Day 24: Dodge City

June 28, 2016
Garden City to Dodge City, KS
Miles:  51  Climb:  650
Total Miles:  1,724

Today was supposed to be a nice recovery ride after the back to back centuries.  But we again had strong headwind from the East, fifteen mph with gusts up to 25 mph.  The recovery ride was tough and I am really tired.  Five of us rode in a pace line, which made the ride bearable.  I was pulling when four other riders jumped onto our line, so I pulled eight riders against the wind.  My knees hurt when I finished.  First physical discomfort I've had since we started.

Dodge City is true cowboy country.  Since it was a short day I made a visit to the Boot Hill Museum and Cemetery.  It is a decent little museum with lots of artifacts from the old west.  One fun fact I learned is that Marshal Dillon was a fictitious character, but Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson were real.  There was a section of the museum devoted to the plains Indians.  It was very sobering to read about that part of our history in the expansion of the west.

This is the trip of a lifetime but I'd be lying if I said I'm not getting a little eager to get to the finish.  I'm tired of headwind and I'm tired of the food.  I swear once this is over I won't eat another peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the fare we have twice a day at SAG stops, as long as I live.

Tomorrow we get the hell out of Dodge.  We have an 85 mile day, with some big mileage days to follow before we get to the rest day in Missouri.  Forecast is for wind from the south, so we're hoping crosswind instead of headwind. There also is some chance of storms, which will be an interesting challenge if we are halfway  between Dodge City and Great Bend.  There is nothing but wide open spaces in Kansas.