Day 25 -- Dodge City, KS to Great Bend, KS

Miles: 86.28
Total Miles: 1831.96
Time: 5:18
Average Speed: 16.2 mph
Max Speed: 24.1 mph
Flats Today: 1
Total Flats: 11
Elevation Gain: 512 ft
Weather: Low head winds around 95 degrees
Today was a nice day filled with many stops and relatively no climb. We would go from one small town to another that were about 15 miles apart. Since it was so flat, you could see the grain elevator in the next town right after you got out of one town. So far in Kansas we've passed by many large feed lots. These feed lots usually have somewhere around 20.000 head of cattle. These cattle tend to enter the feed lot weighing between 600 and 700 pounds and by the time they leave, they weigh between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds in just 140 days. Anyway, we woke up at 6:00, ate breakfast at 6:30, then loaded at 7:15 and headed out of Dodge City. We were averaging about 20 mph for the first 15 miles, then our daily routine took place. Wade got a flat on his rear tire, I changed it, then when Wade was going to pump it, a sag van showed up with a real pump. At least most of our flats have come just before a sag van drove by. So, our daily flat was done and we could move on. We got about 5 more miles before we came upon a sign that said we were close to a town named Wright. I immediately knew that the town was named after John Wright, the city manager of the city of Brookville. I'm just seeming to know all of these people who these towns are named after... I guess I'm just a famous guy. Fran thought it was funny that we took a picture at the Holly sign yesterday and the Wright sign today. At one point he started saying, "Do you know someone with that name" every time we went by a sign for a town.

After the Wright sign we went on until we saw about 50 windmills lined up in a field to our left. It went on for about 4 miles, and by the way, they were all moving fast and facing our side, which means we had a fairly strong side wind. The side wind turned to a head wind, but it wasn't too strong today. Anyway, we took some pictures, then we moved on all the way to the first sag stop. Right before the sag stop was a train that I had to out ride in order to survive, but don't worry, Wade got a picture. It was close, the train almost caught me and I was thinking if I got hit, everyone at Choice One would say hurray the wicked witch is dead. Too bad no celebration for you. Notice the cute tie into Kansas. Also at the sag stop was the midway point between New York City and San Francisco, but it's not quite the midway point for us. We took a picture with Fran and I think we figured out why he's so confused. In addition, there was a sod house at the sag stop along with a museum that we checked out. We ended up staying there so long that we were the last one's to leave. This was new for us, but we didn't mind.

We went about 20 mph all the way to the next sag because there was relatively no wind... It's funny how we are so used to head winds that no wind is like a tail wind for us. About half way between the 2 sag stops we stopped at a restaurant with a mural on the wall. We didn't eat at the restaurant, but we had to take a picture with the mural. I was just trying to out ride another train. Then, about 2 miles before the second sag there was a historical marker. We weren't planning on stopping, but when I read the sign, I laughed, so we had to take a picture. It was the birthplace of farm credit. It is amazing, everywhere we go in Kansas it reminds me of Jeff Puthoff and Andy Shuman. Kansas sure is a scary place. If your interested, you can click on the picture and read the whole sign. This will tell you how it all began. After that we continued onto the second sag stop.

We quickly checked in, talked to some riders going across America the other way, then went to a cafe to have a sandwich with Fran. The riders going from east to west had been riding 30 days and they had only had 2 days of head winds... What happened to prevailing west winds. I know that I keep reiterating that point, but these head winds are making me mad. Wade suggested that maybe Al Gore was right with the global warming concept, "I think that global warming has changed the wind patterns and now the prevailing winds are coming from the east." He was just joking, but liberal Fran was proud of the comment. Anyway, we ate a Reuben sandwich at the cafe then we headed out for Great Bend. We rode at a nice slow pace all the way there, then with about a half of a mile left, we spotted Braum's Ice Cream Restaurant. Apparently it's a chain in the Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas area. It was really great ice cream, so we had 2 scoops each. We even went back for more after dinner.