Dodge City, Kansas

DODGE CITY, Kans. – I don’t have much to show for my 7 hours and 44 minutes in motion.

I only covered 397.1 miles today, calling it quits at Dodge City, Kans. In my defense, I offer that pressing on to Wichita would have meant riding in the dark and maybe rain. Besides, it became increasingly hot from Canon City, Colo. on, peaking somewhere in the high 90s with no cloud cover.

There is a Loaf ‘n Jug convenience store/gas station in downtown Lamar, Colo. where Rich Nathan nearly put his fist through the glass of a stupidly programmed gas pump when we stopped there in 100+ degree heat on our U.S. 50 tour in July 2001. I recognized it, but was in the wrong lane to pull over and get a photo.

I gassed at the Sinclair station in Fairplay, again in LaJunta, Colo. and a last time at a pay-first-inside crappy Quicker Mart at Garden City, Kans. That’s where I made the decision to end my day about 48 miles down the road at Dodge City. I scanned the possibilities listed in my Garmin GPS and settled on the Comfort Inn on Wyatt Earp Boulevard.

The room was more than I wanted to pay, but with a more expensive motel comes a better location and amenities like a luggage cart. I had the use of one at a Comfort Inn in Alabama on the way home from Daytona earlier this year and love the convenience of being able to schlep all of my stuff – saddlebags, tank bag, tail bag, helmet, jacket, etc. to the room in one trip.

Wyatt Earp Boulevard is being widened, so it was a little tricky figuring out how to access the motel.

I passed a series of cattle feed lots on the way in to town, the biggest being the Ingalls Feed Yard, an enormous complex of pens full of cattle. The place presumably has a capacity of 36,000 head of cattle and stinks to high Heaven. I was glad to have a favorable wind as I rode past.

Nevertheless, Dodge City reeks of cow shit, a situation aggravated by the passage of hundreds of cattle trucks, east and west along Wyatt Earp Boulevard at all hours of the day and night.

I rode down the street to Pizza Hut for dinner. I mostly hate Pizza Hut, but I was hungry and tired and didn't see anything else that looked edible,

When I got back, my preferred parking spot by the back door was taken, so I parked my bike next to a couple of Harleys and put the cable lock on the front wheel.

My plan is to go to bed early and get on the road early to cover as many miles as possible, Garmin says I’m a little less than 12 hours from home, I may go for it, but probably not. No point in beating myself to death just to avoid another night on the road.