Ok, the winds are not becoming a problem. They are a significant problem. Yesterday I spent 6 and a half hours pedalling to Dodge City in 25-30 mph sustained winds with gusts up to 40 mph. This trip should have taken a little less than 3 hours. Notice that I was only able to average 7.6 mph over the entire day. Rather than camping I sought refuge in a La Quinta. After looking at the forecasts (more 30 mph winds from the sse) I extended my stay in Dodge City one more day.
Yesterday I left Garden City and was immediately affected by the strong headwinds. But I was traveling on Hwy 50 with this great "super two" shoulder.
I thought, "It can't get any worse than this." Then I crossed over a county line and the shoulder dropped to this ...
Travelling on this shoulder with a lot of semi-truck activity was terrifying. In the high winds I was constantly shooting sideways and re-correcting. When I met oncoming traffic I dropped off the shoulder, rode in the grass until traffic behind me passed and then jumped back up onto the highway and continued. About 20 miles into my day my nerves were shot so I stopped at an intersection and hitchhiked for 20 minutes but no one picked me up. I pulled into a grain coop and asked for optional roads. The guy told me that if I could travel 6 more miles to a rest area then I could take a dirt road to Cimmaron and that the "super two" shoulder continued from there. I made it about another mile and noticed this defunct road bed that I pedalled on to the rest area.
At the rest area I hopped onto this road ...
About two miles from Cimmaron I flatted out. Evidently I picked up a couple of thorns while bumping along the defunct road
Anyway, I finally made it to Dodge City. I've been here for two days waiting out strong winds and thunderstorms. Tomorrow--wind or no--I'm continuing on to Coldwater, KS. Supposedly there is a campground there. On the bright side, I did find a liquor store--Doc Holliday's Liquors--that had good beer. I bought two bottles of 90 Shilling, brewed in Colorado. When I told the proprietor that I was from Glenwood Springs, the town where Doc died, she ran into the backroom and gave me a bottle opener on which the store's name was engraved. My first souvenir! Hell, I even got to take a picture of the mascot. His name is ... yep, Doc Holliday.
3 comments:
SWEET photo! Is that a real dog?
I'm sorry about the wind and roads, Tal. That sounds harsh. Now that snow doesn't seem so bad, I bet.
How many more miles to go to your cousin's house?
Merne
Hi Talbot Dale!
Bummer about the weather! I was a little worried about you yesterday after hearing about the tornadoes that tore up parts of Colorado. Glad to hear you're safe. ¡Hasta pronto, amigo!
Hey Tal,
After a drive across Kansas, a friend told me it was a shame that I wasn't Catholic - the drive would have been worth 5 years penance. Think what you could be racking up!
Here's to a gentle breeze.
Mary
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