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Day 23 - Monday June 27th - Lamar to Garden City, KS (104 miles) 590� cumulative climb

Another Day, another State, another Century! WOW! Welcome to Kansas! Warm again today with a head wind. Up early and on the road, you want to keep moving and beat the heat. The countryside here is wide open and flat with small towns, farms and ranches scattered throughout the ride. We�re still following the Arkansas River and slowly bleeding off a little altitude. The SAG Stop at the DQ was awesome!! Nothing like ice cream on a hot day! The 1st few cyclists close to town got caught in a weather front that dropped the temps and a little hail. A couple guys were scrambling for cover. Everyone arrived in Garden City safely. Overheard on the road, �Anyone else get wet today?� �Want to buy a wheel?! Slightly Used!! Cheap!!� posted 2005-06-30 | 11:25:00 | article number: 2

Day 24 - Tuesday June 28th - Garden City to Dodge City, KS (52 miles) 250� cumulative climb

Short day today. Everyone enjoyed a little extra time in the AM. Another beautiful day, still a little warm but we had a kickin tailwind. Everyone was flying! It was like a rolling rest day. Saw a number of historical markers and crossed the Santa Fe Trail. Everyone was in by 1pm. Dodge City was the original �Wide Open town� during the 1800�s and soon got a reputation as the �Wickedest Little City in America�. Mainly because of the lawlessness of it�s visitors and having a well stocked saloon for every 20 residents. We got a chance to see Front Street including a Gun fight at the OK corral and stage show at Ms. Kitty's saloon. Everyone arrived safely in Dodge City. Overheard on the road, �How much land do you own? Not much, It�s only 2000 acres!!� �When you�re in Dodge City come visit Ms. Kitty and don�t forget to mention my name�!! posted 2005-06-30 | 11:26:05 | article number: 3

Day 25 - Wednesday June 29th - Dodge City to Great Bend, KS (85 miles) 250� cumulative climb

On the Road again! 81F when we departed in the AM. going up to 100F today. Nice 25 mph tailwind gave us a hand. We continue to work our way across Kansas, the breadbasket for the world with it�s endless fields of wheat, corn and cattle. It�s a wide open state with good roads and very flat terrain. Heck you can be cycling along and look up and see the huge grain elevators of the next town 25 miles ahead. We passed thru the town of Kinsley, KS - Midway USA, the official 1/2 way point between San Francisco and New York. We�ll be 1/2 way to New Hampshire in another day. The people around here are also super friendly. I stopped at a local Loves Store (Like a 7-11) and got talking to a farmer. It�s harvest time for the winter wheat. He asked where we were going and was a little surprised when I said NH. Anyway........He wanted to invite the group back to his house for lemonade............. FRIENDLY FOLKS!! Great Bend is a typical Kansas town. They grow wheat on top of the fields and pump out the oil from below them. Named for the great sweeping arc the Arkansas River makes around the city in central Kansas. Everyone arrived in Great Bend safely. Overheard on the road, �How much grain do you suppose�s in that elevator anyway??� �IS it hot enough for a DQ run yet!!� posted 2005-06-30 | 11:39:30 | article number: 4

Day 26 - Thursday June 30th - Great Bend to McPherson, KS (64 miles) 320� cumulative climb

Great day today! Warm with temps in the 90�s and a little cross wind. Everyone up early and moving, wanting to get in before the day warmed up too much. We�re still riding on very flat Kansas prairie. Everyone is getting stronger! We�ve been out here a while! Slowed down a little to take in the sights. It�s amazing country! Once in town everyone spent some time looking around, great deli, music store and bike shop. We all felt like celebrities as a nice local follow and cyclist recognized us as the America by Bicycle coast to coast riders from our web site, and gave us the official Bicycle Welcome to McPherson! We enjoyed getting to know the local folks. Everyone in early! Had a chance to catchup on cleaning the bike and laundry. Everyone arrived in McPherson safely. Overheard on the road, �Hey, I know you guys!� �Where�s the best ice cream in these parts?!� posted 2005-07-06 | 12:23:59 | article number: 5

Day 27 - Friday July 1st - McPherson to Abilene, KS (64 miles) 660� cumulative climb

Exciting day today! Ben, Ron, Tom and Stan our new local cycling buddies joined us this morning as we rode out of town. It�s great to get so much support from fine folks from all over the country. We�ve learned a lot about the area and locals. Nice day today, warm again in the 90�s with a little help from the wind. Fast ride as the mileage was moderate. Highlight of the day had to be crossing the official 1/2 way mark of the coast to coast tour in Gypsum, KS. We celebrated with special SAG food cut in half. It�s hard to believe we�ve come so far. We are all on the way to achieving our cross country goal, though we still have a little way to go!! Stopped at Pawnee Rock State Park, 80 feet above the Kansas Prairie. Originally an overnight lookout on the Santa Fe trail. Once in town Abilene, we all had a chance to play tourist and check out the Eisenhower Home, Museum and Library and the Greyhound Hall of Fame. Everyone arrived in Abilene safely. Overheard on the road, �Congratulations on cycling 1/2 way across the country!!� �Hey, if I adopt a greyhound can you guys carry it in the SAG Van?!! posted 2005-07-06 | 12:24:29 | article number: 6

Day 28 - Saturday July 2nd - Abilene to Topeka, KS (108 miles) 2780� cumulative climb

Here we go again! Up early for another century day. Everyone feeling pretty good! Back out into the rural countryside, the terrain has begun to bump up and roll again, Hooray!!!! I like Kansas, but I�m glad to see a little terrain change! Still farms and ranches but more rural, rocks and cattle than wheat and grain silos. Weather is more moderate today with temps in the mid 80�s and a great tail wind. As the terrain really kicks up the wind has definitely helped us keep a good pace. Great lunch stop at a deli across from a big lake. Lots of recreation going on here. I never would have pictured the Kansas landscape like this. Seems more like Ohio or something. We all rolled into Topeka, the state capitol, and the largest city we�ve seen since Pueblo, safely. Overheard on the road, �Great ride!� �Anyone up for a movie?� �Hey, are you guys eating again?!! posted 2005-07-06 | 12:25:04 | article number: 7

Day 29 - Sunday July 3rd - Topeka to St. Joseph, MO (89 miles) 2800� cumulative climb

Feeling strong today! We got up and out for a decent mileage day to St. Joseph. So far we�ve come over 2000 miles and will enter our 6th State, Missouri today. Nice weather again with temps in the mid 80�s. A friendly tailwind and smooth roads made it a fast day. The terrain continues to roll along. It started with long gradual rolls, flattened out in and around the river valley and then really picked up shorter and sharper rollers on the Missouri side and into St. Joseph. A real milestone was crossing the Missouri River. We are really making progress. Next up, the mighty Mississippi!! We slipped into town via back country roads and city parks. Everyone arrived safely in St. Joseph. Overheard on the road, �Quick take my picture!� �We�re not in Kansas anymore Toto!!� �What the heck was that in the road?� posted 2005-07-06 | 12:25:45 | article number: 8

Day 30 - Monday July 4th - St. Joseph, MO - Off Day!!

Happy 4th of July!! It�s a tremendous feeling to celebrate our nations independence, here in the middle of the country. A place we came to under our own power, on the seat of our bicycle. Great to have a day off! Many folks took it easy today. A good portion of the town was closed due to the holiday. We did get a chance to do laundry, hang by the pool and visit the local bike shop, they opened just for us! Many of the riders had nice reunions with family that came in to visit. The highlight had to be for Doug, who with his parents, got to meet his new fiancee Sarah�s parents for the 1st time!! GREAT DAY!!! posted 2005-07-06 | 12:26:18 | article number: 9