RideTheLightning

Nothern Nebraska: Off-Guard but Outta There

Greetings, from South Soiux City, Nebraska.  We’re holding on to Nebraska and fighting off Iowa for as long as we possibly can - not crossing the Missouri River until we get a quick blog post up.  Apologies up front for the delay in action on the site, and for the lousiness of this post - turns out the brand new library here in South Soiux City only allows 30 minutes online and lacks any USB connections - no photos.  Sorry.

Regardless, the action has been ongoing since our last post.  We left the dreary rain, expecting to have a flat, cornfield-ed, sunny ride thru Nebraska. That was wrong, turns out.  Northern Nebraska (following highway 20) is actually quite a hilly little place.  Highway 20 is the “Bridges to Buttes” scenic byway, and is truly lovely.  It started out with rolling hills, topping plateaus with expansive valley views below.  Then we entered the frustrating sand hills region - windy, endless, hilly.  Each corner leaves you thinking that it’s the last, and that the landscape will open up into the expected Nebraska scenery: fields.  But it didnt.  It was just another quick downhill then uphill with the questionable bend at the top.  And the miles wore on. 

The weather was also uncooperative and totally unexpected - rainy and hovering in the low 50’s for a solid week now.  It was frustrating, tiresome, and forced us to get creative.  We spent alot of time in gas stations trying to warm up by drinking brown water (Nebraska coffee is pretty weak).   We did get some rather nice sleeping arrangments, as the farming communities here in Nebraska pride themselves on their public parks.  And so much pride, in fact, that they sometimes have well-concealed sprinkler systems (so well concealed that I managed to set my tent up no more than 2 feet from a powerful little bugger, and was awoken at 2am to the sound of a jet engine and water spraying me in the face).  Still, we love the free grassy spots to camp.

We battled some fearsome sidewinds, and headwinds, and finally, yesterday, we found our long awaited tailwind.  We took the opportunity to crank out 102 miles, and did so in flying colors.  Exhausted and unmotivated to cook, we were treated to a dinner in Lyle’s Bar in Newcastle, NE, thanks to the loving generousity of my parents.  Thanks Mom and Pops, from all of us Lightningers.

We’re told Iowa is a land of long rolling hills as well. No big deal, this time we’ll be prepared. With only about 450 miles till Chicago and a cushy 11 days to meet our deadline, we’re feeling pretty good. Hopefully summer cooperates and we get a little –not too much– sunshine in the next two weeks. We’ll try for another stop soon for pictures and more bloggage. Till then, we’ll be out pedaling on the thin shoulders of Highway 20. Adios.