Day 5 - Wichita Kansas to Lamar Colorado - 310 miles

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Today was a day characterized by wind. No jokes please. More of that in a moment. The day started with a donut from a local donut store and a nice chat with a fellow who lived in the Oklahoma pan handle. Well I knew Texas had a pan handle, but Oklahoma, was he pulling my leg? Later in the day I happened to be pursuing a map of cattle trail routes, more on that too, when I saw indeed there is a thin strip of Oklahoma forming a handle squashed between Kansas and Texas. Frankly, it seems more like a true handle than the Texas wannabe. Enough about pan handle envy. I took a quick look at a couple of the major sites before leaving Wichita. The “Keeper of the Plains” is at the junction of the big and little Arkansas rivers, even as they looked equal to me and celebrates native Americans. By the account on the display there were upwards of 18 million native Americans before the white man arrived and 250,000 after disease and fighting took its toll. Something to be reminded of but certainly not celebrated. I also took a look at the outside of Allan House, the work of Frank Lloyd Wright in an upscale Wichita suburb. Alice, our university architect, is going to hate me, but it reminded me of a bigger version of the bungalow my mum and dad built when we moved to Australia, but with a better designed and tranquil garden as opposed to a flock of galahs in the old gum tree at the bottom of the garden.

After that it was back onto route 54 and soon the wind. The wind blew incessantly both on route 54 and 400. The wind was coming from the south up to 20 mph and had the positive effect of blowing me away form the on-coming traffic. It was also a lesson in aerodynamics that I spent many a happy mile contemplating with every oncoming truck on the two lane highway. The conclusions are obvious when one is forced to think about it as the handlebars wobble. The bigger the oncoming truck the bigger the wobble, but not exclusively. The spoilers on the cab roof work not only to lower drag in the truck they also direct air upwards away from the poor upcoming motorcyclist. Contrast that to the high square rig which delights in trying to push you off the road. Continual light chop to describe aircraft turbulence needs a motorcycle equivalent.

In keeping with my new approach to the trip I stopped in Dodge City for a good look around, throwing the schedule to the wind. Bolstered by thoughts of imaginary gunfights, raucous saloons and general pioneering spirit, the reality was one of the largest meat packing plants in the country. The smell from which, that and other smaller facilities during my days ride, driven by the endless wind, taints the nostrils for long after. I can smell in here in my hotel room, but that might just be that it is yet another Days Inn. I am so cheap.

When you consider the history of driving cattle to the railhead it is not surprising that in the modern era you would just do the deed to the poor cattle right then and there and ship the inert carcasses rather than more live animals around. The thought was off-putting and I had a salad for dinner having skipped lunch after too much of the breakfast donuts.

The town of Dodge City was depressing, but the Boot Hill museum was excellent. I particularly liked the video narration from a serious of actors playing as saloon keeper, dance hall performer and others. It is not the first time I have been struck by how historic events and their depiction in film and TV become hybridized such that what you see on the screen seems as real as what you read in the history books. I first realized this when I walked into the Alamo many years ago and there was a picture of John Wayne on the wall. Here it was a whole series of depictions from movies starring the likes of Errol Flynn to James Arness in Gunsmoke. I would not say this is an exclusively American ideal, but they have matched fact and fiction as well as anyone.



The day ended with flashes of lightening in the distance, just as I enter Lamar for the evening. As I parked the bike it started to rain. Its hard to imagine the weather Gods will be this good for the remainder of the trip.

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