Day 31 : Time Zone #3...

From Dighton, KS to Tribune, KS – 75.5 miles

Story [in numbers]:

Time on bike: 7:29:30
Average speed: 10.1 mph
Max. speed: 17.4 mph


Story [in words]:

We got up early to try to cover some solid miles before the winds got going, as they were predicted to. We were loaded and on the road by about 6:45 am. It was definitely another great morning for cycling…I really like this riding on the plains. It is just so much less humid, which is so much more comfortable.

We rode into scott city, and found a place that we could grab a late breakfast. We found a great little local café, and it was an awesome breakfast to boot! We ate a ton…which isn’t always a good thing…but it turns out that today it was the right combo I guess. We barely ate the rest of the day…we felt fueled up and ready to go.

We got back on the bikes and headed into leoti, ks where we filled up our waters and had some great conversation with an older couple sitting at a table there. The gentlemen told us about back in ’70 when he, along with a group of a couple thousand cyclists, drove their tractors to Washington, d.c. for some sort of protest.

We finished our conversation with them, ready to knock out the last 24 miles for the day. The wind picked up a little this afternoon, which made the cycling a little more difficult…but all in all, not that bad. We also crossed into the mountain time zone just before we arrived here in tribune…which is great because we get an “extra” hour today! Sounds like more sleep to me!

Today I realized that back in Indiana (where we were both born and raised) and in Missouri (where we live now), we really have no idea what a big farm is. The farms out here in western Kansas dwarf anything that we can possibly imagine out east. The farms go on forever. Whether it is a cattle farm or some sort of a crop operation, they are absolutely huge! There were multiple times today where we were roughly 8 miles outside of the town that we were going to, and we could see the water tower in town as clear as day. It is really just fields for as long as you can see!