DAY 21: Along the Santa Fe Trail

177 km (109 miles) - total: 3019 km (1875 miles)

Greensburg, Ks to Garden City, Ks

The conquest of the American West is one of the most fascinating and dramatic adventure stories ever. And the Santa Fe Trail was the passage that made it possible. America's chronicle goes through the history of this Trail, which as they say, has tamed the American prairies. The Santa Fe trail passed right through Kansas, right at the heart of the Flint Hills. When I think of America I cannot imagine a more legendary, historical, poignant place. The Trail was life and the Trail gave life to the era of the great caravans of the frontier!
The Trail has faded ruts on it, almost imperceptible scars to remind of the flow of settlers, migrants, gold-searchers, adventurers, outlaws that crossed the big prairies and, at some point, got the first glimpse of the long gone American buffalo. It must have been incredible. And it must have been hard. It was hard. In perilous conditions, families on heavy horse-drawn wagons braved the quick sands, the tornadoes, the droughts, the blizzards, the snakes, the wild animals, summer and winter and all the hardship to reach New Mexico. And they made the passage. They built this historical transportation route. It is right there, through rippling prairie grass and flowers, on rolling hills, on flat open land. The trail was not just ambition or expansion, the trail was necessary as it served as a transportation route for commercial and military purposes. It lasted until the railway was built and then the trail began its fast decline. Whoever wants to travel to the American West, the Wild West, must come across the Trail. It is an essential trace of American history. It is a fascinating story behind the construction, the use and demise of this passage. In 1821, the Santa Fe Trail became America's first great international commercial highway, and for nearly sixty years thereafter was one of the nation's great routes of adventure and western expansion. The man to make the first trip was William Becknell with a few mules carrying goods. He left Missouri through Kansas and to the then Mexican city of Santa Fe. After his successful voyage and after the Mexican war, more traders took their goods on freight wagons over the Santa Fe Trail and thus the time of the great caravans began!

The road I cycled on today runs parallel to the Mountain route of the Santa Fe Trail. Past Dodge City, I got a glimpse of the Trail and I could see or at least I thought I could see (maybe I was just imagining!) the ruts, the old tracks, the validation of the epic battles, the roadway that lasted through decades. And I certainly heard the sound of the great caravans, wailing of infants, the rattle of the wagons, coaches yelling at the horses as they barrel along the Trail, wagon wheels as they struggle on the rolling hills and through the barren fields, whips being used on horses, confused whistling, wind blowing, the chant of families, the sound of fear, the sound of expectation. Those were the frontier and pioneer days of the Wild West! This is why I came all this way through America in this fashion, cycling and fighting hard for every inch, just like the peoples of the great caravans!

I was on the road at 7.30 this morning with perfect conditions once again. I knew the wind could cause me trouble so I kept an eye on it. I enjoyed the first few hours, and while it was blowing southeast before I reached Dodge City, just past my midpoint for the day it picked up and shifted from crosswind to a full-on headwind. To start with it wasn't too bad but by the time I left Dodge City it was really strong. It took me some time to get out of the city due to some major road works. The city is famous for being 'the cowboy capital of the world', at one time no town could match Dodge City's reputation as a true frontier settlement of the Old West. Dodge City had more famous (and infamous) gunfighters working at one time or another than any other town in the West, many of whom participated in the 'Dodge City War' of 1883. It is also the windiest city in America with an average wind speed of 13.9mph. The town has a bad smell due to all the cattle that are kept there and the meat processing plants. I was told in Wichita that Dodge City can be really dangerous at night with lots of gangs shootings. I was happy to leave it behind but by the time I did the wind had become even stronger - I crawled into Cimarron where I stopped for a break. Cimaron was a tiny place, and I needed some shade, by this time temperatures hit 92 degrees, which was still not too bad but considering the open spaces I could feel the sun on my skin. I continued rolling on my bike paddling hard to withstand the wind. When I left Cimaron I had done most of the days cycling but I still had 36 miles to go, and was told by a man that the wind was now blowing at 20mph! So I reluctantly left and pushed on.

The area of Kansas I am going through now is far more arid than the Eastern half, and the last stretch today was almost devoid of anything other than the road, the wind, and the horizon. It was really tough going - I was working really hard just to get an average speed of above 20kph. The wind coupled with the heat made it a hard day. The wind also has the unpleasant side effects of whipping sand and grit up into your face and of making your mouth so dry that you feel thirsty all the time. All in all it was a really long, hard, hot day and by the time I crawled into Garden City 109 miles from my starting point this morning I was pretty out of it and all I wanted was a shower and a good meal.



Early morning, my shadow and the empty road ahead


A long freight train


Kansas' finest



Cattle factory farm




Trendy store in Dodge City


Dodge City mural


Dodge City, downtown


Santa Fe Trail Mountain Route sign


The Santa Fe Trail on the big Kansas prairie


The Trail, can you see the tracks?


Behind me it's the Santa Fe Trail


3000 km!


Western Kansas, the land is arid and dry