7/21-Finally! A Day Below 100!

In fact, it was significantly below 100! When I started this morning at 6:45 it was 67 degrees! Almost, dare I say, chilly! And it only got up to the mid 80s.

I got up at 5:30. That’s a little too early because it’s still dark this far west in the Central Time Zone (it also stays light pretty late making it hard to go to sleep). At the point when I took this sunrise photo, I already had most everything packed up. 

Today there were numerous towns, one about every 10 miles or less. 

Next town…Long Pine

Today was again playing the game of which side is better. Particularly if the gravel was red. For some reason, the red gravel is more thick than the grey gravel. On the grey sections, it was fast. Very few soft spots. The section to Long Pine was mostly red. 

I crossed Long Pine Creek on a long high trestle. 

Long Pine Creek comes from a nearby Spring. It supplies all the water to the town. 

On the trestle, I met Lena. She was out walking her two dogs. She said she moved to Long Pine because of all the trees. I told her I was from the Pacific Northwest, and I understood trees. 

This morning, I think because it was so much cooler, there were rabbits everywhere.

Run little bun bun run!

I also saw this example of Americana. 

The next town was Bassett. By then I was ready for a snack. I found the market, and got a chocolate milk, a banana, and a danish. I went back to the trail to eat it. 

Each town has two trail signs, one as you enter, and one as you leave. The mileage to the next town is reflected in the distance it takes to get from one end of town to the other end. 

Once again I saw another turtle on the trail. This one was a bit bigger. 

Howdy trail turtle!

The trail to Newport, the next town, was through wide open spaces. 

Notice the red gravel. Slower going!

In Newport, the route guide said to check out the Pool Hall. 

Always open!

With an actual pool table!

And snacks for trail users! I had a lemonade. 

The gravel from Newport to the next town of Stuart was back to fast grey gravel. So nice to be able to look around!

There wasn’t much to Stuart, so I cruised on through. Next up was Atkinson. This was a much bigger town. I was ready for some lunch. Guess what they had! A Subway! Something I’ve noticed about these Nebraska Subways is that they also have ice cream! I got a 6” sandwich and a bowl of ice cream. The ice cream was my favorite peanut butter and chocolate, but honestly, there were too many peanut butter pieces. Also, it was a lot of ice cream. I couldn’t finish it. 

There was one more town called Emmet before I got to my destination of O’Neill. 

In O’Neill I would be camping at Carney Park, which isn’t really close to any restaurants. I didn’t really want another restaurant meal anyway, since my lunch was so big. I just stopped at the Pump and Pantry, and picked up a snack. Then I made my way to the park. The tent camping is this little strip, but it works. 

The building is the shower/restroom. It’s a nice shady spot, that I think will stay shady. 

I did 67 miles today. That leaves me with 40 tomorrow, then 35 to Norfolk on Thursday. The forecast says rain tomorrow. Might have to dig my rain gear from the depths of my bags!

7/20-Playing the Age Old Game…

Wow, I sure could have slept longer this morning! Not only was I a little tired from yesterday, but with changing time zones, and losing an hour, my body didn’t want to get up at 6:00 because it thought it was 5:00! However, with another predicted 100 degree day, earlier was better. 

As I was leaving the Super 8, a guy came out and asked if I was riding the GAWR. He was too, only westbound. He had started in DC on June 14th. I’m getting close to the halfway point. The “Westies” I’ve met have all started within a day of when I started. The guy said they were taking the day off in Valentine because it was supposed to be 100 degrees. I thought to myself, if I took a day off for every day over 100, I’d still be in Montana! 

I rode over to the Valentine Trailhead for the Cowboy Trail. 

It was paved through the town.

Another sign said 24 miles to Wood Lake. Once the trail turned to gravel, it was time for the age old game of “This side or that side”. You know the one, the other side always looks better, so you move over, but then the other side looks better! So, you zigzag your way down the trail. Like it was between Rushville and Gordon, the crushed gravel was quite thick in places. 

Better on the left…for now. 

Really, the trick was to not make any sudden turns. Wanna switch sides? Just ease over. Do, however, watch for the holes (probably some critter).

Not too far out of Valentine was this long trestle. It went over the Niobrara River. 

It was a nice view!

Today there was a lot more water areas which might explain seeing this on the trail.

Hello little turtle!

There were still lots of wide open, but occasionally some good shady sections. 

I rolled into Wood Lake at about 10:00. There’s supposed to be a good ice cream place. I made my way there, but it wasn’t open. No ice cream for me! I went back to the park and had one of my Casey’s snacks. As I was sitting at the picnic table, a sprinkler head popped up. Ruh roh! I moved Wanda back and grabbed my helmet. Just in time! Although, it might not have been such a bad thing to be sprayed with water…

Back on the trail, the Wood Lake Trailhead sign said 10.2 miles to Johnstown. I arrived there about an hour later. I saw a shelter with picnic tables, but then I saw the L Bow Room Saloon. And it was open! Hallelujah! Since it was about 11:30, I decided lunch was a good idea. I had a BLT. The woman who owns the place gave me a “souvenir” magnet. She said the motorcycles heading to Sturgis were always asking for a souvenir. So she started having these calendar magnets made. I thought it was sweet that she gave me one. 

Back on the trail, I now had just 9.5 miles to Ainsworth, my destination for the day. It was getting pretty toasty, but I was doing fine. 

I had been seeing these signs at all the road crossings. 

Apparently, you can’t bring Bessie on the trail.

I rolled into Ainsworth, and headed for the East City Park. They have a little camping area (although I’m the only tent, the rest are RVs). I can’t find a sign anywhere that says if there is a fee. I would think there is, at least for the electricity hook ups for the RVs. Maybe not for just a tent.

Even though it’s pretty warm, there’s a good breeze, and I’m happy to be back in my tent. I’ve calculated the path of the sun, so hopefully my tent will remain in the shade. 

There’s a pool at this park, so I was able to take a shower at no charge. There’s also a Subway in town, so yay, another Nebraska Subway!

Tire update: I called the bike shop that I ordered the tire from. I still hadn’t received a shipping notice. The online ordering guy, Joe, has had the tire now shipped directly from the supplier (my guess is QBP) to the Norfolk PO. What he couldn’t tell me was what shipping method they use. It has to be USPS. As a backup, my friend, Bethany’s, sister’s friend, Kim, is coming to Norfolk to ride with me on the trail for a bit. She has found a Maxxis Aspen 29x2.2”. She will bring it, and if the tire doesn’t show up at the post office, I can have the Maxxis put on instead. I’m relieved to know there is a plan. 

Now, off to find the Subway!

7/19-New Distance Record Despite the Cracks!

I didn’t plan to set a new distance record today, but that is indeed what happened! I didn’t even leave the Jefco Inn all that early.

The Ritz of Gordon…the Jefco Inn

My plan was to go to Cody, and camp in the park. It was going to be 54 miles. For the first time in awhile, the wind was relatively favorable, kind of a cross wind, slightly coming from behind. 

That’s a long straight road!

Also, there was a fair amount of trending down. At first, out of Gordon (which had a lot more going on than I thought…they even had a Subway), it was a little climbing. Not enough to initiate the Climb Pro on the Garmin, but enough to bring my speed down significantly. But worse than the climbing was…the cracks! Oh my God! Every 10 to 15 feet…bump bump!

They are so annoying! And, of course, the road is smooth, but you can’t ride out there without taking your life in your hands.

I stopped at this historical marker. 

These must be some of the Sandhills

In 30 miles, I pulled into Merriman. There was supposed to be a market there. It was closed on Sundays. So much for snack break number 1. The next town was Cody, my destination for the day. For awhile, the road was great, no cracks.

Along the way, I saw this lake. It looked inviting.

Not too many people in Cody

Cody has a store run by students. It was closed too. Not a big deal as I am carrying food. But something cold to drink would have been nice. 

I pulled into the park. It was a nice shady park. Cost was $10. They had a shower. I’ve probably been in worse. There was a fly convention going on in the restroom. Not so great. There were also a lot of flies outside the restroom convention center (maybe there was a separate convention at the picnic table). It was just noon. After I drank a bunch of water, I started to think that sitting in the park the rest of the day (of course it was quite warm) was not going to be much fun. It was another 38 miles to Valentine (a few “towns” in between, but no services). I decided I would make myself some food, and drink a ton of water, then continue on to Valentine.

Tortillas with peanut butter, Nutella, and…caramel corn!

I think I drank about 1 1/2 liters of water. I refilled both my bottles, and even put more electrolytes in the orange one. I soaked my buffs and the sleeves of my yellow shirt. I convinced myself that this was a good idea because it would only be a little further than my previous distance record, it would all be on pavement, it was trending downhill all the way to Valentine. and I still had plenty of time. The downsides were that I would be crossing into the Central Time Zone, so losing an hour, and the cracks. Yes, they were back with a vengeance! 

Back on the road, it was really warm now. The wind was still fairly favorable. I was mostly managing about 10 or 11 mph. The cracks were still very annoying. 

38 to go!

It seemed the little no-services towns were about every 10 miles. I counted down the miles. 

I finally crossed into the Centeal Time Zone.

Two time zones down, one to go!

Eventually, it was just head down and pedal! Bump bump over the cracks. It never did get better the entire way to Valentine. Finally, I could see the town!

A bit bigger town!

My plan was the Super 8. Yes, this makes 4 nights in a row sleeping indoors. If this keeps up, I might forget how to set up my tent! At least the Super 8 is just $99 (more expensive than the Jefco, but way less than the Holiday Inn in Chadron). I got here at 5:30. I did 91.8 miles! The shower was THE BEST SHOWER EVER! I got laundry going, then went in search of sustenance. There was a Subway!

Check a Nebraska Subway off the list!

I’m also now in the land of Casey’s! I picked up snacks for tomorrow. 

The best convenience store!

I have 188 miles to Norfolk, and three days to get there (assuming I get a shipping notice soon for the tire). Tomorrow I will be back on the Cowboy Trail. Giddy up…again!

7/18-Giddy Up!

I got a later start this morning because breakfast didn’t start until 7:00. That was okay because I only had 47 miles to do today. I had breakfast with Ken and Vivian. I should see them again in a couple of days. 

There was something special about this morning. Can you tell what it is?

CLOUDS!!!

Yes, it was actually cloudy! It was also cooler and more humid. Of course, it didn’t stay cloudy, but it was nice for awhile. 

I, once again, opted to not do the route, and instead just stayed on Hwy 20. Ben had sent me a photo of what the route looked like between Chadron and Hay Spring. He said there was some hike-a-bike through silty dirt. I decided that was not for me, and also, I’m kind of babying my rear tire. It has to make it another 335 miles. The hwy was fine. 

This was the Museum of the Fur Trade. I can only imagine what dead animals were on display. 

It was 20 miles to Hay Spring, then I was back on the route. There wasn’t anything in Hay Spring, so I just kept going. As I was riding on the Hwy (now the route), I could see the Cowboy Trail. 

It looked a bit rocky

Indeed, it was. That’s why the route wasn’t on it. 

About 12 miles later was the town of Rushville. I stopped at the convenience store for a snack. I’d already had chocolate milk this morning, so I had other refreshments. Once I was filled up, I headed back out for the final 16 miles to Gordon.

In Rushville, the route did get on the Cowboy Trail. 

These sheds are the trailhead shelters for the Cowboy Trail.

Cowboy Trail symbol

Tells how the mile markers work. 

Ah, much better surface! Similar to the Mickelson.

It was easy riding on the Trail. There wasn’t anything a section where the crushed gravel was kind of thick in places. It just required a little bit of caution. There were little bridges periodically. 

The new mile markers

Cut through the hillside

Jesse memorial bridge. He was a kid. Doesn’t say why he died. 

As I was coming into Gordon, the route departed from the trail. My Garmin says the next turn is in 91 miles! That means the route is back on Hwy 20 until Valentine. 

I’m hoteling once again because there is no camping here. At least it’s a relatively cheap hotel (the Jefco Inn). There is no one in the office. There were two guys working on the lobby (new flooring). They told me I could either call the number on the door, or go to the website and book a room. No one answered the phone, so I went to the website. Booked a room. Check in wasn’t until 3:00 (it was 1:45). At 3:00, they text a code to the room door (turns out it’s the last four of my phone number…easy to remember). The guys were super nice, and let me into my room before 3:00. They said to just not leave until I had the code to the door. Perfect! It’s not a fancy room, but it serves the purpose. 

There’s a grocery store close by. I’ll go figure out something microwaveable for dinner.