Day 41 - Saturday, June 20
Start - Larned, KS
End - Dighton, KS
Miles (on the route) - 96.5
Miles (total) - 101.25
Avg Spd - 17.0mph
Max Spd - 29.5mph
Total ride time - 5:58
Anna and I packed up in a rainy morning. We were both dragging our feet, neither anxious to start the day in the light but steady precipitation. Mornings like this are great times for the library, a time to be constructive without getting wet. So that's what we did, and delayed our start until around 12:30. It would be a later start but sometimes you just don't want to force anything. By this time I was ready.
Anna had headed out just prior to me, and I made my start with a light rain still falling from the sky. I caught most of my moisture from passing trucks. Once I finally got trucking I noticed the tailwind I had and the speeds I was able to maintain on the ride. I soon had a newfound motivation for riding and got excited at the possibility of doing big miles! The contrast to the previous day was exciting!
I was feeling good, averaging around 20mph through the early miles when, Bang! The unmistakeable sound that instantly took me back to Vesuvius. I immediately started to brake and wait for the inevitable loss of control, but after a few seconds I noticed everything was fine. I was very confused. Nothing was wrong. I soon gathered that it must have been the passing pickup truck. When I caught up to Anna she confirmed my suspicions, having been the victim of the same scare. I'm not sure what they did, but they left ringing in both of our ears. Anna was going for a sixty mile day, and I believed I may be able to do more, so I jumped out ahead and sought the big mileage I've been craving. Mile after mile rolled beneath me as the idea of my first century became a reasonable possibility.
The rain dried up, though the storm clouds continued to hover, as I passed through Rush Center, Alexander, and eventually Ness City with barely a stop. The air was also much cooler than it had been for days, maybe weeks. I felt such a momentum, especially compared to yesterday's struggles. All day the storms moved by, but rarely hitting me with a drop of rain. The travelling was flat, again with only the occasional tree. Fields stretched out with small oil well pumps making the only noise. It was cloudy and quiet, not the environment that I would imagine having me riding with such a thrill. At Ness City I stopped for dinner and got a cheeseburger and milkshake at the drive-in, and met a transam cyclist who was stuck due to a failed tire. A local lent him his car to drive 100 miles to a bike shop and get a new tire. That's generosity.
I was aiming for at least Dighton which would put me around 100 miles on the day. I thought I may be able to do even more, but the sun might not agree. I hurried on to cover the last 32 miles with the wind still mild but helping me at my tail. As I made the final stretch I could see for miles in every direction, and with that different weather systems moving through the region. To the south was a dark system moving in, and to the north were scattered cloud systems moving out. Directly in front of me was a clearing where the sun's rays peaked through exposing the sunset and the only sun I had seen that day. It seemed to be shining down on Dighton, lighting up my goal for the day. I paused to take a picture of the scene, and stood there for a few minutes appreciating the amazing view that was in every direction. Never before could I see so much from one point. There was a bigger picture you just don't get elsewhere.
A truck soon pulled up and warned me of a major storm moving directly towards Dighton and offered me a ride for the last 5 or 6 miles in to town. I explained I had to refuse and hastily made out for the city to find my shelter for the evening. Dighton was sizeable at over 1,200 people. Amongst the town's gast stations, stores, and houses was the massive complex pictured below. Presumably some sort of grain storage, it stood not far from the center of town like a monster. Amongst these dusty towns in Kansas stand these industrial giants that seem to crawl out of the ground like something from a sci-fi story. Maybe it was the storm clouds hovering over that brought a darker perspective to their existence.
While cycling under a light sprinkle to the public park where I would be camping, I crossed the 100 mile mark. Finally my first century! I felt proud while setting up in the pavilion where a birthday party had taken place earlier. My tent sat amongst a litter of broken balloons and cake frosting smears, and I crawled in to relax and talk to friends of my big day.