Day 23 Lamar, CO to Garden City, KS  103 miles and 945 feet of climbing

Today we rode from Lamar, CO into the great state of Kansas on route to our final destination, Garden City, KS. The ride can be summed up as follows: Cornfields, cattle farms, more cornfields and a long smooth highway lined with telephone pole after telephone pole after telephone pole.

I rode a good part of the day today with Jake, a 62-year-old retired electrician from Vero Beach, FL. As part of the four person ride support staff, Jake takes his turn driving a support vehicle on alternate days, but today was Jake's day to ride. That is not Jake in the picture above. That is Doug from Petaluma who has been coming on to me the entire trip from the first day he set eyes on me back in San Francisco. I keep telling him that I'm a happily married man, but he remains undeterred.

Back to Jake. He speaks in a deep voice with a slow southern drawl. Two years ago he went on the Fast Across America Ride offered by this same company. On that tour, they ride an average of 115 miles a day, and they go from coast to coast in 30 days. "Intense!" is how Jake describes it. However, Jake loved it, and he expressed an interest in becoming a staff member on one of America By Bicycle's future tours. So now here he is on his first tour as a staff member.

Jake is a very strong rider. He claims to have only been riding a bike for 7 years, which I don't believe for a minute. The man is a machine, a natural. He lives in Vero Beach, FL where there are no hills to train on, but you would never know it when he effortlessly and smoothly demolishes any hill that comes in his path. In addition to being a fantastic bike enthusiast, he is also an excellent conversationalist. He rides with a local club in his area and rides about 12,000 miles a year on his Trek Project One Bike. He says ideally he'd like to work 2 or 3 tours a year if possible and says he really enjoys being part of something like this. From his experience on the Fast America Ride, he estimates that we have 5 or 6 more days of flat roads, cornfields, endless telephone poles, and smooth pavement as we make our way through Kansas.

Upon checking into the hotel, I was informed that my old friend Bill Self, head coach of the University of Kansas Men's Basketball Team, the Jayhawks, had left a message for me at the front desk. In the note, he asked if I might be able to make time to give an inspirational talk to some of his new recruits. I emailed Coach Self back and explained to him that my days of being a traveling evangelical preacher had long past. It's been years since my last crusade, not to mention the fact that I have miles and miles of bike riding to do before reaching the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in New Hampshire.  He was so gracious to ask, but it's just not in the cards right now.

Coach Self and myself back in 2001

Dinner tonight was at the incomparable Golden Corral. However, the Brits decided to go rogue and dine at Applebee's. 

Tomorrow is a more relaxed day, only 55 miles to Dodge City, KS. We plan to visit the Boot Hill Museum and Miss Kitty's Saloon. Unfortunately, I understand the vintage old west brothel at the edge of town was recently closed down for health code violations. 

Tonight I plan to binge-watch episodes of the 60's TV show, Gunsmoke just to get into the proper frame of mind for my one day visit to this most famous of Cowboy towns. 

The great James Arness as righteous Dodge City lawman Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke.