hopefully the winds and the roads will be kind.

It occurred to me that today is exactly three weeks since the day that Lauren graduated at U of Minnesota. That was such an incredible thrill for me. I had such a great time. Somehow however, that time seems to have been almost a million years, and a million miles, in the past. Difficult to grasp.

Anyway, more tomorrow!

Guymon, Oklahoma to Liberal, Kansas

Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas! Three states in three days! How about that for progress?

(I will, of course, not dwell upon the fact that we only clipped off tiny segments of both Texas and Oklahoma, in order to make that progress!)

Today was a short ride, almost embarrassingly so. We rode for only 40 miles today. With the mildly favorable headwind, we were generally at, or just below, 20 mph. (Keep in mind the strict definition of the term "favorable headwind", that covered on a previous posting in this blog.) Even with the late start today, as scheduled, at 9:15 AM, most of us still made it to the destination of Liberal, Kansas, slightly before noon. That means that today almost feels like a rest day. I will not feel bad about that, as this is the middle of a 9-straight-day run until the next true full rest day. The next four days, in particular, may be quite long, and hot, so I will not feel bad about taking it a bit easy today.

Liberal, Kansas, really seems like a nice little town. It may be that we never really get a good concept of the towns in which we stay, since we generally arrive by the main highway and generally stay probably on the town's outskirts. Still, Liberal seems much nicer than Dalhart, Texas, and Guymon, Oklahoma. From what I have witnessed, from the seat of my bike, this is a very clean and pretty town. Nice people.

When we arrived here today, just before noon, the temperature was then tolerable. Now however, mid-afternoon, it is over 90 degrees! This does not bode well for us; on our next two days (if not the next four) our longer mileages will probably have us still out on the road when it is getting this hot. We will see.

Today is Marsha's birthday. Hopefully she already got the (neatly wrapped) present that I left earlier with Nickie. I am certain that she did. I tried to call, minutes ago, but my cheapo cell phone has no coverage anywhere in this entire quadrant of the state of Kansas. I hate to call collect, just to say happy birthday, but I probably will do so later anyway.

Soon after arriving in town, we learned of the Mid America Air Museum. That is located at the airport, here in Liberal. Michel and I rode our bikes there, finding Ty, Doug, and Bill already there. This was really worth the trip. There are lots of planes on display, most military but some civilian. It was really cool to see all of these. (Bill used to fly A4 jets in the Navy, while then stationed on an aircraft carrier.) I saw a number of early Cessnas also. Some looked like the taildragger equivalents of the model 172 with which Marsha and I are familiar. The state of Kansas has had a lot to do with aircraft manufacturing, civilian and military, and with military flight training.

I am grateful for Lynette's comment of earlier this date. After roughly three weeks of absence so far, I had, of course, assumed that I have been long forgotten at Gundersen-Lutheran. I am certain that the whole place is functioning so smoothly, in my extended absence, that the term "Dan who?" is used occasionally. It makes me feel good to know that my progress on this trip, such progress as it is, is being tracked. Thanks for the note, Lynette! I will see you in early July, and I may even wash up a bit before that time!

Tomorrow we go to Dodge City, Kansas. That is an 83 mile ride. Hopefully we will arrive there before the heat.

Photos from yesterday - Texas to Oklahoma

I seem to be having trouble uploading photos recently. Here are at least two from yesterday's ride, that from Dalhart, Texas, to Guymon, Oklahoma.

More later today!!!

Dalhart, Texas to Guymon, Oklahoma

Interesting and great ride today, once again, although there is no question that the last 20 to 25 miles of today's ride was a real struggle for me. The first 50 miles today were fun, and easy. In the last part of today's ride however, we endured the sudden development of impressive headwinds. (It may have been that a front was going through.) With 20 to 25 miles left in our 72 mile ride today, I went from really feeling well, to suddenly facing a constant 10 to 15 mph headwind, that straight on. It may be that I wasn't eating quite enough today also, during the ride. Regardless, I was really relieved to make our final destination today.

All seems to be relative. In the past, I would have normally seen a 72 mile ride as a moderately impressive endeavor. Now however, after two consecutive century rides, most of us were seeing today as a light ("recovery") ride. Whatever!

Dalhart, Texas, is probably not the showcase city of the state of Texas. It was an opportune stop on highway 54 certainly, but it is nothing to really celebrate as a special destination. There really is nothing to see, or do, in Dalhart. We ate at the Sands restaurant in Dalhart, last evening. It was, so far, the worst meal of the trip, that almost embarrassingly so. We waited for an hour just to get food. The food, finally arriving, was so bad that most of us later walked over to the nearby Dairy Queen.

Regardless, it is fun to be on the road. By now, everyone in our group knows each other really rather well. We are becoming a really neat family. I am especially enjoying the company of Michel. He is a great guy. I enjoy biking, throughout the day, with absolutely everyone in the group.

We entered Texas yesterday and we only went 41.7 miles from the state line to Dalhart. Today we left Dalhart and we hit the Oklahoma state line in 50 miles. All of that was on highway 54. Crossing the entire state of Texas in 91.7 miles leaves me with the clear understanding that Texas must be a very small state indeed! It is obviously much smaller than New Mexico, as it took us lots of time to cross that state. I haven't yet looked at a map, but I am guessing that Texas is probably the size of Rhode Island. I am not sure.

Tomorrow we enter into the great state of Kansas! We will go to Liberal, Kansas, tomorrow. That promises to be a very short ride. That will be merciful, as I see it, as I really am a bit tired now. I haven't been in Kansas since 2007, then when Bill and I did the "Border Raiders" bike trip. That trip had started, and finished, in Lawrence, Kansas. It was a great trip.

I am in Guymon, Oklahoma, now. I have showered, cleaned my bike, lightly lubricated the chain, and even washed my clothes. I am ready for Kansas!

I have some photos from today's trip, but I cannot seem to get them to upload. Oh well! Maybe tomorrow.