Day 26 Great Bend to McPherson.

It was a very relaxed start to the day and the usual 3 with Alan and Bill, which was rapidly becoming the usual 5, were not actually the last to leave. It was Highway 56 again and although the shoulder was OK to start with it quickly became rough again and the vibration drove you mad. Some riders were riding on the road which was very smooth, but when the vans came along they were moved onto the shoulder, nice try though.
Navigation consisted of, 'right out of the motel, 64.3 miles on '56' and left into the motel', I don't think anyone got lost. The SAG was early at just under 27 miles and was in a very pleasant open building in the shade. The main scenery was fields of wheat or corn with 'nodding donkey' pumps that have been used in the past in the oilfields, but now were employed to pump up water for irrigation.
We slowed our pace a little through Conway and were all together again as we hit the metropolis of McPherson (not sure if it's the home of the strut!!) Someone told me that the founder was someone called, something Birdseye McPherson, but I couldn't take that seriously. Not a bad little town and we did a tour trying to find a DQ. It was hidden about a mile north of our route, but we still found it. Caramel shake is rapidly becoming addictive.
Our hotel was in the retail area so I again went to Walmart for a few bits to replace the bits I left behind in Pueblo. Shopping twice in less than a month is too much, I needed a lie down.
Watched the second semi-final and Spain crushed Russia 3-0.
At Route Rap, Gary, who is an accountant and likes number crunching, gave a very entertaining stats rundown as far as the halfway point that is coming up tomorrow. Alan is in the lead on the puncture front with 11 so far and there are two people, whose names were not released to protect their safety, that have yet to have one. I'm still on one. (touching wood, or at least laminated chipboard). Total amount climbed is somewhere around 10 miles vertically, no wonder I had a nose bleed!
Today's distance was 68 miles.