Another Long Ride now in the Books!

I am sitting at the airport waiting for my plane to Reno (Cathryn and I are going hiking in Yellowstone Park for a couple of days).

We finished the ride yesterday.  It was a quick, but casual, 30 miler to New Franklin, MO.  The ride took us through Blackwater, MO a small town with lots of antique stores and rustic buildings.

We made it to New Franklin passing over the Missouri River, and the official beginning of the Santa Fe Trail. Of course the start point is in controversy as Boonville, MO which is on the other side of the Missouri River also claims to be the official start of the trail.

Seems that in order to start their trek, the pioneers would have to take a ferry from New Franklin to Boonville and then re-load their wagons and supplies to "resume" the journey.  So Boonville claims that their town is therefore the real start of the ride.

But the monument for the start of the Trail is in New Franklin and for me that is enough for them to claim true ownership of the "start of the trail".  So our last official act is to photo op ourselves in front of the monument.

That is Kyle my new bud from MO..

The 22nd Santa Fe Bike Trek is now in the history books.  Not as long as the Ride Across America last year, but the daily rides were sometimes as grueling.  The wind and weather made the Trek a little harder than I had imagined.  But the ride was great, the people I met were fantastic and the staff superb.

This was advertised as a "Your on your own ride".  But when we needed sag support or a rider had to be picked up the crew was there.  While the camping was a little hard to take, the places we stayed exceeded my expectations.  The food was perfect.

And the people in each of the towns we passed through went out of their way to welcome us and help us in times of need.  All and all a great ride and once again America at its best.

Here are the final stats for the ride...

Distance:  1,081.90 miTime:  81:04:00 h:m:sAvg Speed:  13.3 mphCalories:  59,547 C

Bike is packed and ready for shipment home...

Going to have to figure out next year's ride!!

Wentworth Military School

As mentioned we spent one of our last nights at Wentworth Military School in Lexington, MO.  This is a high school and junior college that is devoted to military service.  There are students from over 30 countries at the school and if you are an American citizen you are commissioned a 2nd Lt in the Army when you graduate from the 2 year school.  Most kids then go on to the Academies or other  4 year colleges.

The school went out of their way to accommodate us.  As it was supposed to rain that evening (and it did) they closed down their gym for us so we could sleep inside.  They warned us that there might be brown recluse spiders on the gym floor that night, so most of us set up our tents inside the gym and slept with the safety of our 1 mm thick nylon protective barriers.  I made sure I zipped up my tent every time I got out - and checked my shoes before putting my feet indie them.  But the night went quietly by (best part was the gym was so big you could not hear anybody snore!).

Then the next morning instead of using their gym for their morning workout (5 am) they made the students work out outside.  We are talking a serious workout at 5 am!!!!

The school is obviously steeped in tradition and there are memorials to their fallen students in the various wars all over the campus.

There was one plaque that was of interest dating from the civil war which proclaimed a Confederate victory of routing the North in one of the battles that took place in Lexington.

While I lost Russ as my ride buddy, Kyle returned to do the last two days of riding.  Our logistics got screwed up slightly as Russ was supposed to transport Kyle back to Lexington at the end of the ride. So Kyle and I improvised and drove his truck to the end of the Santa Fe trail and then rode back to meet the crew at our last overnight in Arrow Rock.

We encountered a detour with a bridge that was being rebuilt but Kyle insisted that we could walk our bikes across (instead of taking the detour that added a grand total of 3 miles to our ride).   Well here is what we encountered when we got to the bridge.

Kyle suggested we "sweet talk" the crew and just keep walking over the bridge.  So he snapped the above picture.

The crew was just about to take a coffee break and didn't seem to mind us.  But just as the past us they said "not sure how you are going to get down on the other side as it is a 15 foot drop".  "But there is a 12 foot ladder that you can use but you have to throw it back up on the bridge if you use it".

We got to the other side and there was indeed a 15 foot drop - and yes the ladder was about 2-3 feet too short!.  Somehow Kyle got the ladder in place and I handed our bikes down to him.  We then tossed the ladder back up onto the bridge and navigated ourselves out of the rubble.

All this to save 3 miles.  But it added to our story and we have now become folk lore to all future riders on the Santa Fe Bike Trek!

It was a short ride to Arrow Rock and camp was in a State Park.

There was no food at the park - but the local Lutheran Church (about 10 miles away) went all out and provided us a complete turkey dinner (turkey, stuffing, masked potatoes, homemade biscuits and gravy.

Here is the crew just before we left for dinner.  As there were 40 of us, a bunch had to ride in the back of our support truck

The dinner was unbelievable!!!!  To top it off, the women at the church baked about 15 pies.  All sorts...  pecan, butterscotch cream,  pumpkin, boysenberry, etc.  You name it there was a pie made out of it.  There was so much pie that most of us had 2 slices.  Some guys went back for 3rds and 4ths.   One of the riders from last year's ride told us to stay away from the boysenberry pie as it was not that good.  Of course that is the pie that we all hit first.  Backfired on him!

I can assure you there was not a crumb left on the plate.

Better yet we went back there for breakfast - and someone made homemade cinnamon rolls (yummmmmy).  Not those doughboy refrigerated things.  We are talking homemade!

Made the last day's ride even harder (stuffed!).

Our Luck Runs Out

Weds was supposed to be a casual ride to Lexington MO.  The day started out pretty good with Russ bringing back to Camp about 40 bagels (he stayed with his son the night before in Independence).

Almost immediately Russ and I got lost.  We zigged when we should have zagged and got completely off course.  Luckily Russ knew where we were - so a slight mid course correction got us back on track.

About a mile from the end, Russ hit some loose gravel, flipped over his bike, and crashed onto the pavement - right into the middle of the street.  I was right behind him so I got off my bike and my first reaction was to stop traffic as he was sprawled out in the road.  It was a pretty serious accident.

The truck that was right behind us was able to stop and the driver (town employee) was a paramedic and had a first aid kit with him.

At first Russ felt fine - but his helmet was cracked in at least five spots.  The town truck offered to take Russ to the hospital but he said he was fine.

Russ said he wanted to walk to town, rest and get something to eat.  We were about 1/2 mile to town so we walked our bikes slowly and ended up at an ice cream shop.  The owner was a young kid and I asked him how business was and of course he said fine.  Russ (the banker) said he never asks that question - but instead asked the kid if he was making any money!!!

In any case, 1/2 way during conversation, Russ decides he needs to go to hospital.  The owner of the ice cream shop had a truck and brought Russ to the hospital and then took me and the two bikes to our camp (Wentworth Military Academy).  As we past buy the ice cream owner's house if told me that if Russ needed a place to stay for the night to please knock on his door and he could stay with him and his wife (you have to love the hospitality that mid-westerners have).

I then rode my bike back to the hospital to see how Russ was doing.  Seems he cracked 5 ribs and dislocated his shoulder.  They did X-rays to make sure he did not puncture a lung - so they treated him as an out-patient.  Russ called his wife to come get him (only lives an hour or so from hospital - how lucky was that!).  Image if this had happen early in the ride!

He came to camp to grab his bike and gear before heading home - so we took the opportunity for our last photo op....

(note to myself - when someone crashes and the helmet is cracked don't listen to the injured rider and insist they go to hospital).

All in all Russ was pretty lucky.  No concussion and traffic was light so a serious incident was avoided.  And thanks to some great people we were able to get Russ bandaged up and brought to the hospital.

But crashing with only two ride days before the end of the trip really, really sucks.  Got an txt message from Russ saying he was going back after he heals to ride the last two days.

Us bikers are really crazy guys!!!!

We're not in Kansas anymore

No access to wifi last night so this is a two day entry.

From Council Grove we made it to Baldwin City, Ks and stayed on the campus of Baker College.  We have now stay at a Baptist, Mennonite, Methodist and at Baker we added Lutheran.  Again another beautiful campus.

The ride was our last long ride - 84 miles and the wind while not our friend was not our enemy either.  In the morning we had a slight headwind which increased to about 11 mph in the afternoon.  Lots of hills - rolling up and down.  By the end of the day we had climbed 2500 feet - all on rollers.

Russ (the banker) returned to the ride while Kyle was a no show.  Supposedly he will be returning for the last two days.  I know he reads the blog - so he better show up cause Russ and I are hauling.  We cruised yesterday.

For lunch the group stopped in one of the little towns - there are more and more signs of civilization....

One story about Baker College.  President Taft visited the campus and supposedly he was so fat he walked over a bridge on campus and it collapsed under his weight.  They replaced the bridge with a stone bridge per chance he came back.

We slept next to the gym and unfortunately I put my tent up first.  After a while some of the other riders came in and begin to put up their tents.  To my misfortune the couple that I slept next to the first night elected to pitch next to me - and I endured a heavy duty snorer all night.  Sometimes camping sucks.

On Tuesday we rode 64 miles to Independence MO - leaving Kansas behind us.  We have added to our list of religions - today we are sleeping at an RV park on the campus of the World HQ of the Mormons.  We all know the Mormons of Utah - but it seems there is another branch that in Missouri that also claims to be the center of the Church.  Have to learn more about this tonight.

It was a great ride - only 64 miles.  Seemed like a quick jaunt.  

After unloading the van with our luggage - it appears we have beer thieves in the group.  Everybody is supposed to buy their own beer and the ride provides ice.  Seems some of the people have decided that the beer is free and helping themselves to other people's beer.  So the ride leader decided to post a "free beer" sign on the cooler but then proceeded to  put the cooler under lock and key.

People got the message and know everybody is trying to figure out where the closest beer store is.  

Me I'm still sticking to soda and water.  

Three more days of riding...... 

Council Grove Kansas

I haven't had internet for the last couple of days - so no entries.  On the other hand there is not a lot to talk about regarding the rides.   The rides are long, hot and we passed a lot of corn, soybean and cattle yards.  The roads are rough tar and they take a toll on your hands and shoulders (not to mention my ass).  

There have not been too many historical place to stop - biggest attraction was a sign that said you could stop and see wagon wheel ruts from wagons that used the Santa Fe Trail.  I didn't stop - I mean you see one wagon wheel rut; you have seen them all!

One interesting point is that all along the roads you see signs for Christian Churches that are in the middle of nowhere.  On yesterday's ride I probably passed 10 such signs.It is hard to image where the worshipers come from.  We are taking miles away from even the small towns.  A lot of the signs point to churches 5-10 miles down long dirt roads.  Mostly Baptist with some Methodist's denominations.

From Sterling we made it to Hillsboro, Ks about a 69 mile ride.  We stayed at Tabor College a Mennonite College in a Mennonite community.  Tabor College has about 700 students and the campus is very nice.

What amazes me is that Tabor (along with Sterling) offer about 15-20 different majors.  Ranging from Business Admin to Bible Studies to Pre-med and Pre-law.  Not sure how they do this given the school population.  Got to believe that there are only 10-15 people in each of the sections.  One of the riders on the trip said his daughter went to a similar school and that 85% of the Pre-Med students get admission into med school.  

They also have ever imaginable sport and it appears that every student plays two or three sports.

Of course these schools still have men and women only dorms and no liquor or cigarettes are allowed on campus.  In the case of the Mennonites they are supposed to dress very plainly - but a lot of the kids had tattoos in not so obvious places.

From Hillsboro we rode to Council Grove KS - a 65 mile ride.  The weather was nice and we all left early to beat the heat.  It is a rest day on Sunday so a lot of us tried to book hotels - but the town only has two hotels and they were both booked.  Some of us asked to be put on a waiting list and luckily there were two cancellations.  So I am in one room and three guys from Vancouver are sharing another room.

Now this is not the Park Plaza Hotel.  Not even the Hilton.  Or not even the Best Western.  We are talking rustic with a capital R.   Cost per night $45.

 When I rode up to the hotel the first thing I did was call the other hotel in town to see if any vacancies had developed.  Seriously thought about going back and camping for the two nights in town.  I checked Trip Adviser and the hotel got panned for being old and dirty.  One guy wrote "saw the place and decided to drive the entire night to get home".

But as luck would have it, a new owner took over the place five weeks ago and she owns a small bed and breakfast in town and is in the process of renovating the property.  While my room was not redone - it was clean and the shower was hot!  And the owner (Linda) went out of her way to help us.

Case in point - At about 5 pm a huge storm came roaring into town and dumped a inch of rain.  As we were on our bikes (and the hotel is about a mile out of town)  we were stuck at the hotel and faced with the reality that we would have to forgo dinner and a trip to the beer store.  Linda then offered us the use of her car - gratis.

With that we were able to get to town and have dinner at the Hays a tavern that was first opened in the late 1800's.  Kt Carson ate there (we think).

Food was good and the beer was better.  All during dinner we thanked our lucky stars that we were not camping.  With an inch of rain, thunder and lightning it could only have been a horrible way to spend the night.

We are on own on in Council Grove, KS today.  Day started off with breakfast at the Senor Citizen Center.  As with all our other stops the local community comes out and really gives the Santa Fe riders a big welcome.

Unfortunately most of the museums, stores and food establishments are closed today (Sunday).  Luckily the laundromat is open and I got to believe most of the crew will be trying to sort out from the downpour.

Tomorrow is our last long ride - 84 miles.  Heat wave is supposed to break with temps in the 70's.  That would be nice.

Heading to Baldwin City, KS.

Wind, Wind Go Away

Yesterday a great tailwind.  Today a strong headwind for 60 miles.  Not much to report on other than it was 60 miles of headwind.

Last night's dinner proved to be pretty good - provided by the Lions's Club (pulled pork sandwiches).  It was 90 degrees so we ate outside.

We did get showers when the police came and unlocked the pool.  Of course I hustled in to take a shower only to have a totally cold shower.  Real cold shower.

As I mentioned we had a 60 miler and have arrived in the town of Sterling Kansas.  We are staying at Sterling College tonight (Christian College) outside the gym.  The men's and women's baseball team is perplexed on why these old guys are pitching tents outside the gym next to the baseball field.

There is a junior high school football game tonight at the Sterling College Stadium so we have been told we have to get our showers in before 4 pm.  So going to head out....

Best Bike Day so far

Finally a Tailwind!

Yesterday was the best weather conditions of the ride.  It started off in the mid 60's and quickly went up to the 70's then 80's.  By the end of the ride it was probably close to 90.  We had a slight tailwind and most of the ride was flat.  This allowed me to cruise at about 16 mph.  Quite a difference from the 10 mph of yesterday.

The further we get into Kansas heading to Missouri the more civilization we encounter.  Similarly there are more and more Santa Fe Trail sites to stop and visit.  Today in Kinsley (about 40 miles into the ride) we stop at a Sod House Museum.  The site is run by the County and all of the residents have donated historical artifacts.to view.  

There was a bike from 1910 that was driven from New York City to Kinsley.

There was a early hair curling device for woman (not very portable)

And some washer machines that I could swear my mom had when I was really little.

And there was a house made out of sod that showed how people lived on the prairie.  Pretty interesting place - not to mention the free cookies and juice they provided us (they knew we were coming). 

At about 70 miles into the ride we were able to visit Fort Lared that was a fort that was built on the Santa Fe Trail to protect the settlers from the Indians.  The original fort was built out of sod and mud but in the early 1800's the fort was rebuilt using Limestone.  All the different building have been restored and furniture of the time has been put in most of the building.

There was a short film that talked about the fort but it was clear that the "Fed thought police" have not watched the firm as it talked about how the "black" cavalry (sent there after the Civil War) were called the Buffalo Troops because there hair was like that of the Buffalo (according to the Indians).  But as the film said "The Buffalo Troop were loved by both the "White and Red men".  "Red", not native american.

From Fort Lared it was a quick cruise into town.  It looks like we are staying in a park in the middle of town.  Seems to be the local rec area but the pool is closed for the season.  The showers were supposed to be open - but as of right now they are locked.  Not sure what has to happen to open them or where the hell we are eating tonight.  

We shall see.  Tomorrow is another 65 miler and hoping the weather is the same. 

Dodge City and Boot Hill

Today was a rest day so we got a chance to tour Dodge.  I have to tell you Dodge City is a lot like going to Wall Drug in South Dakota.  Lots of anticipation and when you get there, disappointment.

The big draw in the city is Boot Hill.

While there is a museum, the store fronts are all re-creations and though it is off season - it's your basic tourist stop.  Trip Advisor gave it  so/so rating so I decided that taking a couple of pictures from outside the fence was the way to go.

Always wanted to see the Boot Hill Cemetery....

Took the photo from a knot hole in the fence - but even so there was not much to see.

I was really hoping that the town was authentic but that wasn't the case.  The Boot Hill recreation is right next to the downtown - which again had lots of empty storefronts.

In any case the best museum in town was the Teacher's Hall of Fame (Ellen thought you would get a kick out of this).

You got to love it - the Teacher Hall of Fame shared space with the Gunfighter Wax Museum.  Not much of a difference between a teacher and a gunfighter nowadays - particularly in some of our urban centers.

I am sure the real Dodge City was a happening place in the 1800's.  According to one of the signs in town there were 17 saloons and only a 1000 residents during the boom cattle rush days.  Even had some scandals as the following placard notes with the introduction of the Can Can in 1877.

Dropped my clean laundry back at the Support Truck and thanked the ride leader for the great help his team has been doing to support us.  They have been providing sag support (picking up riders at end of day or during bike breakdowns) even though this was not part of the deal.  Asked him to buy some beer for the drivers and support staff - as this is the nightly pastime at the end of each day.   Might even grab one for myself after tomorrow's ride.   

A shorter ride on tap tomorrow  - 70 miles to Larned Kansas.  Pretty sure we just past the half way mark of the ride - all downhill from here!  

Hope Larned has internet.

Hardest Bike Ride of my Life

Well the ride that was supposed to have glorious weather for our 80 miler to Dodge City proved to not be the case.

Everything that could go wrong.... went wrong.

First after setting up our tents in Lakin we did not know that the high school is very close to a large cattle feed yard.  These are the places where they basically stuff 1000 cattle into a small pen and feed them until they are fat - and presto - hamburger.

At about 6 pm the wind shifted and the high school was now downwind from the feed yard - god what an ungodly smell 1000 cows can produce.  As the high school gym was to be open all night for bathrooms a bunch of us took our air mattresses and sleeping bags and set up shop on the gym floor.  Not really thinking this out - I just plopped my bag down in the corner and hit the sack.  Well we had a bunch of snorers and if you remember your high school gym these floors reverberated the snores like and echo chamber.  Snores in Stereo!!!!

Kyle was the only smart one - he grabbed his bag at about midnight and went searching for another room to sleep in.  Found out the next morning he found a storeroom that had about 20 wrestling pads in it and he bunked down in luxury for the night.

Me, not so smart.  I grabbed my headphones, grabbed my phone, got on Google Play and downloaded a white noise application.  Tried listening to the sound of the ocean waves; but had to turn up the sound so much to drown out the snores (no Cathryn it was not me) - it sounded like I was on Longnook beach in the middle of a Northeaster.

Things went downhill from there.  The glorious day turned out to be a bust.  The temp stayed in the 40's and the light wind turned into a 20-25 mph headwind.  That was the good part - then it started to rain.

The ride was brutal.  I could only average about 9-10 mph  and the way the wind was blowing staying in a pace line did not help.  Kyle, Russ and I struggled.  I pushed ahead of the guys and soon lost sight of them.  It was every man for themselves!

At about 23 miles I decided I could not make the entire 80 miles.  The support truck was very helpful today and was stopped at the side of the road to see if any of use needed to shout "Uncle".  I knew I could make the lunch stop at 40 miles so I asked John (the support truck driver) that if I did not make it to the lunch stop to please pick me up.  My mind was playing tricks with me.  Quit or go on! Test your meddle, Mike!  No shame in declaring defeat!

Somehow I made it to the lunch stop at 40 miles and to bust chops even more, the weather got worst.  The drizzle turned into a moderate rain.  I was going to try to get my rain gear out of my bag - but it was on the bottom of 80 large duffle bags (note to myself - carry your damn rain gear with you).  Grabbed a sandwich and some carbo's.   Waited a couple of minutes for Kyle and Russ - but no sign of them.

In a test of fortitude (or stupidity) I decided to push on - knowing that I could always call John to stop and pick me up (of course not realizing I did not have his phone number).    We were on RT 50 which is like a mini-interstate.  When the double trailer trucks came by it was like being hosed down inside a wind tunnel. You had to grip your handlebars to make sure you did not get blown over.

Somehow I made it.  And figured I would not get to see Russ or Kyle and they were leaving the ride at the end of the day to head home for some meetings Russ had.  Then about 5 miles from the end I see two yellow rain jackets in front of me and to motivate myself, tried to catch them.  When I reached the riders - it ended up being Russ and Kyle.  I was totally perplexed - how the hell did they get in front of me?

Seems that at about 25 miles Kyle had a major blow out (he was using wimpy tires that just could not hold up to the rigors of this ride).  The support van picked him up and Russ up and somehow Kyle was able to borrow a wheel from one of the spare bikes.  Instead of fixing the wheel and jumping back on the ride - Kyle and Russ had the support van drop them off 20 miles from the finish.  Well before I got to this mile mark.  

They tried bullshitting me that they just rode faster than I did - but in the end gave up the truth.   So we got to finish the ride from hell together.  And of course the last 5 miles was up a freaking big hill.  Just to bust our balls some more.

Got to the van, grabbed my dirty clothes and headed to the hotel for a well deserved hot shower and full night sleep (no snoring allowed).  Found the closest bar and quickly downed a couple of beers (first two beers of the bike ride).

As to Kyle and Russ they said they will rejoin the ride in a couple of days - and I hope this is the case so I have my ride buddies back to finish the tour with me.

Rest day today and looking forward to touring Dodge City.

Holly Colorado

Sunday....

Another day without internet connection.  My strategy of buying 10 gb of cell/data using T-mobile has proven a total bust.   Basically T-mobile does not exist in either rural Colorado or Kansas - and no Starbucks to stop in (in fact no stores to stop in).

In any case today was a glorious day.  It started out cold and foggy with temp about 49 degrees.  We had an 79 mile ride from Lamar CO to Lakin KS.  The forecast called for temps to reach 90 degrees and thankfully by noon the cold front dissipated, sun came out and temps got into the high 70"s.

The ride director asked that we only eat a light breakfast and the Methodist Church in Holly Co was going to put on a brunch for us.  The problem was that Holly was only 30 miles into the ride - so that meant breakfast at 7 am and brunch at 10 am.  The Church has been hosting the ride for 29 years.  Have to say I was starving at breakfast and decided that I would eat a big breakfast and stop at the brunch for a cookie or two (just to be polite).  

Got to the Church at just about ten and they had a huge spread as was predicted.   Lots of sandwiches, fruit, coffee, cookies etc.  My "cookie just to be polite" turned into about 3 sandwiches, bowl of fruit, fresh native tomatoes and about 10 cookies and brownies.  Can't believe I pigged out.  My excuse was that we had another 50 miles to ride and there was not going to be another opportunity to eat (which actually turned out to be true).

The ride ended up being the best of the trip so far.  We had a tailwind and Kyle, Russ and I just cruised for 79 miles.  As it was Sunday there was no traffic (actually this place is so remote there may never be traffic).  At about 3 pm the temp reached 90 as was predicted.  But we were done by that time so it helped us dry out out tents and wet clothing from several days ago.

We are staying at the Lakin High School on the front lawn.  Should be interesting tomorrow when the kids arrive for school and they see 40 really grungy, old people in tents on their campus.  They might think it is some kind of AARP protest. 

Tomorrow we ride 80 miles to Dodge City, KS and then we have another break day.  It is supposed to be a glorious day!  Light wind and decent riding temperatures.

Old Fort Bent

Saturday

At about 7 am the temp was 39 degrees. But the temp quickly went up and by 9 am it was back into the normal range of 60-70 degrees.  

We had a 60 miler to Lamar CO and for the first time we had a slight tailwind.  Didn't care that it was not a big tailwind - just that it was not a headwind - like we have had every day so far.  We are coming down from the mountains so it was flat with a slight decline - so I was able to average 16-17 mph for the ride.  Felt good.

One of the highlights of the ride was to visit Old Bent Fort.  A National Park that was created in 1976.  The fort was a key safe haven on the Santa Fe trail for the travelers.  It was burnt down in the 1800's but the Park Service reconstructed the fort from drawings one of the soldiers had made during his stay at the fort.  It was a commercial trading post and it featured a bar with a billiard table that was brought over the Santa Fe Trail by wagon (one of these wagons could carry 6000 lbs of goods).

That large thing in the middle is a beaver skin press.  The trappers would bring in the hides and they would stack them up in a pile and then turn down a large screw device and press the beaver skins down to get them dried for the trip back East.  The building on the top (upper left) was the bar with the billiard table.

Admission was $3 and ignoring the advice of Cathryn (seems to be a constant theme of my blog) I left my Golden Eagle pass back home.  That makes three National Parks we have visited so far.  Was going to buy another pass - but these parks did not sell the Golden Eagle pass.  Tried to tell them I left my pass home and that my dog ate it - but felt pretty stupid when they told me that it was only $3 bucks to enter.  

We are staying at Lamar Community College tonight behind the gym.  Bugs are really bad - and no bug spray.  Another item to add to my list of things to remember when one camps. Not sure where dinner is but the showers in the gym were fantastic.  

Pretty good night's sleep except for the occasional trailer truck blasting through the town and the college kids partying until about 2 am (not much else to do in Lamar, CO).  One thing I have noticed is that all these Community Colleges have dorms (kids have to come from all over the county and nothing is close) and large gyms with a bunch of teams including football.  Football is big out here.

 Tomorrow we have another 85 miler and I think we enter Kansas.  While I've made some sales calls in Kansas before this will be another opportunity to see a State the right way - at the ground level.  

Should be fun.