DAY 25 : JUNE 25: DODGE CITY (KS) TO GREAT BEND (KS)

Time Zone : Central (GMT -6)
Todays Distance: 85 miles
Cycling time: 5 hrs 42 mins
Average Speed: 14.8 mph

Today’s cumulative ascent: 456 ft

Average Heart rate: 93 bpm

Distance so far: 1813 miles

Ascent so far: 61,076 ft.

Centuries so far: 5
Punctures so far: 3
Today’s Profile:

Today’s Route:
Dedication: Today is for all the children whom I have met in Providence since 1999 including (back) Iawanlang, Ibameker, Stevenson, and (front)Rebecca, Larisa and Wilbert.

Today’s 85 miles was not a tough one as the ground was slightly downhill and the wind was favourable. No great heat till we got close to Great Bend.

The best news of the day was that Steve was back in the saddle after not feeling the best for the last few days culminating in that horrendous 15 miles for him into Garden City. He was back to himself this morning and eager for the road. Appetite is back so the fuel for the challenge can be taken on. Great to have him back to bring the Tree Amigos to full strength.
Last night after dinner as the general street traffic became quiet I noticed the continuing roar of cattle trucks outside. I wondered if it would last all night. It wasn’t just the noise. The ground shook just like outside the old Amber station on the Bansha Road. Was I in for a sleepless night? I could do without that. The truck traffic continued but as soon as I hit the hay I just drifted into peaceful sleep. I woke up once during the night and the trucks were still rolling and rumbling but I just resumed my peaceful slumber.
We rode out of Dodge at dawn on our steeds and headed east to clean up a few other troublesome spots. On the hill over the city we looked back with our own memories. I suppose it brought me back to the days of playing cowboys up in the orchard and in the grove. Looking at the old Westerns will never be the same again.
Dodge City’s reputation was based on longhorn cattle. Longhorn cattle were driven up from the grazing fields of Texas on the Chisholm Trail to the stockyards by the railway. Cowboys were on free-time after many hard days in the saddle (I know how they felt) an so Dodge City became a boomtown, with all the usual accompaniments of frontier boomtowns: saloons, gambling halls, gunfighters, and women. A number of longhorn still graze by the city sign.
We were generally riding into the sun but heading more north-east than yesterday. It was to be a light south wind today and we hoped to capitalise on it. Coupled with the fall of ground (we’re back now to around 1800 feet) it made for a good ride. We wondered how Steve would cope but he cruised along with us generally at 16+ mph.
When we left at 7 am the temperature was at 71 F (21 C)
Scenery today was much as yesterday with a few changes. Once we left Dodge I notice an end to all the irrigation by moving booms and channels and it was like that for the day. On enquiry I was told that the humidity at night really dampens the soil in this area and is sufficient for growth. Also there was more combine activity to be observed.
In this area, I was told, it is mostly large industrial farms but as we move further east we’ll come across more family ranches. The tall grain silos, sometimes in pairs, continued to appear on the far horizon ahead. To give ourselves intermediate goals, one of us was sure to jokingly call out ‘New York ahead!’. It worked and helped the miles to fall away. Not that the road was boring.
At one stage, around the 30 mile mark, the Ford County deputy-sheriff in his car pulled in ahead of us and flagged us down. What now? He informed us that motorists had called in reporting bikers cycling out on the smooth carriageway. Too dangerous on these roads with trucks meeting cars or trucks overtaking trucks. We were well in on the shoulder in single file all the time. He just asked us to pass the word on to the others ‘as soon as we caught up with them’ of the folly and the danger of their ways. (That message has been conveyed to the group at Route Rap) He asked where we came from and our destination. Was interested in our stories and wished us well on our way. Didn’t think it was appropriate to ask him to stand in for a photo.
At one stage we spotted at least 100 windmills up ahead. Not a good sign. The last time we saw those we were into a wind funnel as we left Provo (UT) (see Day 14).
It took us a while to come level with them with no significant adverse wind and we ‘tip-toed’ by not tempting fate. Head-wind is just the pits.

We are not halfway across yet (that will come soon) but today we came to Midway, the point halfway between San Francisco and New York (not the silo New York) ….1561 miles from each. It is well marked and also the location of a sod-house museum. Inside is a sod-house that early settlers constructed as well as all kinds of domestic and farm utensils from the early days. One could spend an age there, but the thought of the wind changing around mid-day urged us on. We remembered the too-long dally at Royal Gorge and the resulting struggle with viscious head-wind (see Day 20)
Great Bend is named from the historical big bend in the Arkansas River. One of its claims to fame is that Jack Kilby, co-inventor of the integrated circuit in 1958 and the hand-held calculator spent his early years here and attended school in Great Bend. He developed these while working with Texas Instruments. A fair contribution to the modern world. Agriculture is the mainstay of the local economy. Oil was important till 1960 even with an oil-well in the city park. Might need to be revisited with gas here now up around $4 a US gallon. That would roughly be 70c /litre at home.

The 85 miles just took over 5 hours and we pulled into our motel in Great Bend at 1.45 pm. Another relatively early finish.

Another smooth day’s cycle and completed before the big heat. At 4.30 in Great Bend the temperature was 102 degrees. In spite of sameness there is also a variety and the slow progress on the bike gives an opportunity to take it all in. Stopping to ask about everything just isn’t on, or we wouldn’t be home till dark.
Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.

Seen Yesterday: In the Kansas Teachers Hall of Fame “Teachers have Class” and I’m bringing a copy home.


NB: Went into O’Reilly Autoparts to day to enquire re Irish connection. It is a national chain and founded in 1957 by Charles H. (Chub) O'Reilly a descendant of a Michael Byrne O'Reilly who emigrated to America from Ireland in 1849, escaping from the hard times of the potato famine. Couldn’t say from what part of Ireland.