Today’s ride took us from eastern Colorado into western Kansas, with the scenery shifting from open prairie to corn fields, grain elevators, and cattle feed lots.
For the first time on this trip, I saw a route with 127 miles and no turns—just one cue on the GPS: Dighton Inn.
Departed at 5am from Eads knowing we had a long day ahead. The terrain was flat, but the first 50 miles were tough thanks to a steady 20 mph cross-headwind. We rode in an echelon and kept moving.
A highlight came in Tribune, Kansas, where my cousin Joyce and her son David met us at the Cenex station. It was great to see family, hear a little about Tribune from a lifelong resident, refill our bottles, and grab some carbs.
My recollection ... the Kansas Border Sprint at mile 40.8 was on the itinerary. Previous state lines had come and gone without much action, but not this one.
Todd launched the first attack when he spotted what he thought was the state line sign. I jumped on his wheel, only to realize the actual border was still a long way off. Andy then came around us, and I followed, but we still weren't that close to the line. Andy eventually blew up, and I came around with a seated effort. Todd responded, standing on the pedals to open a gap. As I recovered and started closing the gap again, Todd caught sight of me and found one more acceleration, holding me off by about 20 meters at the line. A quick glance back confirmed my second-place finish, while TJ gave Colorado a goodbye wave as we crossed into Kansas. Our legs and lungs are not used to going above endurance pace!
By afternoon, the wind eased and turned into a tailwind. After struggling to hold 12 mph in the morning, we were suddenly cruising over 20 mph.
It was a long day of wind, sound of tires on pavement, and light traffic on Bicycle Route 76. For the most part we had the road to ourselves for 127 miles. Dinner in Dighton will be whatever Dollar General can provide, and tomorrow we continue east across the Kansas plains.
