Day 23: June 23: LAMAR (CO) TO GARDEN CITY (KS)

Time Zone : Central (GMT -6)
Todays Distance: 104 miles
Cycling time: 8hrs 03 mins
Average Speed: 12.9 mph

Today’s cumulative ascent: 1056 ft

Average Heart rate: 97 bpm

Distance so far: 1676 miles

Ascent so far: 60,122 ft.
Centuries so far: 5
Punctures so far: 3
Today’s Profile:

Today’s Route:

Dedication: Today is for all those children in Providence, including Caroline, Balarisha and Rajesh who work so hard to master the various vocational skills – tailoring, confectionary, papermaking, candlemaking, carpentry, beauty-care, commercial cooking etc.



Today was another century, two in two days or three in the course of four days. We would enter a new state and a new time-zone.
There were thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon in Garden City and so everyone packed the rain-gear just in case. As it turned out there was no need. The route again generally followed the course of the Arkansas River although we didn’t see it very often. Plenty of greenery around during the early stages and temperatures were quite pleasant as we left at just after 6 am.
The Arkansas River that we did see bore no resemblance to the mountain torrent that we accompanied out of Salida. It moved much slower and didn’t have near the same volume of water. Much of it had been diverted for irrigation purposes into channels around the fields.
Another means of irrigation used extensively was large moving booms ( some up to 400 metres long) swinging in an arc covering a full circle or a semi circle. These moved on wheels almost 4 feet in diameter and resulted in green circular fields viewed best from the air (or on maps.google). The water came from deep wells at the centre of the arc.

For the first 50 miles we had a tail-wind behind us and we moved smoothly on relatively quiet roads at 18 to 20 mph with little or no effort. The idea of a century (after yesterdays 121 miles) held little fear for us. We were already half way there. I had the preconception that Kansas was flat. If so, we were not in typical Kansas today. It was rolling without anything too demanding. Hills are only number three on my X-list the others being headwind and great heat.
First SAG was at 33 miles and we arrived there very fresh. Someone had used their imagination to find a safe place to park in the Rest Area by Highway 50 while taking on calories and water.
Shortly after that SAG we came to the state-line. Goodbye to Colorado and hello Kansas. This is now the 5th state on my trek across 14 of them. It also marks our passing from Mountain Time Zone to Central Time. We are now only 6 hours behind Ireland. Always getting closer.
In places there was no cultivation and even abandoned homesteads but these areas weren’t extensive. In general today’s route was through fertile country in ccomparison to previous days.
With so much barley and maize it was only to be expected that grain silos would be visible regularly. Large ones in co-ops and smaller ones in individual ranch-yards. I expect we will see many more as we cross the state - 5 more days.
There were many feed-lots along our route today again with thousands of cattle being fattened in each. You knew one was coming up – especially when we had a headwind. The nose could pick one out. But not all cattle were in feedlots. Some had a less crowded existence although I wouldn’t like to ‘lock horns’ with them on one of their off-days.
Yesterday was a quiet one in the fields but it was back to work today with the baling to be done. They don’t have to worry about the drying over here judging by our experience over the last few days. Their worry might be that the lot would just disappear in the case of a tornado.
In the mid afternoon the wind began to swing and change and blow right down on our noses. It wasn’t violent but added to the effort. Temperatures began to climb up into the mid-90s and that just drains energy. Steve in our group had what one might call an energy slump around the 85 mile mark and we slowed the pace to accommodate. Everyone found the combination of heat, wind and rather tiring terrain over the final miles a bit much to take. We arrived safely at the motel just before 5 pm (Central Time)
In the Tour de France etc the names of the top riders are often written on the road to encourage them on to victory. I must have a fan-club over here who have been busy with the paint-brush. Anything that encourages is OK by me. But the only victory I seek is that sufficient funds will be raised to ensure that the children of Providence get a break by means of education.
Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.

PS. As I type this there is a a right bit of a thunderstorm with constant lightning outside. Par for the course, I believe.