07.31.2023 - lincoln to omaha

last day of july; last day in nebraska.

spent sunday with my long lost housemate and his wife walking the hay market area of lincoln and then over for a tour of the state capital.  the state capital building was built in the late 1920's to early 30's.  full of art deco mosaics and decorative work.

i think i learned more about steve in this short stay than i did in 11 months living together.  it was good to see him and interesting to hear about how his life has played out so far.

on monday, the rain held off till early morning, but only delayed my departure about an hour.  i said my goodbyes and heading out of lincoln on one of the many bike paths.

janine, steve's wife, is the serious biker and she's all about gravel.  nebraska doesn't pave many roads, so gravel biking is separate from and bigger than mountain biking.  she's pretty serious and consumed by it.  it made me feel a little guilty about having a preference for asphalt.  so when the paved trail ended, i decided to go the last couple of miles on gravel andcdirt.  that was no problem until the very end where the gravel disappeared and there was a short, muddy trail up a bank.  no traction, so i had to walk it up and by the time i was done, just a couple of minutes, my bike was all gunked up, mud packed in the crevices between frame, brakes and tires.  and then, from the trail to the highway heading to omaha, the final 2 1/2 miles was gravel, wet gravel mixed with mud from the rain.  by the time i got to the highway, the bike needed a good hosing.   stopped at a convenience store and, using a platic straw, cleaned the mud off the frame and brakes.

after that, two lane shoulder, highway 6, and a pretty typical ride.  as i got to the heavier traffic, i was planning to switch to a side road.  sometimes google can be very misleading and not give you all the information.

so i went with plan b.  eventually, after 10 miles on 4 lane highways with a lot of traffic but comfortable shoulders, i hooked into omaha's extensive, and paved, trail system.  the most noticeable thing was the vast amount of space along the trails.  one side appeared to be drainage canals, the other side either corn/soybean fields or large parks and recreational fields.

of course, it always helps if the end dedtination is a brewery.  

after reaching the city proper and making my way through and around to the north, at about 5pm, i pulled into zipline brewing and met up with my warmshower host, christopher.  christopher, as it turns out, is originally from wisconsin, just one town north of manitowoc, where i had taken the badger ferry across lake michigan 10 years ago.  he's lived in omaha where he works for union pacific railroad for the last 16 years.  misses wisconsin, where goes back to ride with his dad every year.

after a couple of imperial stouts, it was time to walk to his apartment, past the stadium where they host the college world series every year, to the heart of downtown and the newly renovated garden like mall, for dinner and a good nights sleep.  he made a big pan of a pasta casserole, think i had three helpings and some ice cream to top it off.