Where is Lance?

Follow Al on his cross country bike tour!

If you want to see the itinerary, click here.

To learn more about the tour, click here.

Day 23 The wheels on the bike go round and round. Great Bend to McPherson KS

2009-05-31

Scores from the: you cannot imagine how much wheat there is, bike tour.

Central Kansas: Wheat, wind and heat.
Having the discussion as we ride about what we could possibly take a picture of that we had not already taken: Frequent.
Wheat, wind and heat: You cannot imagine. It goes on forever.
Wheat fields in the middle of small Kansas towns: Yep.
Stopping at the SAG in a small county park and entering the restroom and having Chris tell me that its amazing that they are pipping in jazz into the men's room: I believed him. My brain has turned to mush. He of course had an ipod that broadcast music.
Seeing the next town from 12 miles away: The world is flat.
Stopping for lunch at Subway and asking a teacher if she knew anyone named Berry: DB you are correct. There are lots of them around here. Boulder does seem to have its advantages over McPherson however.

Little know fact. In 1936 there were six men from McPherson on the gold medal winning basketball team that defeated Canada 13-9 for the title. They must have played great defense.

We left Great Bend with a strong wind, mostly on our right but somewhat on our nose. I rode with Jim, Willie, Chris and Peter and we were in no mood to deal with the wind and heat any longer than we needed. We hustled into the SAG at 31 miles. took a quick stop and continued into McPherson. It was only 64 miles but not a particularly easy ride. More of the same: wind, wheat and heat.




The wind has blown like this for days.


Beautiful country if you are a bird.


At the SAG: Left to right: Peter, Chris, Willie, Lance, Jim, Fred.


The economy has effected the train business. We see miles and miles of idled cars.

Messages

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feeling your wheaties, I guess. Mountains are something to look forword to! Sorry about all the 'flats'. Sent 2009-06-01 from peter brown

I was privileged to talk with Al on the phone 2 nights ago. He's never said "you can't imagine" so many times. I asked if he expected this trek to be hard, he said he hadn't a clue. He hopes to have one at the end. Sent 2009-05-31 from Dan

Who is 60? Sent 2009-05-31 from Roddy

At dinner tonight, Bubbie asked," Are you all alone here?" I said that Allan was away, and she asked for how long. I said, "About a month." "WHAT!" Bubbie replied, "Why does he have to be gone so long?" "It takes that long to ride his bike all across America," was my response. Bubbie asked the obvious question, "Why does he have to do that?" "Uh, good question," was all that I could come up with. She again told me what a good wife I was, and then said that she did not think she would let her husband do that. But this time she added," I know I wouldn't." Proving that at least someone in this family has some sense. Sent 2009-05-31 from Bubbie - further dinner conversation about her son with Roddy

Had to look up that basketball game for an explanation of the score. Apparently they played outdoors on a dirt court in driving rain that made dribbling impossible and held the score to a minimum. Joe FortenBERRY of U.S. was high scorer with 7 points. 1936 was also the first time that basketball was an official medal event. Glad to read Roddy's endorsement of making fun because English is my 2nd language, Sarcasm is my 1st. Sent 2009-05-31 from 60

Al - weather was perfect for Dexter - cool, sunny. Most people only did the race. I rode to your house, ran the 10k in 53:23, about 8:30s, went home, then to the pool for 25 minutes, 1200 yds - home for eats, than on the bike for 28 miles - 1 hr and 50 mi. I thought of you the whole time. I saw Roddy at your house and we talked the blog. It seems she thinks that its ok to make fun of you because it has been going on all your life - so far. - so we'll continue. Sent 2009-05-31 from Larry

The annual race was held, the weather was great. Times reflected aching joints and an aging state. There was an absence noted on my log. Rounding onto Main Street, there was no "Runner Dog". :( Sent 2009-05-31 from Jim K

Denny, that's priceless. I thought I was the trivia king. I'm abdicating. Sent 2009-05-31 from

Another little-known fact. During the McCarthy era, college professors were suspect. They were required to sign "loyalty oaths." The president of McPherson College, a Church of the Brethren school, said their religion forbade them from oaths, so they said they'd write their own statement. It said that they were against any overthrow of a government using force, including the overthrow of the British government in America in the Revolutionary War. Not exactly what McCarthy was looking for! Sent 2009-05-31 from Denny