Day 26 / Thursday, July 2nd / Great Bend, KS to McPherson, KS / 64 miles

After a good breakfast at the hotel (eggs, pancakes and oatmeal) we set out for McPherson under cool

temperatures in the mid 60s and overcast skies. My friends Chris, Bob and I decided we would set out on a mission to catch Tom and Sean, who like to be the first to the hotel. After about 5 miles into the ride we caught up to them. Tom (the triathlete) picked up the pace into a moderate headwind and we drafted off him. Sean was having back problems and dropped back. Knowing Tom was going to glow saying he pulled us all the way to the first sag I sprinted ahead of him with a half mile to go and told him I would help pull for awhile. His response was "the hell you will" and he started to sprint. I got ahead of him, then Chris passed me and Bob (with the young legs) sprinted by all of us to get to the sag first. Judy, one of the support staff enjoyed watching us come in and commented " I think I just caught a whiff of testostorone in the air". As we pulled out of the sag we decided to all work together. The first 10 miles we shared in the pulling. Tom and Bob started fading so Chris and I decided we would go back to our original plan and get to the hotel first. We worked great as a team sharing the pulls and got to the hotel 20 minutes ahead the next riders. Chris is 61 and in great shape. I hope I can ride as well as him when I reach my 60s.

McPherson was a nice little town. There was a park that had a nice community pool so I took a little ride to check it out and take some pictures that would give you the hometown feel of McPherson.