You could feel the anticipation growing amongst the riders at last night's route rap before dinner. It's as if JohnWayne had walked into the front lobby of the Comfort Inn, looked at us, and announced in that unmistakable voice, "Well pilgrims, tomorrow we ride into Dodge City." Cue the epic western soundtrack music.
Some of our riders had already picked up brochures for the Boot Hill Museum and the cowboy gunfight show in the old town district of Dodge City.
We left the hotel a little later we typically do, mainly because it's only 51 miles from Garden City to Dodge City. If we had left the hotel too early, we would have descended upon the Best Western Hotel in Dodge much too early for our rooms to be ready. Although we only rode 50 miles today, we fought extreme headwinds the entire way. It was the type of unrelenting wind that requires you as a rider to just hunker down, accept it and grind out the miles at a pace you can sustain. Some days the wind is with you and some days it's against you.
Meatpacking is the primary industry in Dodge City. Cargill Meat Solutions and National Beef both operate extensive facilities in this city of some 27,000 people. On our ride today we passed those facilities and feed yards filled with cattle. The aroma emanating from the abundant livestock was pungent and memorable. Wheat and sorghum are the area's main crops.
We all arrived somewhere between 12:00 noon and 1:00 p.m. Plans were quickly made to meet in the lobby at 2:30 pm for the 10 block walk down to the Boot Hill Museum.
The Boot Hill Museum is an American historical museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Old West with an emphasis on Dodge City. There are over 20,000 artifacts in the complex, including more than 200 original guns.
We walked into the museum's main entrance and gift shop and bought our tickets for the tour and the 3:00 pm show. However, the nice young lady behind the counter than informed us that the 3:00 show had unexpectedly been canceled. Most of the riders decided to tour the museum anyway, but my fellow rider Ray and I looked at each other and decided that because we had mainly come for the gruesome, blood-soaked, gunfight to the death on Main Street in Dodge City (that had now been canceled) it seemed far more prudent to just head back to the hotel to do some laundry.
No reason was given for the cancelation of the 3:00 show but word on the street was that two of the show's performers were involved in some sort of a dispute over unpaid gambling debts. Evidently at the 12:00 show, one of them substituted rubber bullets for the blanks they usually use in their six-shooters. "Just to send a message.", I was told. (This according to someone with knowledge of the situation but who was not authorized to speak on the matter). In any event, the 7:00 show was still happening so perhaps things got settled, the way they used to get settled in the old west, on the dusty streets of a cowtown they call Dodge City.
We had dinner at Applebee's this evening, and it was quite good. I don't think I have ever eaten at Applebee's. The place was bustling, and I can see why.
After dinner, I was the only rider who did not walk over to the 7:00 PM cowboy gunfight show at the Boot Hill Museum. So intent was I to get back to my blog posting and report to you, my devoted blog readers, about the important events of the day on this Cross Country Challenge. Tomorrow morning I will get a full update as to how the cowboy gunfight show was and if the British National Men's Cycling Team decided to join in as was their secret plan. Stay tuned.
At dinner tonight the riders at my table were intently watching the weather channel for clues as to what the winds will be doing tomorrow. I admit to being utterly disinterested in any of that. The winds will be what the winds will be, and the fact is that we WILL be riding 95 miles tomorrow no matter which way the wind blows. In this specific case, I disagree with the great Bob Dylan, the answer is not, in fact, blowing in the wind. The answer is, to get on your bike and ride. That's what we signed up for.
One last note about today's ride, I rode the last 15 or so miles with Zak, a 27-year-old airline mechanic who's older and younger brothers have both ridden this exact ride in previous years. Zak is originally from North Carolina, and he has the accent to prove it. Both his brothers urged Zak to save his money and do this ride, and that is precisely what he did. Zak is a delightful riding companion. He strikes me as a very grounded and pragmatic young man who is well equipped to face the full life he has ahead of him. Zak's big news is that his girlfriend will be meeting him in St. Joseph, MO, 4 days hence when we arrive there. On that evening he plans to propose marriage to her.
If this keeps up, I will seriously be considering pitching the idea of The Cross Country Challenge Bike Ride as a reality TV show to ESPN. Stay tuned.
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