Day 23 Great Bend, KS to McPherson, KS
62.8 miles
4:09 time
Pictures tomorrow.......too tired and the scenery was the same.
I think it is going to be a short write-up tonight. Although today was a short day, I am very tired. We fought the wind for a good portion of the day and I’m still not sure who won. Also, I have had this pinched nerve in my lower back that has been paining me for about a week. For those of you who know me, it has made me grumpy, so hopefully I haven’t lost my sense of humor. One thing about a long bike ride is that no matter what hurts, you get up the next day and pedal. The key is to figure out how to survive another day.
We rode into Lyons this morning where Barry one of the guys whom I was riding with, surprised a Methodist congregation by attending services. He was in total bike garb and was the hit of the day. We had a great little rest stop, but most of the terrain looked just like the prior two days. I didn’t take too many pictures today but I will try to take more over the next several days to make up for it.
As we were riding today, I noticed the extreme inventiveness of the Kansas folks. Starting this morning we saw the most innovative naming scheme for the county roads we have seen thus far. They started with County Road 1 and went all the way to 35. Most other counties just use numbers. Apparently, the city fathers of McPherson are planning for a big expansion in population. As we came within about four miles of town we started seeing street and avenue signs. These signs run right through the wheat fields and there is nary a soul miles. I am not kidding. I wonder what they are thinking?
Dinner tonight was nothing if unspectacular. I knew I was in trouble when I ordered wine. She asked what I wanted and when I replied a cab (short for cabernet sauvignon) she asked “yellow or checker”? They really didn’t have a cab at Montana Mikes but they do serve a mean buffalo burger. And you can order your steaks medium, well done or buckskin, but they usually come back buckskin. The explanation is as always that it is range fed beef as if a city slicker just won’t know the difference. I am still chewing on my steak as I write this.
I also did a little investigation of the goo/gel that we take in every day, although I must admit that the investigation was not scientific and quite by accident. You might recall Ben Franklin and the kite incident. I spilled some goo on my bike yesterday while eating it. Frequently, we eat while biking. Well the goo dried like shellac overnite and almost stripped the paint clean off the bike. I was just wondering what the heck it’s doing in my stomach. I might try it to patch my next flat tire. Maybe the only active ingredient in goo is the sugar and the caffeine. Goo comes in many flavors like mocha, strawberry/banana etc. We were commenting how we can’t even tell the difference in flavors anymore and were wondering if someone slipped us tuna or sardine if we would even notice. It’s hard to taste as you are eating and breathing through your mouth while biking. I think I’ll shoot some photos of goo and see what my readers think.
Yesterday we met a missionary who traveled over 18,000 miles last year. I am still having trouble with his mission, but he swears he starting biking because it came to him in a dream. He had a dream of biking four nights in sequence and the final night God spoke to him and said GO! Traveling around America you meet all types. He was carrying over 100 pounds of gear. Our bikes weigh 20 lbs loaded. We are wimps. This is all in his newsletter, so it must be true.
Now for today’s history lesson. I didn’t mention much about Pawnee rock yesterday. It was a significant historical landmark so that people traveling the Santa Fe trail would know they were on course. It wasn’t really all that interesting since they quarried it in the late 1890’s. These must be the same people that shot all the buffalo. However, the way it got it’s name is. Apparently people in the old west also had a sense of humor. When Kit Carson was very young he camped on the rock one night. Thinking he heard Indians, namely Pawnees, the young Carson opened fire only to find the next morning that he had killed one of his mules. His comrades named the rock Pawnee Rock as a jab at Carson. To add insult to injury he had mule for breakfast, dinner (the noontime meal at this time) and supper for 2 weeks. Now that will add some kick to your life.
Signing off…….