Dodge City, KS to Lakin, KS — 79.0 mi, 1265 ft
A tailwind, compared to a headwind, can cut the amount of time you spend on the bike in half. I think all of us have gotten to the point where the limiting reagent in determining how far we can go in a day is not our physical capability, but rather how long we can tolerate being hunched over as our butts are pressed up against the saddles. This is why the most wonderful gift you can receive biking from east to west across the US is a tailwind. Prevailing Westerlies driven by Earth’s rotation and the jet stream result in such a gift being painfully rare.
Today, we reaped the benefits of a massive tailwind departing Dodge City. Considering that “Dodge” is one of the windiest cities in the world, nestled in the great plains with no trees or geology to stop wind, I’m especially grateful that the wind was behind us and not in front of us.
The only thing that went wrong this morning was Aarushi’s first flat tire since installing a tube in her punctured rim/tire. The tube-change went smoothly on the side of highway 50.
Everybody told me Kansas was this flat expanse of nothingness. This is the part of Kansas they were talking about.
I sent a picture of what I saw as I was biking to my roommate, Jonas, and he responded, “This looks what they show when I get an eye exam.”
We biked through this huge field of wind turbines that seemed to go on forever. I’d never seen a wind turbine up close before, so I was very surprised by how big they were. I was even more awed as we biked past a factory where they assemble the turbines and saw the massive blades on the ground up close.
For the last several days, we have been biking on U.S. 50. And considering that we will continue to be biking on highway 50 until we get to Colorado Springs, I try to push for us to take every chance to take an alternate route whenever it makes sense. U.S. 50 has it’s pros and cons. The main pro is that it has a massive shoulder which accommodates us very very well. The cons are that it feels kind of demoralizing as trucks blow past you at 70 mph all day and you’re stuck on your little contraption peddling for eternity on the same road. One more con is that you bike past cattle feedlots which smell horrendous. Imagine the most packed concert in the world, except, instead of people, it’s cows. I promise I’m not that sensitive, but I almost had to yack on the side of the road today.
We decided to take an alternate gravel route which was really really fun. Occasionally it would turn from gravel into a bit of a more sandy texture that presented an added challenge in the midst of geography that is rather understimulating.
Aarushi’s back tire popped again. Nate says that this is just part of the life of running tubes as opposed to tubeless. This is my first time being in the proximity of somebody cycling long-distance using tubes, so I accept Nate’s opinion as fact and mentally prepare for many more roadside stops.
The best part of the day: The POOL! I’d been begging the team for the past several days to go to a pool because it sounds like the best thing ever after a day of biking in 100 degree weather. We spent an hour or two at a public pool outside of Garden City, Kansas for our final rest stop. After judging each Spokie’s diving form we moved on to draining the pool concession stand of everything they had. We are very hungry, all the time.
The day concluded with dinner at Victory Baptist Church in Lakin, KS with several church members. They were very kind and fed us homemade sloppy joes and homemade ice cream, and a ton of other stuff that was very tasty. They also, out of extreme generosity, provided us with rooms at the local inn as our sleeping accommodations. This was the best place to sleep I could ask for, considering I have to wake up and…
Do it all again tomorrow.
– Drew
MIT Spokes 2026 
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