The next morning we decided to eat breakfast together and rode to the Mouse House where we had a large, hearty breakfast. After our meal, William and I said goodbye to Roger, then the two of us rode together to Garden City (pop 18,256). For the first time in a long time I had a tailwind, and averaged 18 mph. 

We crossed back from Mountain to Central time zone, another milestone, and took turns drafting all day. William broke a spoke and between the two of us replaced it in a timely manner. 

Although the day had started cool, it warmed up to the point where it became so hot that the tar on the road was melting. Around 2:00 I stopped and it felt like I was standing in chewing gum. When I tried lifting my foot, I found it was stuck to the road. We rolled our bikes onto the grass and spent the next five minutes trying to get the melted tar off, but as we continued riding we still collected pebbles, small sticks, and sand where it remained stuck on our tires and shoes. 

We rode into Dodge City (pop 18,001) and stopped to eat at the Pizza Hut which, at that time in my life, had the best salad bar I’d ever seen. By the time we finished eating it was dark, and we picked our way through the back streets to our campsite. We set up our tents in the dark, struggling with a wind that was becoming increasingly stronger. 

My odometer told me I’d pedaled 84 miles today. However, I just googled the distance from Syracuse to Dodge City, and the shortest route is 102 miles. I’m not sure what to make of that, but, like my profile says regarding my first bicycle trip, “My highest piece of tech equipment was a belt-driven cyclometer attached to my front hub that, after one mile, was accurate to within one mile.”

I slept well, up until the point when William woke me up because he thought he might’ve seen a tornado. It was causing him some concern and, in all honesty, it certainly SEEMED windy enough for there to be one. 

Barely sensate, I feigned concern then promptly fell back asleep. Seriously, what could POSSIBLY hurt me while I’m inside my pup tent?

What indeed....?