Thursday June 27:  Great Bend, Kansas to McPherson, Kansas
Distance:  63.3 miles
Total time:  4 hours 51 minutes
Riding time:  4 hours 22 minutes

Today could have been much worse.  It was very hot - 88 when we rolled into McPherson at midday - and the wind was an annoyance all day.  At times the gusts blew me from the shoulder into the traffic lane.  But it was short and it was flat.  For most of the day we had the Crosswind of Perpetual Vexation, but the for the last ten miles we confronted the Headwind of Delayed Gratification.  Tomorrow we turn north towards Abilene, so maybe this southerly wind will finally do us a favor.

This evening over beers in the hotel bar everyone was waxing philosophical.  As I mentioned yesterday, this is a week of milestones.  Today we reached the halfway point in total days - 26 of 52, and surpassed halfway in riding days - 24 of 47.  Tomorrow early in the ride we pass the halfway point in total miles, and Saturday we'll cross the 2,000 mile mark.  But there's still a long way to go.  I'm just looking forward to seeing the Missouri border.  I love and respect Kansas, but it's time to move on.

Like most days we started early today, with breakfast at 6:00 a.m. in a restaurant next door to the hotel.  Here are Andy and Sean from the UK, and riding mate Jamie getting ready to inhale calories.

Here's Mike from Alabama ready to load our bags.

Once your luggage is on board, you do all the little things you need to do to ensure that your bike is ready for the day ahead.  Here Chris, Allan, Sean and Mike get ready to mount up.

At the other end, at the next hotel in the next town, our bags are unloaded and placed in the hotel lobby where we collect them and take them up to our rooms.

Some hotels are marvelously organized.  We walk in, state our name, get our keys, and go up to the room.  Others, like today's, seem surprised to see us.  You want rooms?  Here?  Today?  Oh my, let me see what I can do.  Not what you want to hear after six to nine hours on the bike.

Besides a shower the other immediate need is food.  Michael had scoped out a BBQ joint across the street from our hotel, and we stopped there on the way into town.  Woody's - if you're ever in McPherson, don't go anywhere else.

And after a shower and food, the other priority is laundry.  I try to do laundry every day so that I always have clean riding clothes.  I don't like putting the Lycra in the dryer so I look for a place to hang it out to dry.  Today the fence around the pool worked just fine.

Tomorrow is another "short" day of 63 miles.  If the wind cooperates, as it should since we'll be riding northward much of the day, it will be a lark in the park.  But the final two days of this segment, Saturday and Sunday, look to be giant sea monsters.  100+ and 90+ with lots of climbing and forecast headwinds.  We're going to need Monday's rest day in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Finally, I've been having trouble posting videos, but here's one from last night.  It's an inside joke between the American riders and the UK contingent about trying to puncture each other's tires.  Rustic quality but maybe the gist comes through: