07.27/28/29.2023 - into lincoln

central daylight savings time.  no more waking up at 5:30.

who knew there was such a thing as an 'irish capitol of nebraska'?

this is the first town in along time that actually has houses on the main street. it's funny how certain things we take for granted can become special.  like sidewalks and streetscape.

although corn and soybeans are beginning to make their presence known, they are still scattered among the hay fields, range land and cattle.  this northern strip is more cattle than crops, more ranch than farm.

one of the unique things in nebraska is that almost every small town has a public park where they accommodate camping, rv's and tents.  the little town of tilden, population 1,000, has a place with room for 3-4 rv's and a bunch of tents.  and it has a toilet, with a shower!  and they even provide towels!  a woman comes by once or twice a day, picks up and cleans the towels.  amazing.   the only downside is that it's right off the highway, separated only by a row of pine trees.  on the other hand, right across the two-lane is a restaurant with very tender brisket and some new belgian dark ale.

up in the morning and down the road, 20 mi to norfolk.  10 mi out, the road changes to 4-lane divided and the traffic picks up.

soybeans are as plentiful as corn.  the university of nebraska tofu-ers.  can't make that work, just doesn't have that ring to it.

turns out norfolk is a pretty ugly town.  at least the part i saw.  4 lane highways, strip malls and wholesale dealers.  breakfast is a biscuit, apple pie and banana at a love's truck stop. uhg.

i did find a paved back road to ride for awhile and also where they hide the feed lots.  and a lot of corn fields, only they're not flat.  but the paved road turned to gravel and i headed back to the 4-lane.  nebraska has very few paved roads.  

highway 81, 4 lane divided, but the shoulder is absolute shit.  broken pavement, expansion cracks, patches in bits and pieces.  but i only had 10-15 miles to grin and bear it.  did i mention it was 99 degrees (109 h.i.) out?

got to within a mile of my turn off of this god forsaken highway and - woosh - a flat tire.  i hate flat tires, especially rear tires. on hot, busy highways.  but all one can do is take a deep breath and go through the steps.  remove paniers, pull out new tube and tools, flip bike, remove wheel, etc.  in the end, not so bad.  simple task really.  but then the worry 'did it really get fixed?, will it hold?, was there an issue that caused the flat i missed?'.  well, something wasn't right or i was just really unlucky because 10 minutes later i hit a rock and - woosh.  this time my pump wouldn't hold, it kept popping off the nozzle.  i checked at the only house nearby, they didn't have a pump.  so nothing for it, i decided to hitchhike into a bike store downtown, around 8 mi.  after the initial 10 minutes 'i'm never going to get a ride' feeling, a road angel appears.  out of town contractor, from puerto rico, driving the company pickup.  Rene hauled me down to the bike shop, waited for the repair, then hauled me back up to the campground, close to where i got the flat in the first place.  he wouldn't take any money.  what a wonderful guy.  people like rene reaffirm my faith in humanity.

wonderful camp site on a huge reservoir.  almost no one else here.   water, elect, but pit toilets. picnic shelter in case of storms. 

 

and the forecasted thunderstorms held off during the night, but arrived with dawn.  i opted for caution (severe) thunderstorm with hail.  ha!  packed up and proceeded to wait it out for a couple of hours.  i hate waiting.  i spend most of the time wondering if i should take the chance and just go. strong tail wind.  i might not get on the road till noon and i've got 80 mi to lincoln, where a warmshower and beer await.  gray, windy, raining and cool.  i pulled out my rain jacket but am still cool.  hard to believe it was 99 and sunny yesterday.finally, the rain blows through and i start riding.  less than 10 miles down to 'the broken mug', a local christian coffee house in a church community building.  bagel sandwhich and chai and i'm ready to go again.  through downtown and heading south.

a few miles south of columbus, i cross the platte river.  broad and flat and sandy.  i saw a couple of air boats taking some people for a ride.  later i find out that the river is suffering drought conditions.  downstream, lincoln is struggling to get water and is looking at building a pipeline from the missouri.

this part of nebraska is beautiful.  nebraska has been such a surprise to me.  rolling hills, green hills filled with corn and soybeans. and trees.  of course, that means that i'm back to riding up and down hills, over and over.  my route is a combo of east and south legs.  for some reason, after the storm went through, the wind changed to out of the east.  so every east leg is up and down and into the wind.  south legs are much better.

but the final 20 miles, marvelous.  i turn south along oak creek, the road is flat, shoulder is perfectly smooth and the wind slightly from behind.  this is dream riding, even being tired and after having already ridden 60 miles.

finally into lincoln, i'm greated by a downtown dominated by the universty of nebraska athletics: football stadium, shinny new basketball arena, and a baseball stadium with a summer evening crowd in attendance.

then up 8th avenue and surprised by a huge urban redevelopment district, the hay market.  apparently a rail yard several years ago.  i'm impressed with the size, much bigger than knoxville's.  find out that lincoln has a 50% larger population than knoxville's plus it's the state capital.  

but the biggest surprise is when i pull up to my warmshower hosts' house.  outside is steve, sweeping the sidewalk.  i joke that he didn't need to do that for me.  then janine pops out all full of smiles and energy.  steve held my hand for a long time as i shook it and then there must have been something said because i take a deeper look at steve and, oh my, i recognize him.  and i'm staring and he nods his head 'yes' and i realize this is the steve carrick who was my housemate in knoxville, back in 1976-77 when we were vistas.  oh...my....god.