e them for slaughtering. The smell of these lots is a wonderful mix between manure and a dirty wet dog, very pleasant to bike by. Talking with a local lady whose husband works at one of the feel lots and she explained to how they would slaughter anywhere form 5-6 thousand of these cows a day, that’s a lot of beef! We continued east on highway 50 combating the winds coming from the South West. I hate going into this side wind, it’s almost harder than having wind coming straight at you because you can’t have a straight pace line with the front taking all the wind for the back.Picture: 6 AM!
During our ride we saw a group of about 20 cyclists heading the opposite direction. They were all carrying their gear on their bikes and had long flags attached to the back of their seats so they would be more noticeable to cars. They screamed from the other side, “California.” We later found out they were a group from Georgia cycling to California for fun. None of them had jerseys so I assumed they were a bunch of friends looking for an adventure this summer.
We rolled into lodging at the Garden City Community College gym floor where they hosted a lunch room meal for us. We then headed to a very act
ive friendship visit at Arrowhead West, an organization serving people with disabilities, who had an array of things we could do including whiffle ball, volleyball, bowling, ring toss, and a fear factor challenge.Picture: One of many feed lots we saw.
There were many people there with disabilities which is nice because it enables us to have more individual time with them. I was able to get to know Tina, Kenny, and Paul who all had mental disabilities with very little physical disabilities. The three of us played in a huge whiffle ball game that a bunch of us joined in on. Kenny was hitting home runs everytime he was up to bat. I couldn’t believe it and I don’t think he could either, he did really well. Tina’s swing was a little awkward but after some coaching she picked up on it and hit on base twice, she was so excited. Paul was kind of a jokster so I gave him a hard time when he would get a strike but he seemed to love it and fire right back with a sarcastic comment. The three of them were a fun bunch to hangout with. It is neat seeing them come out of their shell and really open up to having a good time, some of them think negatively about their disability and don’t want to participate; however, with a little encouragement and a few jokes they seem to hop right in and really let loose, I just love seeing it.
We were at that friendship visit for quite a while until heading back to lodging for a quick nap. For dinner we went to one of the cyclist’s grandmothers house where her and a bunch of the neighbors BBQed for us. They were all very nice peopl
e in an older community, I don’t think I have ever seen so many baked goods for dessert as they brought. They made sure we had a chance to go swimming and play horseshoes while we waited for food.Picture: Play Ball!
Tomorrow we will be in Wichita, KS making it 8 days straight on the bike; I’m ready for a break. Everyone is looking forward to our day off as we w
ill be staying in another hotel. I hear the terrain starts to be a little greener with more trees
and hills which is good because I’m definitely getting a little stir crazy with all the flat land around here.
Picture: Kenny and I getting
Picture: Paul and I say our goodbyes
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