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20% fewer miles, 20% more headwinds. Today was just a long grind. The morning cycling was okay - overcast and cool, fairly still air. But the afternoon turned hot and windy. Dan got out early, pushed hard early in the day to beat the winds, and got in 3 hours ahead of Andy and me. Neil promised us tailwinds in Kansas, but so far we've gotten a lot of hot air. They also managed to route us over what must be the only hills in Kansas. At the state line, we met a group of 12 teenagers and 2 adults who were touring the states in a bus. They were just entering Colorado, but they ran over to the Kansas sign to take our pictures (and get their pictures taken with us). I cut them (and us) out of the state line picture, because they're really lousy pictures. Instead of grazing cattle, the modern method is to grow corn intensively in one field, and to feed the cattle intensively in another field. As far as I've seen, the entirety of Kansas and eastern Colorado is dedicated to various aspects of beef production. I don't have a lot of pithy observations today. On the back of yesterday's 120 headwind miles, today's 105 headwind miles were gruelling. They weren't as strong as day 17, but they didn't need to be. The low-back pain started around mile 30. The high point of the day (besides entering Kansas) was having lunch at a Dairy Queen at mile 78. After showering, Andy and I walked a mile to dinner, getting there almost an hour late. Fortunately, it was a Golden Corral buffet restaurant (affectionately known as the Golden Trough), so we could just walk in and start eating. We had a few beers with Dan afterwards in the motel's lounge. Kansas' liquor laws are almost as strange as Utah's. If an establishment makes at least 30% of its revenue from food, it can have an open bar. Otherwise, it's a private club. In this case, it was open only to members and motel guests. As to who would want to belong to a private club at the Days Inn on the edge of town, I can't speculate. Tomorrow's forecast is winds from the south/southeast at 10-20 mph. Why should it be any different than today? |
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