Finally Flat

Well, Kansas is finally flat. Waited long enough for it.  Despite yet another day of heavy wind, our legs felt much better pedaling through it.  The fact that it wasn't straight in our face today helped.  Still, I need some flat, windless days to recover before we get to Arizona where the heat and the mountains will probably destroy me. 

Not a whole lot of adventure today riding the 95 miles from Emporia to Wichita other than losing a water bottle mysteriously.  By the way, from what little we've seen of Wichita so far, it is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen.  Unfortunately pictures don't really grasp the beauty of the place so even when I post pictures next you'll probably just have to take my word for it.  The most adventure we had was last night when we encountered the tornado warning.  I really have never seen anything quite like it in my life.  I did see a tornado off in the distance, but I didn't stick around outside to see if it officially touched down or not.  I got some video and I'll deem whether or not it's interesting enough to post, but for those of you who know me well you might be in for a treat when I return. Other than making me really happy for experiencing it, the storm did cool the place down significantly.  Big plus.

So, the major thing that I reflected on today is the fact that the fight is never over.  Yes, the hills of Kansas that everyone seemed to forget to tell us about are over... but even today we still faced the prospect of 55 more miles or so.  Flat ground may feel easy, but having to still continuously pedal is very tiring.  You could be pedaling along feeling fine and then all of a sudden you realize that you're really tired and are not sure if you can continue.  Or, like what happened to me today, since you feel so great riding along you forget that you still need to hydrate, so somewhere in the middle of the ride you realize you've stopped sweating and need some water. 

This phenomenon of riding on flat ground feeling great but still tiring is what I'm talking about when I criticize the American sense of accomplishment.  In general, the things that we Americans have done in our history are rather incredible and praiseworthy.  The problem, though, is that we work hard, accomplish a task, and then consider the job done.  The Declaration of Independence did not free slaves; the work of William Wilberforce even did not free slaves (Wilberforce and the British Parliament prohibited the trading of slaves, which did eventually put an end to British-owned slaves); the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Reconstruction did not in reality free slaves, still leaving room for Jim Crow laws and the like; and, apparently, the Civil Rights Movement did not free slaves, since this country is still a major contributor to the total of 27 million slaves. 

The major problem facing us today is not necessarily reducing the number of slaves in the world to, hopefully, zero.  Our major problem is developing an attitude of never-ending commitment to preventing the conditions that lead to slavery and an ever-watchful eye for future slave owners.  The job is not done when we reach flat ground.  Humans are still humans, things like the below, reported at Fox Memphis and e-mailed in the Polaris Weekly Pulse, will continue to happen if we are not consistently vigilant:

Step-Father Charged with Selling 14-Year Old for Sex

Published : Thursday, 09 Jun 2011, 1:05 PM CDT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Memphis Police have arrested a man accused of raping his 14-year old step-daughter and selling her as a prostitute.

Tuesday, officers patrolling a known area for prostitution on Lamar Avenue saw the teenage girl flagging down vehicles and stopped to question her. She told officers that she had been sexually assaulted by her step-father since March 2011, and that he had sold her for sex with unknown man for $45.

The victim also stated that the step-father, who lived with the victim and her mother in Covington, Tennessee, brought the young girl to Memphis after picking up an unknown man in Arkansas. She said they checked into a hotel, and both her step-father and the unknown man performed sex acts on her in the shower.

23-year old Justin Parson was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with Promoting Prostitution, Statutory Rape and Trafficking for Sexual Servitude. He is currently being held at the Shelby County Jail on $250,000 bond.

(I'm using this example because we passed by Tennessee without actually traveling through)