Day Seventeen: Norton, Kansas to Curtis, Nebraska

September 28, 2022

I was tired of my recent late-ish starts, so I was ready this morning to ride out as soon as it was light. I biked quickly through town without stopping to buy snacks - I'd already loaded my handlebar bag last night - and turned north onto US-283. The Kansas and Nebraska bicycle maps indicated that this would be relatively low-traffic for 20 miles, when I planned to exit onto a different Nebraska rural highway,

It was great to be out so early.

In twelve miles I entered Nebraska.

Traffic was pretty light, but it was almost all large trucks. This section of the highway has minimal paved shoulders. Several times I just pulled off into the dirt shoulder when a truck passed. I had a tailwind, and was making good time, so I didn't mind doing this occasionally.

In twenty miles I reached the junction of US-283 and NE-89. Beaver City, to the east, had services, but I went west instead.

NE-89 was much, much quieter than US-283. Very nice.

In about four miles I turned into Hendley, population 24. I did not expect much of Hendley.

I rode up to a store, the "Country Corner", which appeared to be closed.

The store seemed pretty decrepit, but on a whim, I tried the door, and it opened.

I walked inside, called out "Hello!", and in about 20 seconds, out walked Larry.

His opening question: "Are you the bicyclist I saw on TV last night?"

It sounded like a cyclist riding coast-to-coast was interviewed by a local television station yesterday. I laughed and told Larry that no, it wasn't me, and that, believe it or not, there's more than person who does these long bicycle trips.

Larry was a very friendly guy. I attempted to buy something, as I always do when I visit these tiny rural stores, but Larry told me my money was no good, and insisted I pick something out, so I chose a free Diet Pepsi from the cooler.

The store was also the local post office. Larry told me that the Postal Service had attempted to close it down, but that he had organized a letter-writing campaign to prevent the closure.

The inventory in the store was dominated by Busch Light beer. Larry confirmed that it was by far the most popular item he stocked, and was favored by the local ranchers who were his main clientele.

Larry checked out my bike, asked about the tires (of course), and then requested that I send him a postcard when I finished my trip. I assented, then rode away.

More nice miles to the next town, Wilsonville, population 93.

Wilsonville appeared to be a near-ghost-town. I didn't see anyone around.

There was one open business, which I guessed was a beauty shop.

I was amused by the very laconic message on the door of the place:

Jan was a woman of few words - I suppose she felt no need to apologize or provide any excuses or details about raising her prices.

It was about fifteen miles on nice, low-traffic NE-47 to Cambridge, population 1,063,

My initial impression of Cambridge was negative: The first place I saw as I entered the town was this junky place with the hand-lettered signs that are typical of a certain type of rural supporter of the previous president:

But once past that place, Cambridge looked like a tidy, prosperous town. I went into a bar and grill and ate a cheese pizza. I've finally grown weary of cheese pizza on this trip, and actually left a little of it unfinished. Unprecedented.

I left Cambridge on a dirt road, and then on a super-bumpy chip seal road.

The bumpiness eventually subsided. This was a nice, low-traffic road. The massive tailwind I had made the miles fly by.

The "local road" turned into NE-18. It was as empty as the chip seal local road.

I stopped in Stockville, population 25, where nothing much was happening.

I was in a hurry to get to my destination for the day: Curtis, population 939. The tailwind pushed me along.

Curtis was a neat little town, whose primary reason for existence appeared to be the presence there of the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture.

I checked into a nicer-grade of motel than I'd patronized recently, then walked a few blocks back to town and bought groceries at the small, nice supermarket. In a rare change, I bought some fruit - blueberries - along with the chocolate milk, ice cream, and other junk I usually purchase.

I didn't have a route figured out for tomorrow, so I worked on that for a while, but went to bed without having a definite plan for getting through and/or around the big city of North Platte.

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Today's ride: 89 miles (143 km)
Total: 1,132 miles (1,822 km)

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