As we were in no hurry as it was only a 83 mile day, we left the hotel at 8:10am enroute to Dodge City. Just prior to this, Mike Munk, one of the ABB staff who keeps his own blog of ABB events at http://www.bamacyclist.com/BAMA/Fast/Fast.html, told Patrick he had made his blog with his laundry escapade. Mike’s version is way off!
Mike had described Andy at Albuquerque as a “wiry guy” which is a Freudian description i.e. it defines Mike.
Mike has had another go at the laundry escapade in his blog and is now closer. We also saw some of the Beverly Hillbillies on TV where granny was wondering if Las Vegas had any of those fancy telephones so she could phone home. We asked Mike, who is from Alabama, if the program was a fair reflection of where he was from. Mike replied, not quite, that was further afield ……
Soon after exiting the hotel carpark to start our ride, we exceeded yesterday’s maximum speed as the wind pushed at our backs. It was going to be an easy day.
It was just a short 38 miles to the only sag stop of the day which was at the Dalton Gang Museum in the town of Meade. We arrived there in just over 90 minutes of cycling. Just prior to this, we stopped at the Lone Tree Historical marker. There is no tree there now.
The Dalton Gang is a famous outlaw gang that was eventually gunned down by the local townspeople. Supposedly the law enforcers of the day had trouble finding them which is not a problem today with large signs everywhere giving directions.
We stopped in the town of Fowler for a photo as Fowler is our grandmother’s maiden name.
Entering Dodge City, the route took us off the main road and up some cobbled hill roads before returning to the main road and the hotel on the edge of town.
We arrived at 12:39pm, not too long after the luggage van. Our total riding time was just 3hrs 42m and the road dropped a net 350ft or so but again included some rolling false flat climbs. On arrival at the hotel, after asking nicely, we got a room but the cleaner had to let us in as the keys did not work yet again. Other riders had to wait while rooms were cleaned.
Later in the afternoon, we walked through the centre of the hotel which has a pool, indoor volley ball court, table tennis, basketball hoop and video games, including a version of Pacman. Patrick splashed out a quarter for a game for history’s sake!
From there, we walked downtown to the Boothill museum and further into town for an ice cream at a local shop. We walked past numerous food outlets with the Sonic drive-in and be served at your car proving to be particularly popular.
Route rap was at 5pm with breakfast tomorrow at 6am and luggage load at 7am. The favourable conditions are due to abandon us as but it is only a 85 mile tomorrow. The forecast is for 20mph head winds according to the TV!
For dinner, we went to the Dodge House Restaurant at the hotel for steak and dessert. Their dessert special was a regular menu item while they had no coconut cream pie. We obviously need to improve our Kansas language skills!
Numbers for the day:
Departure time: 8:10am Distance: 83.7 miles (134.7km)
Riding time: 3hrs 42m
Average speed: 22.6mph (36.4km/h)
Maximum speed: 36.3mph (58.4km/h)
Vertical climbing: 1,070ft (326m)
Temperature range: 16-29°C
Arrival time: 12:39pm
Weekly (Monday – Sunday mileage) to date: 538 miles (865km)
Total kilometres ridden to date / approximate kilometres to go: 2,219km / 3,343km
Rolling last seven days total kilometres ridden including today: 1,085km
No comments:
Post a Comment