Category: Uncategorized

30 Miles, 1999.7 miles total.

This was a designated easy day, with at least two of us in need of some bonafide rest. Further justifying an easy day: it is my birthday. 

Probably the most difficult part of the day was at the very beginning of the ride, as while we had to climb out of our campsite in a creek revine. 

Me (Bob) and Steve took the paved road route to the town of Stuart, while Colin took the Cowboy Trail. We had a notable but not disabilitating headwind. This contributed to selecting the shortest of our optional rides for the day. 

The three of us rendezvoused in Stuart, Nebraska  in the lawn of the  St. Boniface Catholic Church — where the neighborhood cat was very, very glad to meet and greet us. 

The town of Stuart offers free tent camping with hot showers.  This surely validated our decision to keep the ride short today and call Stuart, Nebraska our home for the night. 

We enjoyed jalapeño stuffed sausages, a variety of bean salads, and a special cheesecake assortment for my birthday celebration. 

56.4 miles and 1966 miles overall

Today we woke to sunshine and left the delightful city park in Valentine, Nebraska, heading east towards Ainsworth with our ultimate destination being the Long Pines recreational campsite 9 miles east of Ainsworth proper. In a nutshell, today was a very successful challenging day. We picked up the Cowboy Trail in Valentine, a lovely rails to trails conversion. A 187 mile section form Valentine to Norfolk NE has been developed with a nice limestone fine gravel surface. Old trestles have been upgraded to make them safe for hikers, bikers and horseback riders. We continued down the Cowboy Trail until the town of Wooden Lake. At that point we took a leisurely lunch including a nap time requested by Steve, which was enjoyed by all. After lunch Colin continued down the Cowboy Trail. It was too loose and sandy for the likes of Bob and Steve so we hit the main highway and reunited with Colin in the county park in Ainsworth. We’ve generally been blessed with favorable winds but in the last couple days things have shifted a bit and that looks likely to continue for the next several days. Over the course of the day the winds shifted ending the day with a stiff breeze “on our nose.” Finally making camp we shared a can of peaches that gave us enough energy to make dinner. Dinner was andouille sausages with applewood smoked bacon mashed potatoes, a side of crispy, crunchy, sunflower, cabbage, salad, and dessert was little cinnamon buns.

63.6 miles today, 1910 miles overall

We spent all day today on the Bridges to Buttes Scenic Byway (also known as Nebraska Hwy 20).  This runs roughly alongside the Cowboy Trail which is undeveloped here so pretty hard going.  The road, however, is great.

Initially the surface and the shoulder were both the stuff of dreams, as smooth as you could wish for. 

However, after 10 miles we got onto an older surface; the main roadway had been resurfaced, but the shoulder had annoying bone shattering cracks every three to five pedal strokes. 

It was like this for the remainder of our journey so we moved between the travel-lane and the shoulder as traffic permitted (the traffic was light and forgiving).

Having crossed the state line into Nebraska last night, I owed a debt of beer to Bob and Steve.  Resolving that debt was foremost on our minds, but we stopped to take some photos along the way anyway.

I couldn’t help but notice this oddly specific road sign (the same sign seems to be used for all picnic areas, but this one matched perfectly).

We found the ‘Bordertown Saloon and Steakhouse’ in Kilgore and I was delighted to discover it was ‘$2 Tuesday’, so my debt repayment was quite economical (the chips cost the same as the beer). We had a great chat here with Lucy One Star and Edgar, from the Rosebud Sioux Reservation,  whose son was working behind the bar.

In the early afternoon we found ourselves in the central time zone, and missing an hour from our day.

I tried to call in a complaint…

After our refreshments we found a spot to eat lunch and pretty soon we were all napping, then looking up at the lovely cottonwoods.

When we arrived in Valentine we saw a sign for $0.99 ice cream cones at McDonald’s.  It didn’t take us long to decide those were a good idea (possibly for breakfast tomorrow as well).  Then we headed to the city park, where we intended to camp, and had another refreshment.

The campsite is nice (and cheap), but the facilities are rudimentary.  We’ve managed to shower and do some laundry; I’ve rigged up a laundry line between a tree and my bike, which may or may not hold all night.

Now the mosquitoes are out and we are trying to make dinner without becoming dinner ourselves (and largely failing).

A final note, we have become suspicious of the cows…

69 miles today, 1846 miles total.

Our day started about 5:00 AM with a spontaneous symphony of sound, including car alarms, a six year old boy imitating a 2 year year old boy, a dog barking, and more. This helped us get an early start on the day. 

There was not much rest today, as  the route included over 24 miles of a dirt surface, which wax pretty rough at times.

Lunch 1 was along the side of a dirt road in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which is home to the Oglala Lakota Nation. There a local gentleman stopped to check on our well being, he being not used to seeing bicyclists enjoying lunch in a grass field. 

As the route today was a bit taxing, we had lunch 2 in Martin, South Dakota in the town’s Hodson Memorial Park.  As we dined on fried chicken and salads, we noted how this town, and so many others, take great care of their memorial parks. 

This meal turned out to be our last meal if the day, providing the fuel to get to our lakeside camp space at Cottonwood State Recreation Area near Merriman, Nebraska. 

While in Martin, SD, Colin took a few minutes to mail some items home to lighten the load, since cold weather is now behind us (yah, sure).

Having now landed in Nebraska, Colin owes us all a beer. That’s in the plan for tomorrow.

Colin encounters his first flat of the ride.

38.5 miles and 1777 miles overall.

A short day today. We left at the crack of 8:15 AM concerned about the weather report forecasting sustained winds of 25 mph and building as the day progressed with gusts up to 45 mph later in the day. Our final destination today was Interior, South Dakota but the real objective was a tour through Badlands National Park. Had the winds not been from a favorable westerly direction we would have delayed the trip. The winds picked up as predicted and we were at the entrance to the park in short order. Our presence was announced by the dozens of inhabitants of the prairie dog town that was adjacent to the entrance gate. The two large bison also near the entrance paid us no mind.

The north entrance (via Wall, SD) brings you to the top of the cliffs of the Badlands. We stopped at the first overlook and the views were spectacular in spite of some haze from wildfires up in Manitoba.

We continued through the park checking out the views and the wildlife. Other than Colin’s dung beetle close ups most of the wildlife including bison, big horn sheep and prairie dogs, only showed themselves at a distance.

As you move through the park the road takes you down from the rim into the cliffs and eroded formations the eventually to the flat valley floor below.

Here’s the downhill video

Valley floor photo

All and all a thrilling ride through beautiful unusual terrain. Monster tail wind added to the excitement.

At camp we rested up, showered and got some laundry done. We also got the burgers and fries some of us have been craving for days.