A Lot Of Changes In One Day

April 29, 2025

Liberal, Kansas

Last night, before I went to bed, the weather could not have been better for a night of bike camping. The sun, the warmth, and the dry air were exactly the reasons I came to Kansas with a tent. I went to my sleeping bag wearing a t-shirt and boxers and slept like a bear.

Sometime during the night, the perfect weather went all to hell. I woke up to a 46-degree temperature with a north wind that officially made it feel like 35-degrees. I had to put on every layer of warm clothing I had, including my rain gear.

I also woke up to this thing crawling on my tent.

As I struggled to start my camp stove with cold fingers and a cold lighter, I noticed a group of brown cows off in the distance. Being a cowboy, I felt compelled to hop on my bike and pay them a friendly visit. First things first, though--I finally got the stove lit and the coffee brewin'.

At first them bovines looked to be content with doin' nothin' but grazin' on the prairie vegetation, wanderin' aimlessly, or simply standin' there. Then I came along on Son of Bing Bong and everything changed. One by one, they discontinued their grazin' and aimless wanderin' activities and stared at me in unison. They even came to the fence instead of runnin' away like those black cows did yesterday. It's as if my presence was the highlight of their morning, which makes me feel kind of special—like I am some kind of Cow God. I swear, one of the cows even nudged another one out of the way so she could get a better look at me while I talked.

These Kansas cows were very polite. Come to think of it, all of the Kansas people I've interacted with so far have been polite too.

I used to believe my friend who told me cows were dumb; all they think about are eatin' and defecatin'. (He used a different word than "defecatin' though.) I don't believe that anymore.

After introducin' ourselves, a few of the cows and I casually discussed current affairs, philosophy, science, the inner workin's of the universe, inter-mammalian relations, and the social implications of 19th century cowboy literature, 20th century cowboy cinema, and 21st century country & western music.

"Did you know Amelia Earhart was born in Atchinson, Kansas?" asked the gal on the right.

"No, I didn't know that," I replied. "Sad to say, I'm not going to Atchison on this trip."

Then the cow in the middle named several American authors who have roots in Kansas, some of whom I've actually heard of. Trying to sound intelligent, I told her I read "The Learning Tree" by Gordon Parks when I was a high school freshman. Back then, and until just now, I was oblivious to the fact that Parks was a Kansan.

"I've also seen the movie version of William Inge's 'Picnic'", I added, "and a few episodes of the TV version of Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House on the Prairie."

"Ooooh, good for you," said the cow on the left with a little too much sarcasm for my taste.

At that point I had to excuse myself to check on my coffee. Interestingly, the cows followed me as far as the fence would allow.

I'm still wearin' all my layers, plus gloves and woolen cap. The rain pants are the only long pants I brought on this trip.

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After drinkin' my coffee and breakin' camp, I rode off into the great wide open. Thanks to the cows' Google-like information, I was feeling pretty smug about my newfound knowledge of Kansas culture.

The title of this page indicates I experienced a lot of changes today. That wasn't just journalistic hype. Aside from the change in temperature and the change in my beliefs about the intelligence of cows, there was a MAJOR change in wind direction. Today it was blowing strongly from the northeast, and I am still cycling southwest. I suppose you can guess what that meant for my biking speed and mental attitude. Everything just seemed better today.

In regard to biking speed, you may remember I don't carry any electronic GPS or speedometer equipment. Many times in the past I've bragged about throwing down the shackles of electronic support, smashing them underfoot, and liberating myself from the tyranny of our techno-industrial masters. (I keep my cell phone, though, in case I get lost.)

So I don't know exactly how fast I was riding today, but I do know it was pretty goll-darn fast. The whirr of my tires told me so.

************

The landscape provided more changes. There were a few hills for one thing--and a few rocky outcroppings. And the quantity of desert plant life increased as well.

Kansas highways are in excellent condition. And look at that shoulder. It's as wide as a traffic lane.

The landscape is changing as I slowly gain in elevation.

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I have to make an embarrassing admission right now. Yesterday I went way out on a limb and claimed those vast stretches of green crops were alfalfa. This morning, I was horrified to see that I had been corrected by a commenter. "It's wheat," she wrote.

The thing that surprises me is that Bill Shaneyfelt wasn't the person who called me out on my misidentification. You're slipping, Bill. LOL

There were still some of those huge green fields today, so I had to check things out for myself.

Another big change--for the better as far as I'm concerned--is that I saw a lot more cows today than I saw yesterday. I took a lot of cow pictures too. Now, don't get bent out of shape, I'll just display a few of the ones that were the least out of focus.

I saw many cows grazing among the yucca. (You redeemed yourself on that identification, Bill.)

After I passed this cow, I looked back and noticed she was feeding a calf. No wonder she didn't want to talk about Kansas culture.

There were a few historical markers along the way, and I stopped to read all of them. I'd write about them right now except that I can't remember any of the details. All I can tell you is that they were pretty interesting.

There was one historical marker that escaped my forgetfulness, however. That's because I took a picture of the sign and the old railroad bridge it was talking about. I wondered if that rickity old thing was still in use. I could not believe that the answer to my question arrived two minutes later. I deleted the first picture and saved this one.

Oil tankers sped over the bridge that spans the Cimmaron River. Check out the Cimmaron River in the next photo.

I could not believe the mighty Cimmaron River was dry.

After I took the Cimmaron River photo above, I noticed a bit of movement out of the corner of my eye. Can you see what I saw?

"What the heck," I said to myself, "It looks like cows down there."

Turns out I was right. When I zoomed in, I saw at least eight very skinny cows grazing in the river. I watched them for quite a while.

The climb out of the Cimmaron River valley was the longest hill of the day. That's not saying much, especially with the tailwind pushing me up there, but in this part of the country, a hill is a hill.

At the top of the hill was Arkalon Park. I had considered camping there for the night, especially if the wind was as against me as it was yesterday. Since the wind was definitely not against me, I arrived way too early to stop for the day. Even so, I like to check out campgrounds for future reference--you know--in case I ever tour here again.

I wasn't impressed, but at least I got in a little gravel riding. Then I continued on to the city of Liberal. I have high expectations for tomorrow's cycling in and beyond this city with a funny name.

I made a map today. Then I forgot I hadn't made a map yesterday. If interested, you can go back and view the map of that ride. In both cases, Ride With GPS gave me more credit for miles ridden than my Rand-McNally map. I adjusted the mileage on my Cycleblaze posts accordingly.

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Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 117 miles (188 km)

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