Day 11 Dalhart,Tx to Liberal,Ks 113 miles @ 19.6mph

So much for our attempt at a sub-4 hour century. We had the team, we had the legs…unfortunately, the winds had not yet shifted to the south as they had been forecast. We started at mile 7 with a team of 6 and planned to crack it to the Kansas state line 100 miles to the NE. At mile 5 we were down to 5 guys…at mile 10 we were down to 4 and just a few miles later there were only 3 of us! It was NOT pretty! The wind was howling from the NE and we just couldn’t keep the speed up. My legs felt great again today. We settled into our usual comfortable pace….deciding to create a wind block for Iain. It was cloudy today…but rain free. Hard to believe we are in Kansas already! We passed miles of wheat fields that are the richest color of green I have ever seen. You can tell how far you are from the next town because you can see it's grain elevator on the horizon. Our hotel in Liberal,Ks is directly across the street from the Dorothy (Wizard of OZ) Museum. Had a great steak again tonight…hey, it’s cattle country. A couple easy days coming up (under 100 miles per day)…then a rest day in Topeka on Tuesday. I know I’ll be sleeping in!!

Sleep has been hard to come by since we started. Everyone has some sort of “issue” going on. For me it’s been…in bed around 8P, sleep and hour or two, wake up…go to sleep for another hour…repeat until our 5A wake up call. Yesterday, I think my body just decided that this is what we were going to be doing and it may as well play along instead of fighting it…and I slept most of the night! Most of the towns we stay in are very small and the hotels are right along the railroad tracks. I live in Winter Park and Katie and I both love the sound of the train at night…but when you can’t sleep it\’s a different story.

Sorry this is late…no wireless in last nights hotel and my dog yanked the Ethernet port out of my computer…no kidding!


Things get wacky when you wake up 28 cyclists at 5A to get ready for 8 hours of riding. Bill apparently forgot how to use the pump!


A clear sign that we are in Texas


This is for you Robert…the closest thing I could find to the “Owl Capital of Texas”!


It is a very small world. Bill is a retired farmer and spends winters in Tucson,Az. Today…and unexpectedly, a car rolls into our SAG stop and asks for Bill. It was one of his Tucson cycling buddies heading back to Minnesota.


“I-man” leading the rest of today’s peleton into Liberal, Kansas.