Oh to flat

Quick up date from the road. We are now biking lots and are in the
middle of an 8 day stretch of biking. We have already crossed through
Oklahoma, and Kansas and today we entered Colorado. I think my legs
are officially in shape, and have for the most part gotten used to
biking many miles. Today I said "tomorrow we only have 68 miles. I'm
so excited." This week we have been averaging about 80+ miles a day,
and today was our second over hundred mile ride or century of the
trip. Most of the landscape we have been traveling through has been
relatively flat, and I have learned that wind can either be amazing,
or very low on my fun list. Headwinds are completely demoralizing,
but tailwinds are great fun. We had one the other day that without
peddling we were going 11.8 mph on the flat.

In these many miles we have seen many things. In the interest of
getting as much sleep as possible I will only list a few of them.
First we went through the Gypson hills which looked like what I
imagine Arizona will look like. They were red table top hill. We
experienced watching a storm come across the praries at us. It was
amazing to watch the entire sky turn black. It was also a little
nerve racking to know that we had no where to go. Luckily it just
missed us. We spent the night in Dodge City, and I learned the phrase
"Get the hell out of Dodge" which is synonymous with get lost or you
aren't wanted here. Apparently Dodge City was used as the set for
many Westerns and that is where the term originated. For the past few
days we have been following the Santa Fe Trail. I learned that They
averaged about 15 miles a day. In comparison we were flying on our
bikes. We were crossing in one day what it would take them a little
less then a week to cross. I was glad for this, because the problem
with the flat planes is they are a tad bit boring. To keep ourselves
mentally stimulated we have resorted to games I played on long car
rides as a kid such as the alphabet game using road signs, I went to
the store and bought an..., and a new game called contact. These
games help the miles tick by. Soon we will be out of the flat lands,
and into the mountains. Part of me is really excited get back to
amazing views, but the other part of me remembers to get those views I
have to climb up many miles. I know that in the middle of some assent
I will look back on the flat planes with longing.

Well I must sleep. I wish you all a happy 4th of July. I will be
spending it in Colorado Springs. It should be a fun time, but I doubt
their parade will be as entertaining as the Round Pond Parade.