Day 26: Great Bend to McPherson

Today’s Highlights:
It was another fantastic day of cycling. The morning ride was very peaceful. We left the hotel at 6:15 just as the sun was rising. The short ride through the city of Great Bend was quite, and the next couple hours out in the country continued that way, with very little traffic. The songs of birds and crickets replaced the noise of cars and truck passing quickly by us. We had made the early start to avoid riding in the late afternoon heat, and the additional bonus was beating the traffic.

Today’s directions were simple – leave the hotel, ride 64 miles, turn left into another hotel. Not only that, the road was simply flat and straight with hardly a bend in it. It was restful on the mind to just cycle along and enjoy the view and the sounds of nature. Like yesterday, we passed one great farm after another, and this morning I saw several combine harvesters working the fields. Where we crossed the Little Arkansas River around mile forty, there were gently rolling hills to add some visual interest. They were insignificant to cycle up,and everyone seemed to make good time today.

I stopped to talk to another cyclist who was going in the opposite direction. She was pulling a huge load behind her mountain bike. She too was going coast to coast, but alone. She started from Maryland last year, took the winter off in Kansas City, and is pressing ahead now to California. Check out the picture of her rig.

We passed through a quaint little town called Ellinwood, and later the nice town of Lyons. We ended in the town of McPherson, which is much larger and also looks like a very pleasant place. I ended my ride before 11:00 AM today, when the temperature was still below 100. It is supposed to reach 106 later today. We have a little extra time to recover or explore this afternoon.

Pictures Of The Day:

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Statistics:
Zoom and pan the map to explore the route. Click the name or ‘View Detail’ to view more information at Garmin Connect.