From Montezuma, Kansas to Clayton, New Mexico

flatAs we mentioned before, the ride from Larned to Montezuma was almost 93 miles. We were pretty proud of it, even if it was necessitated by the lack of campgrounds in the area and a VERY strong tail wind. We slept in the next morning in Montezuma, and then spent a leisurely morning exploring the town and talking with Maurice, an RV'er in our campground who brewed us a fresh pot of coffee and came over to talk. We also visited the Stauth museum, an eclectic little place dedicated to the Stauths, a couple who spent most of their adult life traveling around the world. They took 95 international trips and brought back souvenirs and artifacts from each place. It was interesting, and very nicely put together, with displays reminiscent of the ones at the Kauffman Museum in North Newton.

We didn't leave Montezuma till 1 pm, and the head-wind had picked up quite a bit by then, so we ended up only biking 25 miles or so into Sublette, where we were able to do laundry (yay!) and go bowling. It was a nice little break, even if those 25 miles felt almost harder than the 93 the day before! From Sublette we took advantage of the extra hour of morning sunlight and left early, enjoying the BEAUTIFUL and unseasonably warm temperatures and lack of wind. We had a fun ride into Satanta, Hugoton, Rolla and into Elkhart, and arrived in Elkhart in the early evening after I got a flat on one of the last hills into town. For such a small town, Elkhart has a lot going for it - very nice city parks and a helpful police department that gave us permission to camp beside the town swimming pool, a new biking and hiking trail near the highway, and very helpful and friendly librarians. I was excited. The cold front that was supposed to move in didn't seem to, and we woke up pleasantly surprised by the lack of frost on the tent!

Unfortunately, on our way out of the park and over to the gas station, I noticed my rear tire was flat. And thus began the day where many things went wrong. I couldn't find a thorn, and my flat the day before had been a valve stem flat, so I just replaced the tube and packed the old one away to patch later on. Then, after breakfast and an hour at the library, we pulled out of town when Matt realized he had a flat tire on his front tire due to thorns. We changed it in a parking lot of a tractor company and got some water inside before continuing on into Oklahoma (first state line - yay!) The weather was beautiful and warm and the wind at our backs so we were flying along... till Matt got another flat tire (this time on the rear) outside of the next town. It was a thorn. He patched it and replaced the tube and then the tube burst. Our ears were still ringing from the blowout when we rolled on.

We made it to Boise City, Oklahoma by the early afternoon and after eating some lunch, decided to continue on to Clayton, New Mexico, another 43 miles away, because we found out the wind would be changing and we didn't want to deal with the strong headwinds that were predicted across the Oklahoma grasslands. We flew along on 56 with very little traffic, inspired by the National Grasslands we were passing through, and the distant slope of the mountains. After taking the requisite photos at the New Mexico border, we realized it was getting closer to sunset and tried to book the last 9 miles into Clayton. We had climbed almost 2,000 feet over the last 75 miles, and there were a few hundred more to climb in the hills right outside town. An older couple on Schwinn bicycles were pedaling home to Clayton on the other side of the road, and we chatted with them awhile as we pedaled up hill. Then a few miles later, they passed us as we stopped to put on coats and turn on our flashers. We passed them again on the next uphill, and then right after I passed Matthew on the steepest climb yet, we realized he had another flat tire. No real surprise considering the plethora of thorns, glass, barbed wire and other wicked tire-puncturing things on the shoulder of the roads the past few days. It was getting darker, so we walked the last half-mile into town so that we could change the flat under a street lamp. So four flats, a blowout, two state lines and 87 miles later, we made it to Clayton.

We couldn't find the state lake that was supposedly right outside of town, and it was cold and dark, so we got a cheap motel room on the outskirts of town and watched movies on cable TV till we fell asleep. We found out today that park is 13 miles out of town, but we got permission to camp in the city park, so we'll be there tonight instead. We're taking a much needed rest day today and letting the strong winds pass through as we read and enjoy the Pizza Hut lunch buffet. I was hoping to upload some photos, but so far I haven't been able to on the library's computer. We'll continue on toward Springer tomorrow on Highway 56 and then turn south to Las Vegas, NM soon!

heidi