Day 23 Lamar to Garden City.

After yesterday's long day the prospect of another century did not seem entirely appealing, but the profile was for flat terrain, so if the wind was in the right direction we should be OK. There was no more news of Bob today so we all kept on hoping for the best. Our usual 3 plus Bill and Alan left town and as soon as we got on Highway 50 the pace started to crank up as the wind was helping, though not exactly a tailwind. We were travelling at a steady 24 to 25 mph and each taking a turn at the front and changing over so that each got a rest in turn. We were so intent that we missed the entrance to the first SAG and had to do a swift U turn to go back.
Soon after restarting we were at the Kansas state line and of course the usual photos were taken. The scenery was not exactly inspiring, but it was changing. There were now large farms, far more cultivation with large amounts of irrigation. The road was rolling rather than flat and we often came across huge cattle pens next to the road, the smell from these was not pleasant. Also each little town seemed to have its own skyscrapers, large grain silos that dominated the town right next to the railway. The town name was usually written large on these monsters.
Kept the speed up through Coolidge and Syracuse to the second SAG at Lakin which was after 78 miles and right next to a DQ, had to make a stop in there, be rude not to!
After that my legs were suffering and there was no way I was going to keep that speed up for over 100 miles so the pace mercifully slowed. I wasn't glad Alan got a front flat, but I was glad of the rest. The last 20 miles were a bit of a grovel and I for one was glad to get in. Our average speed was 19.3mph - crazy.
That evening we had a tremendous electrical storm with torrential rain, the first I had seen since San Francisco. Sarge and I watched the lightening for a bit and hoped it would be over before morning.
Today's distance was 104.8 miles.