87.5 mi, 1,033ft gain, 50-88F / side winds all day
Today we headed out of Dodge City a bit on edge. Would the wind be like yesterday?
Luckily no, the wind was very much present, but it was from our right side. I know this may seem minor, but having the wind come from the right prevented the blow back from the trucks passing by us. Turned out about 5 other people talked about this as the day went on. So instead of our front wheels being blown out by the wind deflecting off the trucks, we could continue on.. even keeping our pace much higher than yesterday. I think everyone has reset their “worst day of biking” to yesterdays ride.. or top 3. Ha
With that said, we did have winds around 20 mph with gusts up to 36mph. Apparently this is normal for around here. I knew it was windy, but whoa, this it wild. I was only 8 miles out from the hotel but I was watching what looked like a Haboob form in front of me. I thought it would go away. So I stopped, ate, texted people. It took about 5-10 minutes but the giant dust cloud finally blew away enough so I could again see the road. I went through it with “safety squints” and my right hand blocking my wind side.. which happens to be my now healed cornea eye. I’m trying to prevent that from happening again!
Ok, I skipped about 75 miles of the ride above. We got to see a lot of pretty fields being blown by the wind. It’s mesmerizing. We also stopped at the Train Park where it’s the mid point between NYC & San Fran! That’s cool. They had a cute little pioneer church by the train too. Just past the train stop I had to do a double take when I saw the giant Yeti. He’s in the front yard of a welder’s shop. He looks just like the one I made for the stickers!
The route took us past numerous grain silos today. Some are old ones by the tracks, you can tell they’ve seen a lot. Then there’s bright shiny new ones. They tower over you as you ride by. They also block the wind, thank you.
*warning, when you get to the end of one the wind coming around them is a wild rush and blows you around!
Our last stop was at Pawnee Rock, a tiny incorporated town that feels like a ghost town now. It’s located at the midpoint of the Santa Fe Trail for pioneers as well as predating pioneers to the Native Americans using this area for multiple purposes. Interesting to think people traveled this route in a wagon, and I’m doing it on a Bianchi. 🤔
We were routed through a small town with a bricked Main Street today. It is the first bricked street I’ve seen since starting. It reminded me of the bricks in my home town in IL. Shortly there after I rolled in Great Bend, named after the giant curve in the Arkansas River around the town heading SE.
Tomorrow we get to start an hour later, 8:30am since we only have 65 miles. 2 days of riding before we get a rest day. Tonight I spent some extra time to clean my bike and redo my headstem. I think the combo of rumble strips and strong side winds might have bumped it loose maybe? I don’t know, a lot happens in 1,500 miles. It’s good to go now.
Rolling on.
Total mileage to-date:
1,488.9 mi
Total elevation gain to-date:
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