Saturday, May 5, 2007

May 5 -- Dodge City KS to Great Bend KS

Tornadoes ? -- looks like we dodged these for the moment. There were numerous strong storms in the area last night and tornadoes hit towns close to here -- the news was saying "half mile swath" -- but the storms are north of our destination at this point and the remaining tornado watch is well north of here and our destination. I would have a hard time living in a place where you routinely have to head to the basement or a closet for a tornado warning.

Here is an excerpt from the CNN story:

(CNN) -- A half-mile wide tornado swept through downtown Greensburg, Kansas, causing heavy damage and injuring dozens of residents, according to officials and witnesses. "The entire town was pretty much wiped out," said storm chaser Allan Detrich. "There wasn't too many buildings standing."

We had dinner at Peppercorns last night -- a bar/restaurant. The midwest has not done much with anti-smoking laws and it has been strange the last couple of days to smell cigarette smoke wherever we go to eat. I finally had some fish in my diet -- deep fried of course -- catfish. The batter mostly came off and the fish was nice and flaky. I had brocolli instead of fries, so was being good.

After dinner we walked back to the motel for today's briefing -- still not sure why Mike wanted to do it in the evening. We will be having breakfast here in the hotel for a change, which is great, and can then head off between 6:30 and 7:00.

After dinner we went back to the Dairy Queen ... remember what I said about being eating and biking machines ...

Our route today takes us up route 56 to Great Bend. The winds today are very high -- around 25mph at this point from the SSE so it could be a struggle. I just looked out my motel window to confirm and yes, trees are blowing like mad. The first part of 56 is mostly due East, so the wind will be a huge factor. 56 then angles NE and the wind may give us a boost -- no guarantees though. It's warm -- still around 70 degrees, so we won't have to deal with the cold or fog.

This evening will be a bit of a mix-up. Apparently we are staying close to a wal-mart and grocery store, so I want to pick up some things. In particular I need to buy a cheap beard trimmer -- I did not bring mine with me and the beard is getting thick -- I don't need the extra wind resistance / bug catcher ! I also want to find some more cereal because I only have a few more days supply. After that, since it's Saturday, I intend to head into Great Bend to a church that I've found there. Unfortunately it is 5+ miles from the hotel so I will need a taxi again. The next two Saturdays the churches are closer ... this all assumes, of course, that we arrive in time, but it is another relatively short day so unless the wind blows us backwards it should all work out. I will probably end up with a cold dinner tonight, like Subway (that would be my fist on the trip) or fast food.

I'm going to post this blog now and update it later in the day -- assuming, of course, that I have internet service in Great Bend, but so far this has worked out well. There is one hotel on the route that the sheet does not mention internet service. Yesterday I was able to access either the Super 8 wireless or the Gateway Motel wired internet. We were staying, of course, in the Gateway and the Super 8 was across the street. The wireless service was a bit iffy and not all the rooms had wired service. One of my fellow riders was trying to get connected and I suggested that he simply walk across the street and sit in the lobby of the Super 8 - which he ended up doing.

Oh - something else - one of my fellow riders, Geoff, has taken many pictures and on our rest day in Topeka I'm going to get a copy of those and upload a bunch of pictures to the family website and post a couple to the blog. I'll have time to mess around that day. It's hard to believe that we are almost in Topeka -- to Great Bend today; to Abilene tomorrow; to Topeka Monday and Tuesday -- we are almost at the half-way point.

Wish us luck today.

.........

As we loaded our luggage today Mike was twichy about the weather and called us all into the breakfast room for "a talk" -- his first inclination was to bag the ride and drive us all to Great Bend but he would have had a mutiny since the doppler radar showed nothing in the area or through our destination. So ... he gave us a cautionary speech, told us not to hesitate to stop at a farmhouse if there was obvious bad weather approaching, and that we would reassess at the first SAG stop.

Today I rode with Jerry, Geoff, Logan and Brian. Winds were stiff -- a steady 24 mph -- from the SSE as we rode almost due east and then as we turned slightly NE they provided some help. With a group of 5 we did a circular rotation because you draft back and to the left of the person blocking the wind from the side. We were able to maintain a speed around 18 for the first 36 miles and then 21-23 for the balance of the 86 miles.

Our riding day would have been over before noon today, but we stopped at an ice-cream store a mile away from the hotel. After that we checked in and, since our luggage had not arrived yet, rode down to a bicycle shop and the Subway. The bicycle shop was "closed for the Kansas Fat Tire Festival, see you at Lake Wilson (or whatever the lake was)". Oh well -- it was just a time killer waiting for the luggage.

Once back at the hotel we saw that Barbara had arrived so we collected luggage, showered and then sat outside and ate our subs. Jerry and I then walked over to Wal-Mart -- me to pick up some bran buds; Jerry to purchase a new camera.

Mechanical support is at 3pm today and "RAP" (ride briefing) at 4pm. It turns out that Mass is at 5pm so I'll be heading out right after "RAP" to go downtown Great Bend .... ah.

The weather is supposed to be iffy for the next few days. Mike is worried, but we'll have to take it day by day.

No comments: