Data: 113 miles Riding time: 6:10 (18.4 mph avg)
Like a fool, I accepted an invitation at breakfast from the "Hammers" (the fast guys, Rob, Judd, and Dave Roark) to attempt to ride 100 miles in 4 hours. I should have known I never could keep up a 25 mph pace for four hours, even if I was in a paceline and there was a tailwind, which it turned out there wasn't. Here we are at the beginning doing our 7-mile warm up, before the official 100-mile time trial began.
During the 7-mile prelude, I already was riding at about my best pace. But then the six of us blasted away, each person assigned to pull for 0.5 mile, then drop to the back to "rest" in the draft. I did one lousy pull at the front, going about 23 mph, and I was wiped out and immediately fell off the back and was out. I learned later that after about 10 miles, they one by one fell off the pace until there were two, and soon they had to give up. Here I am surrendering after I bonked out.
Here's another photo of me after the time trial. Notice in the background one of the many tall silos we passed during the day. They were all you could see in the distance, and they grew taller and taller as you got closer.
The rest of the ride I rode either alone or next to people to chat, and I still managed a pretty fast pace of 18.4 mph, even with a minor headwind. By the time this picture was taken, I'd added all the rain gear at the lunch stop.
Not much scenery today -- mostly the huge grain silos, and huge watering devices for the wheat fields that go in a big circle from the water source at the center. It was overcast all day, and pretty cool, so I wore my yellow jacket, leg warmers, and mittens most of the day. In fact, the misty morning had me wiping my glasses with my finger about every 20 seconds so I could see. We passed by our first (maybe only) armadillo roadkill on the shoulder where we cycle. Still no flat tires!
After riding into Oklahoma a little ways, I started singing out loud the lines from the Rogers and Hammerstein song Oklahoma. Then a bug flew into my mouth, so I guess I wasn't on pitch.
There was a town in Oklahoma called Hooker, and their softball team's name was the Horny Toads. I learned that Kasper, my Dutch roommate, and his three riding partners went to the Chamber of Commerce to see what they might find (that they could take a photo of), and their Chamber was in session and they got invited in to describe our bike trip. Here are the Hammers and Iain in front of the sign.
After they left Hooker, the four of them went back into their paceline to catch up.
Apparently, Liberal, KS, which got its name because an early rancher was liberal with his well water for other ranchers, has decided it is where Dorothy Gale, Auntie Em, and Uncle Henry lived (Toto too!). So, they've got a replica of Dorothy's house before it got swept away to Oz, with the storm cellar door next to it, and little statue-like figures of the Lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow. It was a tad amateurish, but fun. The feed store next door had a sign saying that Toto ate Purina Dog Chow.
Here are Phil, Bob P., and Kate Redford (from Toronto) having fun at the border.
For only the second time, we ate tonight at an all-you-can-eat place -- Chinese. About 17 of us had the same idea. I don't think they made money on us; we each went back about 6 times for full plates heaped high.
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