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Day 31: {south of "Y" on the map}
JULY 5: McPherson, Kans. to Great Bend, Kans. 66 miles via U.S. Route 56. Average speed today, 13.1 mph. Total trip mileage to date, 1,921.
(To those of you who may be counting miles: The trip total also includes incidental miles we may put in around the towns in which we stay and is more than the sum of the daily totals noted. I’m sure many of you may sleep easier knowing this).
With that clerical detail out of the way, a couple of words on today’s ride: It sucked. When we pulled into Great Bend, the temperature was 103 and the humidity not too far behind. The good news is that we wound up the day’s ride at 2:15 p.m. – before the day’s temperature peaked. Another blessing: No hills.
This stretch of Kansas is truly big sky country. It stretches on forever, with only grain elevators and water towers piercing the broad horizon.
Started riding at 8:15 a.m. and by 12:30 had covered 55 miles and we’re at our lunch stop, Ellinwood, Kans. There we met a couple riding a recumbent tandem bike down the brick main street. “You’ve got to be crazy out riding on a day like this,” I said, attempting a joke.
“You guys obviously aren’t from Kansas,” answered the guy on the front of the recumbent. “This is a great day to ride. Things can get a lot worse around here.”
That was foreboding, especially since the forecast for the next three days is for increasing heat and we plan a couple of 80-mile days. The answer: starting the day’s ride no later than 7 a.m. and ending early.
