Day 26
There's no "fear" in McPherson...it's pronounced "McFurson"

DAILY DOINGS: OK, I admit it.  In the past, I've been giving Kansas a bad rap.  In my bio page I said my least favorite places to ride were anyplace in western Kansas.  Well, I'm coming around to another point of view...it really depends on which way the wind is blowing and which way I am riding.  Kansas has a charm all its own.  No, it's not the Rockies, it's not the Teton Range, it's not the beautiful horse farms in Kentucky, or even the 18th century charm of the northeast; but it has its own personality...vast open range farms rich with wheat and corn and just plain down to earth folks.  I guess you can't get much better than that.  Kansas has been pretty good to us this trip.  The roads are wide and smooth, the drivers are friendly, and this trip the temperatures and winds have been great.  Although the winds were strong today, they were slightly behind our shoulder and gave us a slight boost beyond our normal pedaling.  If the wind would have been about 20 degrees more to the east, we'd not had such a good time riding today, but everyone was through by noon to beat the heat that was supposed to be in by late afternoon.  I think we are done with the mild temperatures we've been blessed with up until now...it looks like we'll be bumping triple digits for the next few days.  We have mostly shortish days until Saturday when we go to Topeka...that one will be tough...but that's not until Saturday.

When we usually come through we're in the middle of wheat harvest with large combines harvesting the golden grain.  But this year it seems the wheat is already in the grain silos and the crop that's growing now is corn...from 1 foot to 6 feet at the present time.  Farming out here is tough as it is anywhere I'm sure.  I grew up on a farm and we grew wheat, oats, corn, soybeans, and alfalfa for hay.  We dry land farmed...another words, we didn't irrigate and were at the mercy of the weather...no rain, poor crop...rain at the wrong time or too much of it, wash out or dead crop.  Talking to one of the riders about the farm life out here and he said he'd have a better chance making money playing the lottery than working hard on the land.  Out here they have to irrigate by pumping water from 300 to 600 foot wells at a cost of $10-$50 an hour depending on how deep they have to pump.  According to a local farmer I talked to on the Dodge day, he said it costs approximately $800 to put an inch of water on 120 acres...just not enough rain water to support the crops.  He also said they only have about 5 more years of crop farming left before they run out of water to pump.  They've been pumping for 35 years and it's getting leaner every year and the cost is getting prohibitive beyond where they are pumping now.  He also said that over 35% of the wells in his area are already closed down...sad.  What then?  Probably grass farming which doesn't require as much moisture as crops...full circle to the 1800s when these plains were vast grass fields...yep, times are a changing.  I think if you'd told the riders last night that this was a dry area, they wouldn't have believed you since they were watching 6 inches of rain fall in a mere 45 minutes...but the next town we rode through this morning didn't get a drop last night.

But we ride on and admire the landscape.  Our route today took us on the flat roads between Great Bend and McPherson.  We passed through the small community of Ellinwood (below right) which decorates their whole town with wheat decor...wheat is king around here as you can see. 

I was riding after the first SAG today and really enjoyed the solitude of my ride today.  I just kept scanning the countryside admiring the view and listening to the song birds sing along the road.  I even stopped to talk to a lady who had a herd of cattle that were a bit interesting...Anakole Watusi cattle from South Africa (left).  They are not hard to spot, even in the Longhorn world...these cattle make Texas Longhorns look small. 

I was one with my bike today...just what a cross country bike ride should be like...some days are hard work, some days are enjoyable, and then sometimes you just get a day that makes everything seem right with the world...and who'd a thought it would be a day in Kansas.  Sorry Jayhawks, I apologize for my past bad mouthing about riding in your state.

It was a short day today so I scheduled a maintenance clinic for the afternoon.  Several riders came by to learn how to keep their bikes running smoothly and also learn some cleaning tips.  Most of the maintenance problems we have out here are due to poor cleaning practices.  Anything to help everyone have a better experience.  After the clinic, we had a run on new chains...seems to always happen but it's good to keep the chain new-like to keep the drivetrain running smoothly.  After the clinic and rap we had a great dinner at Montana Mikes...great food and great company.  Then ice cream!!!

I hope I can keep up with the photos on the site.  I had to borrow a camera today...mine died yesterday.  My long range camera, a Minolta Z3 with a 12X zoom that I like to take long range photos went on the blink.  I'll need to buy a new one at the next Best Buy we run into.  Hope they have something that I'll like.  I'm looking at different ones on the internet now...I need a good zoom and a quick one...user friendly and one with aperture and shutter priorities...so bear with me on the photos until I can get another camera.

Tomorrow we have our last "easy" day for awhile.  The road to Abilene is short and downwind.  We also will cross our half way point tomorrow...hard to believe.  Join us to see how we do.  See you then.  M

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