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Back to Ride Itinerary Meet the Riders Bamacyclist Home Day 25
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Back to Ride Itinerary Meet the Riders Bamacyclist Home Day 25
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| ROUTE: Dodge City to Great Bend KS | DISTANCE: 85 Miles | WINDS: SSW 10-20...nice |
| WEATHER: Couldn't be better...sunny, warming up to 90 by late afternoon. | TERRAIN: Downhill almost all the way | TOTAL CLIMBING: 280 feet |
DAILY DOINGS: Boy, I
could still feel the excitement in the air at breakfast from last night's visit
to Miss Kitty's! David said he could hardly sleep all night and several
others were still abuzz with chatter in keen anticipation of the next tourist
attraction I recommend they do. That's not likely to happen soon. I
think they've had enough excitement for one ride...that's why we save it all up
till last night. Yep partner...it was quite a show. Even though it
was a bit corny, everyone that attended seemed to have a good time. And if
remember a couple days ago, Clarence's wife said she was going to send the
Butler to take care of him and to keep him from leaving things all over the
country...after last night's "birthday photo," she's also sending a chaperone.
It was another great day to be on a bicycle even though it got a bit warm before the final riders got into town. There were several side trips I informed the riders about and about half of them took in the sights. It made for a long day, but how often do you get through these parts?
On our way out of town, the
first thing we passed was the local feed lot. It didn't have nearly as many
head of cattle that I usually see when we are here. I found it interesting that
when cattle show up they weigh about 700 pounds and after about 140 days in the
lot, they top out at over 1200 pounds...that's living on the fat side I'd say.
If they only knew why the feeders were treating them so good, they'd go on a
hunger strike. The processing plant in Dodge is the largest privately
owned plant in the US and they process 4000 head a day! And Kansas ranks first
in commercial cattle production by processing over 8 million head a year and
they provide meat all over the world. That's a lot of bull if you ask me.
Today,
being relatively easy for 85 miles, many of the riders took the side trips to Ft
Larned and Pawnee Rock. Ft Larned was an outpost developed in the late 1800s to
provide protection for mail, commerce, and settlers who traveled the Santa Fe
Trail. It was a desolate fort and hard to imagine how life was during
those times. This is hard land today...I can't fathom how they survived
out here in the oppressive heat of summer and the bitter cold of winter.
The photo left gives you an idea of how it looked in its heyday...I took this
photo of an old photo at the museum.
To get to Ft Larned, the
riders took 183 north to 156 and then work our way back to the published route
in Larned KS. Another side trip is Pawnee Rock, about 10 miles on route from
our destination, which is the highest point within miles and was the midpoint on
the Sante Fe Trail. A couple riders were under whelmed by the sight...hey, they
just came through the Royal Gorge a few days ago so their standards are pretty
high. But this high ground was a safe place to camp and gave early
travelers shelter from Indian attacks and to them and Kansans, it's quite a
sight. No one knows why it's called Pawnee Rock. Some say it got its name from
the early Indian wars as the Pawnee used this area for protection and as a
hunting ground while others say it was because Kit Carson accidentally killed
his pack mule when he mistook it for a Pawnee Indian one night while Carson was
on watch. His companions laid that label on the area as a jab at his ability as
an Indian fighter. Maybe that's why we've seen Kit Carson monuments in Arizona
and California. He had to leave this area because he was a laughing stock...but
he had to get a new mule to get him there (after hearing what happened to his
last one, I wonder how many put in applications for that position).
Today
we also passed the "Mid Point USA" town of Kinsley KS (right). It boasts a sign
that states midpoint between New York and San Francisco which usually serves as
a photo op for everyone. It's not our "official" half way point, but it's nice
to know we are closing in on a milestone. We have a SAG stop there so folks can
enjoy the park and take some photos...there's a museum there too that usually
isn't open until we after we pass through, but today the operator was there a
bit early and he opened.
Inside are artifacts from
residents of the county complete with a real sod house. Life was really
tough on the plains, but looking at the house, it had all the comforts except
for a nearby 7/11 or WalMart.
In
spite of all the detours to see stuff, everyone was in by 3:30. It was a
good day to ride, but that would change about dinner time. After rap, we
were going to walk to dinner, but the darkest cloud came up with some rumblings
of thunder...OK, let's take the vans to dinner. While we were there, the
skies opened up with a vengeance...hail and about 3 or 4 inches of rain in the
time it took us to eat dinner. The whole town closed down for about an
hour. We were pretty much trapped at the restaurant for a bit, but finally
the skies broke and we made a dash to the motel. I'm glad we were in the
van and not a car as there were several places that were deep enough to drown
out a car. 
This is
pretty much the first rain these riders have seen since we left SF...I think
they were starting to think through their actions in the "what if" scenario for
tomorrow. But it it's like most summer storms, they usually pop up in the
late afternoon. I think we'll be fine when we ride tomorrow, but it never
hurts for them to think through a game plan if we should run into this kind of
weather during our ride time. Hopefully we'll never have to use it.
Well, so far Kansas has been really nice to us (while we were riding)...knock on wood, I've never gotten out of Kansas before we had unfavorable conditions, but the weather Gods are smiling on us right now. Tomorrow we ride to McPherson a shortish day of only 60 something. It should be hot again, but we'll probably get in a bit early since there's not nearly as much to do between Great Bend and there. Hopefully the winds will stay behind us so we can continue to blow across this state. Tune in and we'll see you tomorrow. M
| DAILY DISCERNING DIALOGUE: "No wonder the buffalo are all gone...they all blew away." "Can you imagine crossing this area in a covered wagon? I wonder what the iron wheels did to the highways?" "How did Dad become the life of the party!?" Seems a daughter of one of our riders who will remain anonymous, called her mother as soon as she saw her dad's photo on the website yesterday. "There goes two Wilder Beasts!"
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DAILY ACT OF KINDNESS: While at the local Dairy Queen, Greg and Linda were ordering their favorite product when they were approached by a man (a retired priest) who wanted to know what they were up to on their bicycles...nothing unusual to this point, this happens everyday. But after talking with him for a few minutes, he paid for their DQ order...then he gave them $20 for future orders. "There, I've done my good deed for the day," He said. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time. |
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DAILY DIGITAL DELIGHTS |
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 Dodge City skyline update. |
 Scott has just about tried everything since leaving SF...This morning he tried meditation and chanting. "Hmmmmmmmm...no flats today, no flats today, no flats today." |
 Perchance your horse can read if you can't. At least one of you will know to stop. |
 Oh
give me a home ♪ You can't ride your bike through a
buffalo herd |
 Anyone seen Alan since he made that wrong turn at the train station? |
 David and Larry wanted to get the full Monty riding across Kansas...they found themselves in the middle of a cattle drive...where's all the dust? |
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