August 25, 2019
Day 21 - ending at McCook, NE
I was up at 5:06am and ready to leave the motel at 6:40am. No rain showed on the weather radar, but it was foggy out. I rode south, back through downtown, to the Kwik Stop for size AA batteries, ice, and two bottles of Gatorade. Carrying/drinking Gatorade every day is something new for me, but the bottles do carry well sitting wedged in around the flag pole. I also bought breakfast at the Kwik Stop, and received a surprise "Good Morning" from the motel owner, who was sitting there with a bunch of other guys. I was on my way at 7:13am.
Today's destination was Karrer Park in McCook. It was about eight miles farther away than I had planned, since I'd shortened my previous riding day. US-6 was the road I took, which was mostly southeast for me. The southeast wind was still blowing, but not as strong. I had my flashers on because of the fog. It was sure damp. I had drops of water dripping off the rim of the visor of my helmet, and I could hardly see through my glasses.
I passed Enders at 8:12am, and a little later, Enders State Recreation Area, where I should have been camping last Friday night. I took a break at 9:37am when I arrived at Wauneta. The fog had lifted some, so I turned off my flashers before continuing.
When things dried out enough, I turned on my radio, listening to 102.1MHz - KZMC, a country music station, which was recalling hits/news from 1980. At 10:05am I entered Hayes County and was back in the Central Time Zone. I lost an hour since it was now 11:05am (CDT). So, just past Hamlet, noon arrived. The noon report is 27.8 miles.
Palisade was ahead. I left the highway at 1:05pm to ride through the town. Their dirt/sand town streets were quite rideable. Palisade had a place open for lunch, but I wasn't really hungry. East of Palisade, US-6 has no paved shoulder, but traffic was light.
I was at the US-6/NE-25 intersection at 2:23pm. Since the front tire looked low, I stopped to check the pressure: 8psi! I decided to put on the new Kenda tire I'd purchased in Scottsbluff, and use one of the new tubes. Done and ready to go at 3:12pm.
At 4:12pm I arrived where US-6 joins US-34. Now I had a wide shoulder. The highway - up on a hill - kind of bypasses Culbertson on its north side. I was there at 4:35pm. McCook was next. The sun was shining bright now. As I got closer to McCook, there were dozens of billboards. The Arby's one caught my eye. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted an Arby's supper!
I rode up to the McCook Arby's at 6:09pm. As is typical for me, I ordered from the picture ads I saw: Bacon Beef n Cheddar, Orange Cream Shake, and Apple Turnover.
My route from Arby's to Karrer Park was mostly on roads south of the main highway. This route brought me past the BNSF depot, so I checked the place out. They're renovating, but inside it is still impressive.
I arrived at Karrer Park, on the east side of town, at 7:24pm. It was fairly full of campers, but I found a spot to set up the tent. As soon as I was done, I noticed the bike's new front tire was flat! There was just enough daylight left to work on that. I believe the flat was due to a goathead thorn I'd pulled out a little earlier. I don't think this tire has any puncture protection, so I switched back to the old CityRIDE tire that was on the bike this morning, after pulling out two truck retread wires from that tire and patching the two holes in the tube.
Worked some on picture selection for the report, but I was falling asleep. This will go better after a good night's sleep, which I got started on at 10:20pm.
Jeff
Spent: $16.39 (breakfast, Gatorade, AA batteries) + $10.27 (supper) + $10 (camping donation) = $36.66
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plains_leopard_frog
5 years ago
Today's ride: 64 miles (103 km)
Total: 783 miles (1,260 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 6 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 2 |
sidewalks and gutters but no paving .... just packed sand. Amazing ... and probably very cost-effective.
5 years ago
The streets in Palisade were actually quite rideable. Lots of towns had streets like this. There were several even in the "big city" of Beatrice.
Jeff
5 years ago