Breezing to Larned, Kansas



The Sea-Brem Team at the halfway point of the trip, Dodge City, KS. From left to right, the author, Steve Rice, and Russ Hartman.

 

Wednesday. September 18, 2013. Larned, KS. Today was awesome. A bright yellow sun rose shortly after 7 am on our campsite at Dodge City Community College. A stiff warm breeze was blowing from the southwest. These were perfect conditions, finally, lookout Dorothy here we come to Oz! We are also officially half-way to our destination, New Franklin, Mo., the original starting point for the Santa Fe trail.

We sped out of Dodge, or at least we tried to, but Steve in the lead managed to get us a little lost in one of the city’s twisty subdivisions. He quickly found his way out of the labyrinth, then got us back on US 50 to join the truck brigade. The shoulder was wide and we were off. The morning’s primary feature besides the usual sorghum crop was windmills, hundreds of them cranking away in the same breeze that was pushing us east.

The sun finally shines outside of Dodge City as Steve and Russ consult the tip notes.

 

 

 

 

Tumbleweeds bounced across the road. At the hamlet of Kinsley, which bills itself as the exact halfway point between New York and San Francisco, we cut off the main road and bumped down pleasantly deserted brick streets in search of the town’s Deli. We found it, in a shop that also served as a beauty salon and tuxedo rental shop. Judging from the décor in the little deli it appears that the Kingsley Coyotes are a big deal. We also discerned that my fancy dancy sunglasses purchased in Cimarron a few days ago do not represent the Kansas University Jayhawks, but the Kansas State Wildcats. So I stand corrected from my previous entry.

 

 

The afternoon was mostly pure bliss as far as biking is concerned. We left Highway 56 and turned north on State Highway 183, which headed due north for 12 miles. The wind was really whipping up now and lucky for us it was pure tail wind. We barely pedaled as the landscape of farms and cottonwoods flew past at 20 mph. The stretch ended when we turned east toward Larned. Now we were buffeted by a powerful crosswind. Keeping the bike on the road was a challenge.

We stopped at Fort Larned National Monument. The fort was one of several established during the heyday of the Santa Fe Trail.  It would have been rough duty to have been an enlisted man at that time. I peeked into the old barracks building and it was clear that two soldiers had to share a bottom and top bunk (four per bunk). They slept head to foot.

On the final few miles as battled a very bad crosswind, I started hearing a pinging sound coming from my bottom bracket. This was disturbing because I had spent considerable effort overhauling the bottom bracket (new bearings, etc.) before I left, so this development was not a happy one for me. I figured I would troubleshoot after dinner.

Steve chats up the Larned Lions Club, whose members served us dinner. Note the abundance of Ranch Dressing.

Dinner, by the way, was served by the Local Lions Club in the basement of the 4-H club building adjacent to the city park where we are camped. The brisket was great.

I solved the bottom bracket problem by prying off the chain wheel and cleaning up the axle. I thought maybe some grit got into the crank. I took it on a test ride. No pinging. Let’s hope that solved the problem. Russ is also having problem with his crank, but on his fancy bike a homemade fix is not easy.

Statistics: 77 miles. Roadkill. 2 deer, 1 rabbit. Tumbleweeds: two fly into my tent last night.