July 4, 2006
Day 33: Ness City, KS to Tribune, KS
104.71 Miles, 6:45:10 Ride Time, 15.66 Average Speed, 30.30 Maximum Speed
I woke up early this morning, after sleeping fitfully the night before. (I liked the Elite Suites fine except for the air conditioning, which never got chilly enough for me - that might have contributed to my sleeplessness). I had left the bike in the downstairs hallway rather than carry it up the stairs to my rooms, and it took me longer than usual to get everything together and make sure I hadn't left anything behind.
As I was leaving (before 6:30 - my earliest start in a while), I saw water standing everywhere. Obviously, it had rained heavily in the night, although I didn't remember being woken by thunder. It was overcast this morning, and the coolest it had been in days.
The roads (or road, actually - I was still on 96, and would stay on it for days) continued to be mostly flat and straight. There was the ever-present headwind, which I was becoming resigned to.
The first 30 miles or so were a pleasant, if uneventful, ride. The first little "town" I passed through, Beeler, consisted of a few houses and a cemetery - clearly there were more dead than live residents in the town. I stopped to take a picture of a historical marker about George Washington Carver, who had lived in the area in the late nineteenth century. I had been alerted to the presence of this sign miles before, by other signs that read "historical marker ahead." (I talked to other cyclists later, and they all had stopped to take pictures of the sign - anything even slightly unusual that you pass in this unvarying landscape seems photo-worthy).
I made a stop in Dighton (pop. 1,261) for Gatorade and donuts at a convenience store that appeared to be the only business open on Independence Day morning. I was inside for about 15 minutes, and when I walked out, something seemed different - for the first time in days, the wind was not in my face - I had a tailwind!
It remained overcast and cool, and with the wind pushing me along, it felt like I was flying for the next 70 miles. I was enjoying the tailwind so much, that I didn't stop and take many pictures, nor did I stop for a real meal all day.
I rode through Scott County, famous for its many cattle feedlots, and was grateful it wasn't hot - even on this cool day, they were incredibly smelly. I stopped briefly in Scott City (pop. 3,855), just long enough to buy a snack (and break my pair of cheap sunglasses when I leaned back in the booth I was sitting in at the convenience store).
I met a few eastbound cyclists, all of whom complained about the headwind they were experiencing, of course. I expressed my sympathies, (and hoped I didn't seem too insincere) as I enjoyed my best day of riding in Kansas.
I stopped to take a picture at the Greeley county line, where I entered the Mountain Time Zone, and gained another hour (and thought to myself that it would certainly suck to be riding east today, battling the headwind and losing an hour...)
When I arrived in Tribune (pop. 835) about 10 miles later, I had ridden over 100 miles, and felt like I could easily do another 50. In fact, this had been one of the easiest days of the entire trip. I stopped at the truckstop, clearly the most happening place in the little town, and considered my options. The next town with any motels was Eads, Colorado, about 60 miles away. As appealing as the thought of getting to Colorado was, I decided stop for the day in Tribune, and not tempt fate by trying for a 160+ mile day.
The only place to stay in Tribune, the (appropriately named?) Trails End Motel, was right across from the truck stop. The exterior was not promising - it was probably the shabbiest-looking of any place I had stayed. The nice people at the truckstop told me there was a hunting lodge a few miles off the route in the town of Horace, and they let me use their phone to call, since my cellphone had no signal. I talked to the lady at the hunting lodge, but it sounded a little primitive, so I told her I would think it over.
I rode across the street to the motel and talked to the owner. He said the room was $35, and I told him I would need to look at it first. The inside of the room was certainly nicer than the outside, and the sheets and towels seemed clean, so I walked back and said I would take it. Surprisingly, there was even high speed internet access, although it wasn't wireless - I had to run the cable, which was lying outside on the ground, under my door. That was certainly a first...
My lodging taken care of, I rode around town, and checked out the park. As I rode past the pool, I heard voices call out my name... It was Johnny, Henny and Doug, camping in the park. It was fun talking to them for a while and hearing how their trip had gone so far - it was the first time I had seen the three of them in almost a month.
After a pizza at the truckstop, and a conversation with the manager, a nice guy, I went back to my room, watched the first part of the Wizard of Oz on cable, got on the internet for a while, then went to bed, where I had a little trouble getting to sleep because of the firecrackers going off a few feet outside my door.
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Today's ride: 105 miles (169 km)
Total: 2,164 miles (3,483 km)
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