Day 21: Dodge City to Great Bend, KS

I woke up this morning hoping to feel 100% better than yesterday before starting our ride, but that was not the case.  The muscle aches were less noticeable, but the fatigue was still present.  I told myself  "No worries, you've been here before.  Be mindful and satisfied with whatever the day gives you."

At 7am the air was a bit cool at 62F, and the humidity was high (88%).  From what we saw on the weather channel during breakfast, a front was moving in, but we had a good chance of staying ahead of any rain.  I still wadded up my rain jacket and shoved it in my center jersey pocket just in case.  I was already feeling a bit clammy from the cool moist air, the last thing I wanted was to get caught in a cold early rain.

Our traverse of Kansas continued along the broad smooth paved shoulders of US 50E.  The main difference this morning was we didn't have the bright morning sun in our eyes as we headed east.  The reason -- dense cloud cover of the approaching weather front.  We did have a mild cross wind that tended to shift around somewhat, but it was generally favorable.

Early morning cloud cover
(note steam from a distant nitrogen plant being blown north across the road)

Extensive wind turbine farms on both sides of US 50E for approximately 10 miles.

Our first SAG stop of the day along US 50E was in the small town of Offerle adjacent to the Offerle Cafe.  On the eastern exterior wall of the cafe was a large mural -- "The Saga of the Santa Fe".  The artist is Dennis Burghart.

"The Saga of the Santa Fe"
(Note:  Look closely at the grain elevator buildings just above the flag on the bike furthest to the right.)

Old wooden grain elevator buildings next to railroad tracks a few miles east of Offerle, KS.
Do they look familiar?  If not, go back and look at the mural again.

Eastern-most grain elevator

Western-most grain elevator
(smaller weigh house on left)

After Offerle, the next little town along our route was Kinsley which we approached just after we left
US 50E to continue our ride along US56E.  Kinsley declares itself as the midway point between San Francisco, CA and New York, NY. Of course, it's also the midway point between an infinite number of other places, but New York and San Francisco are probably the most recognizable pair.

Large sign at the Edwards County Historical Society Museum complex.
Among the many features of this complex were an enclosed sod house (for our UK readers, that's a house made of square patches of  dirt with grass), antique farm machinery, and a steam locomotive.

Steam locomotive at the Edwards County Historical Society Museum complex.

It's massive!  You can feel raw power emanate from it.
I can only imagine what the Native Americans thought upon
seeing, hearing, and feeling one for the first time. 

Roadside blooms have been rare in Kansas.

With it's two lanes, frequent semi trucks, and often with just a 1-2 feet wide paved shoulder,
US 56E was not particularly rider friendly.  That said, most of the large trucks pulled over
into the other  lane when passing us.

Quaint small-town America was on display in Larned, the next town we passed through on US 56E.
Larned is the county seat of Pawnee County.

Main Street in Larned, KS.

Pawnee County Courthouse in Larned, KS

About 10 miles past Larned, we visited Pawnee Rock, a large rocky area that arises out of an otherwise relatively flat prairie, and an historic landmark on the Santa Fe Trail.  It was a frequent battle ground among Native American tribes, and served as an observation point for spotting herds of bison, and later on, herds of white people.

Plaque along US 56E.

360 degree view from Pawnee Rock

After leaving Pawnee Rock, we rode the final 10 miles into Great Bend along US 56E.  Although I missed the first two wide load trucks each carrying a wind turbine blade, I captured this third one in their loosely organized caravan:

So, I guess that's enough for tonight.  Although  I felt sluggish at the start of this day, I felt better with each passing hour despite the cloud cover disappearing early and temperatures that approached 90F by noon.  I think the big factors for this improvement were slowing down a bit more today to take in the sights and sounds of the road, and ingesting more fresh food and water than I've done previously.  Of course, having favorable wind conditions and an insignificant amount of climbing didn't hurt either!

CrossRoads Day 21 Google Earth image and Elevation Profile
Dodge City to Great Bend, KS

Geoffrey has informed me that he has tasted two new milk shakes.  The first of these consumed two days ago was a Royal Mint Chocolate Chip shake at Dairy Queen.  Geoffrey felt this shake was Very Good.  However, he uncharacteristically and inexplicably avoided giving me a straight answer when I asked him if it supplanted the DQ cherry shake as the board leader. Concerning the second shake, Geoffrey went to a Braum's Ice Cream & Dairy store today and requested that they prepare a milk shake using Black Forest ice cream. Braum's employees informed Geoffrey that this particular shake is Braum's "first one ever".  Geoffrey feels he has raised the bar on Brick Susko's original trans-America milk shake evaluation.  And almost as if it were a new grandchild and immediately occupied a special place in his heart, Geoffrey proudly judged his Black Forest creation to be "Lovely".

Tomorrow we ride 64 miles to McPherson, KS.