You going my way big fella

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It's a beautiful morning, and the forecast is for about 30C (81F) although the humidity is expected to hit 98%. The sky is overcast which means we won't be riding in full sun for the first time on the trip. There is a slight wind and it's at our backs. What a cracker of a day for a ride.
We've decided to do 30km stints in the morning which will get us through the town of Maize and then 14km stints in the afternoon which will get us to the town of El Dorado. We leave the pretty town of Pratt behind quickly and are soon out in the countryside once again. We're in farming country, lots of hay and corn being grown. The back road we travel on for most of the day has a heap of road kill on. There are a number of raccoon, large birds, a cat, a snake, huge toads and even a skunk. We travel through some areas that look a lot better off socio economically than a number of the small towns we have ridden through.A one of our changeovers another of the RAAM riders was coming through. The boys started to ride with him but they got a bit excited and started riding too fast so his support vehicle told him to slow down. I had driven ahead to setup for the change over and saw Tom and Dave pull up next to the van. Where's Jeff I ask? He's coming says Tom. After about 5 minutes still no Jeff. Just as I start chastising them for riding ahead Jeff turns up in a Silverado with his new best mate Alex and the Canondale in the back. Seems Jeff was in the aero position head down pedalling away and didn't see the rock in front of him which he duly ran over and blew out his front tyre (yes the one with the slow leak). And, he didn't have a pump with him so instead he started hitch hiking, and luckily for Jeff that's when Alex happened along. The rest of the ride was much less exciting. With favourable conditions we get to town by 4:30pm and decided to do a lap of Main Street. Unfortunately this took us past the Salvation Army Op shop and a vote was held to see if we would stop and have a look. I lost the vote 1-3, unbelievable, and they all bought something. Footnote: Puncture Count/MechanicalsTom: 5 puncturesDave: 2 puncturesJeff: 1 puncture and a front tyre replacementMark: 0

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Photos

Danger Crossing
Not sure how this fella was going to make it across the road

Jeff's new best mate
Jeff had walked half a kilometre before Alex picked him up.

Bank
The bank. Consisted of a drive thru ATM machine.