Great Bend to McPherson, Kansas

64 miles, 3:45 riding time, 469 feet of climbing, 3,335 Calories.

According to Wikipedia, Kansas is "named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name (natively kką:ze) is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind". The wind was howling out of the south today, giving credance to "people of the south wind." Luckily, we were headed east and the wind was from the side, but it was still a nuisance. Nonetheless, we made good time for a short day, only 64 miles.

I think the route sheet best describes our ride today: "no services for 20.5 miles" and "no services for 28.4 miles." US 56 is a long, lonesome road. About ten miles east of Great Bend, is the little town of Ellinwood. In its heyday, Ellinwood had an underground mall under the businesses on main street. The older basements and coal chutes were connected and stores were set up in the empty spaces. Much of the underground passages have been filled in with sand, but some still remain and tours are available by appointment. They were not open on Sunday.

Kansas is the friendliest state we've been in so far. At least, Kansas has the most curious citizens - "Where are you going?" "Boston." long pause "On your bicycle?" "Yes." You can see them think, "this man is nuts, but I'm too polite to say so." Nice people.

Factoids:

McPherson was recently ranked 3rd by Progressive Farm Magazine in its Best Places to Live in America.

Terry Nichols bought the one ton of ammonium nitrate used in the Oklahoma City bombing, in McPherson.

The first basketball team to represent the United States in the Olympics featured six McPherson residents of 13 total players. This team went on to defeat Canada 19-8 in the Gold Medal game at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

There was an opera house in McPherson. The building is being restored.

This is too good not to include: Denny posted a comment on Al's blog:

"Another little-known fact. During the McCarthy era, college professors were suspect. They were required to sign "loyalty oaths." The president of McPherson College, a Church of the Brethren school, said their religion forbade them from oaths, so they said they'd write their own statement. It said that they were against any overthrow of a government using force, including the overthrow of the British government in America in the Revolutionary War. Not exactly what McCarthy was looking for!"

Pictures for today, Peter showing off. At the SAG stop, left to right, Peter, Chris, Willie, Al, yours truly, and Fred. These are the thoroughbreds - the first ones into the hotel each day.

Rider of the day: Mike is a Brit, who works freelance as a computer programmer. He wants to become an author and writes very well. His blog is much more entertaining than mine. After finishing the ride to Boston, Mike is going to strike out on his own and ride south to his home in Florida.

Dodge City to Great Bend, Kansas

88 miles, 4:00 hours, 496 feet of climbing, 5,160 Calories.

I was going to start with, "Let's get the h*ll out of Dodge…", but I think, "America the Beautiful," is more apt.

"O beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,…"

Weather Underground had forecast a "favorable" wind. Maybe there's something to sprinkling the sand from Manhattan Beach on the State Line signs. The wind was behind us the entire way into Great Bend. We flew down the road, covering 87 miles in four hours! We headed out of Dodge on US50 through Larned, which marks the midpoint between San Francisco and New York. We still have a ways to go before we reach our halfway point. US50 was just like the part of Kansas we had already passed through - mostly flat with broad expanses of wheat fields and tiny towns. The major difference is that we are now beyond the tree line and there are many trees lining the wheat fields and beautiful homes with large green lawns.

After sixty odd miles, we turned onto US 56E, passing Pawnee Rock, one of the way points (before gps) for the travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. I took the one-mile detour to see Pawnee Rock. If you are ever on US 56, you can save yourself the effort. There isn't much to see in Pawnee.

OK, I have to admit, I never heard of Great Bend, Kansas before, much less ever been there. It is, however, an interesting place to visit. Named after its location at the north end of a huge bend in the Arkansas River, the city was part of the aforementioned Santa Fe trail; it's been the home of the Fuller Brush Company since 1973; and Truman Capote's In Cold Blood depicted murders committed in Great Bend - scenes from the movie were also filmed there. Oh, and Smallville (superman's childhood home) is fictionally near Great Bend.

I don't think I've mentioned the trucks. There are lots of pigs and cattle raised in this part of the world, and they have to be taken to market. The stench of pig trucks is indescribable. Along with an unwelcome blast of wind that threatens to throw your bike off the road, the smell is wretched. Every time I see/smell one, I think about the pigs - where do they think they're going? Disneyland? Along with the livestock, come meat packing plants which employ large numbers of immigrants. The number of Latin Americans in the small towns of the high plains is staggering. Who thought you could get great Mexican food in Nowhere, Kansas?

Liberal to Dodge City, Kansas

86 miles, 4:55 riding time, 1,032 feet of ascent, 4,440 Calories

"Mr. Dillon, Mr. Dillon…"

I can still remember hearing Chester Goode (Dennis Weaver) limping quickly down the street, calling after Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) in the hit TV series Gunsmoke, fictionally set in the prototypical western town of Dodge City.

In real life, Dodge City was an important jumping off spot on the Santa Fe Trail west, the railroad nexus for the buffalo hide trade, and the trailhead for Texas longhorns driven up the Cimarron. It was where cowhands; prostitutes; saloon keepers; and misc. unsavory characters like the Dalton Gang, gathered to do business in the lawless west. Dodge City was where Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson later enforced the law; it's the home of Boot Hill. Unfortunately, the historic buildings along Front Street were torn down during a fit of urban renewal in the seventies, but the ghosts still remain.

We left Liberal at the normal time and rode east on Highway 54 for sixty miles before turning north on US 283, passing by endless horizons of wheat fields. Al started talking about "white line fever." A few days of rest and he should be OK, again.

The statue is called "el capitan," in honor of the Texas longhorns that were driven to the rail head in Dodge City, making her the queen of the cowtowns.

Rider of the day: Nancy is from Florida. She bought her first bicycle five years ago and hasn't stopped riding since. She's a former flight instructor and real estate salesperson.

Oz

Oz

Here's an update to yesterday's blog. I visited the Dorothy House in Liberal. It's a replica and houses a pair of the ruby slippers. They also have a yellow brick road. Above, Harry and the three musketeers (Ira, Alec, and Karen) are off to see the wizard…

Guymon, Oklahoma to Liberal, Kansas

39 miles, 2:30 riding time, 393 feet of ascent, 1,861 Calories

"We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz…"

Today was a recovery ride, very short (less than forty miles) and easy (essentially flat, with gentle winds). We are now riding between huge expanses of irrigated fields - I think they are wheat fields; it would be nice if they would put up a sign or two for the ignorant, city folk who get lost and drive these roads.

We passed through Hooker, a small town that capitalizes on it's name. Bumper stickers and t-shirts are for sale with slogans, such as, "I'm not your typical Hooker." The local baseball team is named the Horny Toads; you can buy a shirt with "I could've been a prince, but it's more fun being a Horny Toad." Great gift ideas for Aunt Ethyl back home…or not.

We crossed another state line into Kansas (where did Oklahoma go)? This is Dorothy and Toto country. US Highway 54 in Kansas is the official "yellow brick road," even though it isn't brick and it isn't yellow. Liberal is home to the Wizard of Oz Museum, Dorothy's house, a large air museum, and the Coronado Museum. No, we didn't see any tornados, heartless tin men, cowardly lions, brainless scarecrows, munchkins, or witches; but we are in Kansas and will be for several days.

Is there a Conservative, Oklahoma? Yes, turn right at Liberal…

Rider of the day:

George is from Missouri; he's a retired physician. We are now calling him, "Brave Heart." Day before yesterday, George was on the road, riding alone, from Tucumcari to Dalhart, into the wind, for twelve hours! He arrived in Dalhart as the rest of us were eating dinner. George said, "I would look ahead and see a tree. I told myself, I can ride that far. When I got to that point, I would look ahead for another tree…" It was truly a hard day's riding and a huge effort on his part.

Dalhart, Texas to Guymon, Oklahoma

76 miles, 4:47 riding time, 1,029 feet of climb, 3,625 Calories, 1 fl*t

All together now:

"OOOOk-lahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain,
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet, When the wind comes right behind the rain."

No rain, but lots of wind, unfortunately a headwind. Another day, another state!

[I've been asked to explain what a pace line is. Riding behind another bicycle rider reduces the effort required because the first rider is partially blocking the wind for the following rider. When several cyclists ride in a pace line, and take turns leading, the group travels faster and easier than individual riders can, riding alone.]

Due to the time change, we left the hotel an hour later than usual this morning. When I got on my bicycle, I noticed the rear tire was low on air. Yes, I did check it last night and again this morning. So, I changed the tube in the parking lot and was the last one to leave. I caught up with Harry & the three musketeers (Karen, Alec, and Ira). I rode with them until we reached the "big cowboy." After a photo op, I joined Peter, Al, Chris, and Willie. We rode together for the rest of the day, including our crossing of yet another state line, into Oklahoma. If you thought yesterday's ride was flat, you should see the panhandle of OK. We passed a wind farm (look closely and you'll see an old windmill for perspective.) Lots of grain elevators on the plains. The wind wasn't as bad as yesterday, but it was in our faces most of the day. Fortunately, today's ride was shorter than yesterday's.

Rider of the day:

Peter is from New York. He's an artist and cabinet maker. Originally from England, he's lived in this country for thirty years. We're wearing the New Mexico jerseys that Rich gave us.

Tucumcari, New Mexico to Dalhart, Texas

96 miles, 7:05 riding time, 2,423 feet of ascent, 4,107 Calories.

"The longest day"

As you can see from the above picture, the road to Dalhart is very straight. Tucumcari marks the edge of the mesa lands; east of there is rolling prairie. We crossed the Texas border and sprinkled our beach sand, but the wind fairies were obviously displeased with our meager offering. We had head winds all day, a century ride into 20 mph winds, gusting to 30 mph. Peter, Chris, Al, and Willie worked a pace line to make it possible for me to finish. It was a long, hard day. I'm so tired, I can hardly type.

Deborah says, according to AAA, Dalhart Texas' original name was Twist, later changed to Denroc which is a combination of the 2 railroads the crossed there in 1901 (Denver City and Rock Island), then changed to Dalhart which reflects the 2 counties in which it resides (Dallam and Hartley). It's a shipping point for agriculture and cattle and has the world's largest amateur rodeo in late summer. Up to 400,000 cattle are in the feed lots south of town. You can imagine the smell. The XIT Ranch was more than 3 million acres at one point. Things are big in Texas.

CrossRoads employee of the day:

Mack is one of the CR staff taking care of our needs each day. He's English and an ultra nice guy. He drives one of the support vehicles, helps Margaret with the SAG stops, and does a myriad of chores behind the scenes to make our trip comfortable.

Las Vegas to Tucumcari, New Mexico

109.5 miles, 6:48 riding time; 3,245 feet of climbing, and 4,836 Calories

I'm tired! It was a long, long day, but spectacular riding. We climbed out of Las Vegas (I've noticed that all the towns in New Mexico are at the bottom of valleys - probably where the water was); think flat, treeless plain; you could see forever in all directions. A small herd of horses joined us for a while, running parallel to the pace line. After many miles of rolling flat plain, we dropped off the edge of the Canada escarpment - one-thousand feet of descent over three miles to the desert below. Mesas towered over the road as we dropped through the canyons with some uphills and "The Wall" - 0.6 mile of 8-9% grade, granny gear time. After the climb, the land was rolling - long gradual descents and long gradual ascents to Tucumcari.

Deborah looked up the meaning of Tucumcari - it's either Comanche for "lookout," or from an Apache tale of Tucum and Kari - think Romeo and Juliet.

We have now biked more than 1,000 miles! Only 2,400 more to go.

The creature above is a Prairie Dog.

Riders of the day: Tom and Bob, from New Jersey. Both retired, and long time friends, they are riding to support Anchor House - a haven for abused children: http://www.anchorhouseride.org/ . Tom is the one with the moustache; Bob has a beard.

Santa Fe to Las Vegas, N.M.

73 miles, 4:30 riding time, 3,693 feet of climbing, 3,523 Calories

"What goes up, must come down…"

My son, Mike, is in Santa Fe working a movie. He dropped by the hotel to see us off. What a nice surprise.

Under threatening skies, we donned our raingear and headed out of Santa Fe, climbing out of the valley. After fifteen miles, we got onto the shoulder of I-25 North for five miles. At the end of this five mile stretch, we exited the freeway, marking the end of our freeway travel!!!! The picture above shows Willie, Chris, me, and Peter checking our route sheets. No more interstates!

The rest of the day, we were on old highway 66. The highest elevation of the trip was reached at Glorietta Pass (7,500 feet above sea level); the place where the Battle of Glorietta Pass took place in 1862, during the Civil War, for control of the Santa Fe Trail.

We then enjoyed a screaming descent into Pecos (as in, "there's no law west of the Pecos, hombre"). I didn't see Judge Roy Bean, but I'm sure his spirit is there somewhere. The SAG stop was at the El Alto Bar (picture above). From there we had rolling terrain, long drops followed by steep climbs' all the way into Las Vegas. We stopped at the Dairy Queen for shakes and sandwiches before riding the remaining mile to the hotel.

Today's ride competes with the ride through Oak Creek Canyon for the prettiest day so far.

Rider of the day:

Chris is from Virginia. At 44, he's one of the youngest riders and one of the strongest. His brother just got back from a tour of duty in Iraq. Chris is riding to support Injured Marines. Semper Fi!

Santa Fe, New Mexico - rest day

It's Memorial Day weekend. Don't forget to pause and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can sleep safely in our beds.

Please support our sons and daughters currently in uniform by donating to the USO.

After only five days of riding since our last rest day, we have paused in Santa Fe for another breather before resuming our crossing of the continent. The Rocky Mountains are behind us and we will now descend to a more reasonable elevation, crossing into Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

It's hard to believe that only two weeks ago we were all meeting each other for the very first time at the hotel in El Segundo, CA. Where before we were strangers, we have now become close friends. We've been through a lot together, deserts, mountains, rain, winds, and miles and miles of asphalt.

The dark line on the map above shows how far we've come.

Stats so far…

12 days of riding
894 miles
58:12 hours of riding
30,853 feet of climbing
45,559 Calories burned

3 states
3 century rides
5 fl*ts
10 chocolate shakes

There are many more miles to go before we reach Boston - the adventure continues.

Albuquerque to Santa Fe, New Mexico

67 miles, 5:08 riding time, 4148 feet of climb, and 3,262 Calories

Three strikes! Uphill, into the wind, and raining! More about the ride in a moment.

Last night we had dinner with Rich in Albuquerque. He gave me a New Mexico bicycle jersey! I'll post a picture of me wearing it later. In the morning, he turned up at the hotel with bagels and was standing on the side of the road screaming and ringing a cowbell as we pedaled out of town. I think he misses us.

Barbie, Jack W, and Mark left the group this morning. Hugs all around. The rest of us are going to carry their flags to Boston! It was wonderful meeting them and riding together for the past two weeks.

OK, back to the ride. When we left the hotel this morning, the skies were cloudy and threatening. The weather channel predicted a 60% chance of rain. The wind was blowing hard out of the East, the direction we were traveling. It was a hard slog out of town. I rode with Hank for a while, behind him, drafting; can you believe it, I'm drafting behind a 73 year old? Hank's an animal! It was uphill out of town and the rain began to fall. It took an hour and a half to go only sixteen miles! Even when we turned up the canyon on Route 14 north, the rain continued and the wind was in our faces, making the uphill crawl even more difficult. At one point, I looked up and saw the CR truck with several of our crew cheering us on. Who said riding uphill, against the wind, in the rain wasn't fun? There were a couple of nice downhills, but headwinds slowed our progress even then. Coming out of Madrid, we had a short downhill and then a slow, steady climb up to Santa Fe. Peter and Tom were my riding companions for the last twenty miles. It was a joy to finally reach the motel and get my chocolate shake! Tomorrow is a rest day!

Rider of the day: Tom is from Colorado. He's a graduate from Cal State Long Beach who is an economist. He has done the cross country trip with CR before. He's helping Tracy out on this trip and riding, too.

Grants to Albuquerque, NM

78 less 16 = 62 miles of riding, 4 hours, 1,711 feet of ascent, and 3,200 Calories.

Lots of new things today. It was raining when we left the hotel! Part of I-40 was impassable to bicycles! We had to be ferried part of the way, around the construction on I-40!

Despite the light rain that was falling when we left Grants, it was a beautiful morning, riding along old Rt-66, within sight of I-40. Very little traffic and a smooth road surface made the first two hours go by quickly. I stopped to take a picture of this old gas station; note the old style pump. At the first SAG stop, CrossRoads loaded us and our bikes on the support vehicles and took us to a spot past the area where it would had been impossible to ride on the interstate; the freeway narrowed to one lane with no room on the shoulder for bicycles. It was a good call by CR to get everyone safely beyond the construction. It also lessened by sixteen miles the distance we were to travel on I-40; you can guess how upset I was with that! Al and I rode together the remaining 32 miles into Albuquerque and our hotel for the night. After checking in at the hotel, we joined Fred at Little Anitas for chicken burritos, which came with a side of sopaipillas! There was even honey on the table to go with the sopaipillas. For those of you who are unfortunate enough not to have ever enjoyed them, sopaipillas are a fried bread that puffs up into a little pillow; you tear off a corner and eat it with honey. Delish!!!

Each night, we have a "route rap" to go over the next day's ride. We have route sheets for each day, with detailed instructions on how to get from one hotel to the next. The sheets can be folded into quadrants and clipped to the bicycle's handelbars.

On the way through town, we passed over the Rio Grande river (isn't that redundant? River large river?).

Rider of the day: Mark is from Louisiana. Mark builds ship interiors, among other things. His pretty wife, Melissa, came along in their car, following the group. Mark is one of those great folks who is leaving us, here in Albuquerque. The others are Barbie and Jack W. Jack R is going one more day, into Santa Fe. That will leave only eighteen riders to continue this cross country adventure

Gallup to Grants, NM

68 miles, 4:02 riding hours, 915 feet of ascent, 3,521 Calories

We changed time zones when we crossed into New Mexico, yesterday. (Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings.) As a result, the start for today's ride was an hour later than normal, which allowed for a much more leisurely breakfast. I guess you could call today a recovery ride. The distance was only 68 miles, with an easy, steady climb up to the Continental Divide and then downhill into Grants. Most of today was spent on Route 66, with the exception of a ten mile stretch on Interstate 40. The shoulder on I-40 was awful - very rough, potholed, and covered in loose gravel. Needless to say, we were very glad to put those miles behind us. Although tempted, we didn't tinkle on the Continental Divide sign to see which direction it would flow. I rode most of the day with Peter and got into Grants early enough to grab some chocolate milk and a sub before checking into my room. We just beat a rain storm - some of the later riders weren't as lucky.

Rider of the day - Jack W (there are two Jacks on this trip) is from Israel. He's a tri-athlete and in great shape. Unfortunately, Jack is only going as far as Albuquerque; tomorrow is his last day.

Holbrook, AZ to Gallup, NM

88 miles, 5:10 riding, 1,894' climbing, 4,419 Calories
And NO FL*TS!

Last night, after my three f-words, Fred handed me a set of tire liners and said, "put these in your tires!" I graciously accepted, pulled both tires off the bicycle, inserted the liners, and put the wheels back on the bike. No fl*ts today! During the ride, I pulled three pieces of wire out of the tires that would have caused catastrophic deflation at the most importune times on the road without the liners. Fred saved my bacon today. Thanks Fred!

BTW, Fred is 67 years young and a damned strong rider. Normally a mild mannered banker from Indiana, he's one of the first people to sign in at the end of the day; he's one of the thoroughbreds.

Today's ride was from Holbrook to Gallup, New Mexico, along Interstate 40. We essentially climbed all day, although the gradient was never steep. As we neared the New Mexico state line, the topography changed from flat, high desert to red cliffs and colorful canyons. The picture above is Window rock.

Riders of the day: Karen and Hank are both from Sacramento, CA. They did not know each other before signing up for this trip even though they are both members of the Sacramento Wheelmen. Karen runs a Physical Therapy office and is a PT Asst. Hank is 73 years young, having worked for years in the plumbing supply industry - he still consults in the field. Hank is one of my "heroes." At one point, he was leading a pace line of younger riders and soon left them all in the dust. I don't know what he had for breakfast, but I should have had some, too.

Rich

Rich is one of the nicest and most outgoing people I've ever met. Unfortunately, he's scheduled to leave the group in Gallup, NM. He's off to ride the Iron Horse Bike Race in Colorado. At dinner in Flagstaff, he brought some "awards." Peter and I were given Hot Wheels. Mark got a huge Kmart bike cycle seat for the "monkey butt" prize (Mark has been having some bottom issues). CrossRoads' staff member, Rick, got a Jedi knight, in honor of his touch with bicycle maintenance ("be one with the bike"). Margaret, who staffs the SAG stops and cleans up after us, was awarded a doggie-doo bag dispenser. Mack got a clothes pin (his roomie snores). Willie and Chris were given the "good sports" awards, jerseys. There were a couple of others, but this is a G-rated blog, so I won't mention them. In any case, Rich will be missed.