Day 46: Ness City, KS to Tribune, KS (102 miles, 2123 total)

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my first century. In the world of cycling, a ride of 100 miles is called a century. Much like a marathon is to a runner, it is a badge of honor and pride to complete one. I finally did it! It is amazing to me to think that before this ride, the longest I'd ever ridden was 63 miles. I rode almost 40 longer than that today. Wow. Today marks Jeff's second century in his life too. It is a great accomplishment for both of us.

Kansas did her best to beat us up while we were at it too. We woke up at 4:30 in order to try to get a few miles in before the wind came up. At 5:45 we were on the road. The sun wasn't up yet but the wind was and the temperature was already 77 degrees. It was just our luck that we were treated to yet another day of winds from the south and west. Can we buy a break?

Our route took us due west for most of the day. After the tiny town of Beeler, we turned slightly to the northwest. I was getting prepared to ride a little tailwind when the wind changed and came directly out of the west. Great.

Our first town with services was Dighton. We took a long break for snacks and cold drinks. I was torn between wanting to rest my body and wanting to get more miles done. At this point, we hadn't committed to the century yet. We had an option to finish the day at 81 miles but it would mean another 80 or so miles tomorrow. A 100 mile day today means that we have rides around 60 miles for the next 3 days. That was a big incentive for finishing the century today.

After Dighton it was 24 miles until our lunch stop in Scott City. Jeff got a recomendation for a sandwich place that had fruit too. Count us in! The fruit was unbeatable and I drank so much that I filled up before I could eat my sandwich. Don't worry, I ate as much as I could. We stayed in the cool shop for an hour and talked to the owners and some locals. When it was time to leave, we we wilted at the door. It was so hot outside! The bank at the corner showed 101 degrees. At that temperature, our water bottles provided water warm enough to make tea in. It was hard to drink it but there was no option. We chugged away. About 10 miles later in the "town" of Modoc, we pulled off the road and walked up to a house to ask for water. We were greated by 4 dogs who couldn't decide if they wanted to be friendly or guard their house. A woman came out to help us and turned on the hose to fill us up. The water was from a well and was cold and delicious. We wanted to just douse ourselves !
but settled for sipping some extra once the bottles were full.

Fifteen miles and more heat and headwind later, we were in Leoti (pronounced Lee-oh-ta). We pulled into a convenience store and decided to take a long break in the hopes that the wind would die down and the heat would subside. The attendant there told us the heat had reached 108 degrees.

We bought big Gatorades and I filled a 32 oz. cup with ice. The only tables in the store were occupied by several seniors from Leoti. We asked if we could share and they made room. We talked to them for at least half an hour about our trip and then about farming in Kansas. We learned how the grain elevators work in detail and learned that as long as the grain is dry, it can be kept there for years. Holy cow!

We decided to go for the century and Jeff called ahead to Tribune to be sure a room was available. Camping after a day like this was not on my list of things to do. Even though it is high harvest time, there was a room so we were a go.

Back on the road, the wind had shifted yet again to the south. For many miles it blew very strongly and trucks shook us even more. Like I said, Kansas didn't want to give us today without a fight. Twenty miles from Tribune, clouds on the horizon started looking really threatening. Resting stops were abandoned and we dug in for some grinding. We did stop to celebrate the century mark. We each had one peanut M&M and hot water, then jumped back in the saddle as raindrops started to fall. We hustled into town and I rejoiced that the motel was just past the city limit sign. Finally, we got a break!

Oh, during our sprint to Tribune, we crossed into the Mountain time zone. That is number 3 of 4. Awesome!

Stats for today are so long that they are worth mentioning. We started pedaling at 5:45 am and finished at 8:15 pm (actually 7:15 but we are counting hours in Cental Time) for a total of 14 and 1/2 hours. Actual time in saddle for me was 9 hours 55 minutes (thanks to the headwind) with an average of 10.2 mph. Jeff's time in saddle was 8 hours 31 minutes for an average of 12.1 mph. As the terrain was flat to gently rising (we climbed to just over 3500 feet from around 2000) that means there was very little coasting time. That is a lot of pedaling for these poor legs, not to mention my rear end sitting on the saddle.

The plan is to wake up at the crack of dawn again with the hopes of being finished with our day around lunch time. That is Jeff's idea. Mine would be to sleep all day to give my body a break! No rest for the weary.

AKB