July 3, 2019
Day Twenty-four: Edgemont, South Dakota to Chadron, Nebraska
I was tired from yesterday's long ride. Also, I was not especially enthused about today's ride, since, like yesterday's time on the Mickelson Trail, I would once again be riding something (in the reverse direction) that I'd already done three years ago. And I didn't remember it as being especially exciting then.
I finally got everything on the bike, returned my key, and then spent a few minutes talking to one of the guests, a young Englishwoman who was studying something in the area for her PhD. I wasn't quite clear on what her research was about - something about "preppers" in the region, maybe? It sounded like she had been living at the motel for a while, and told me that the lady who ran the place was being treated for cancer ("I'm nosy, and I just asked her.")
I rode out of town past the familiar sites from three years ago, notably the "Loads of Fun" laundromat, where I spent an incredibly hot hour and a half three years ago washing our clothes in the un-airconditioned place. Ah, memories.
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It was a nice morning, but I wasn't feeling it today. I probably shouldn't have laughed at those boys walking their bikes on the trail yesterday. Today I was the one who was "SoTiredNow."
I stopped in tiny, decrepit Provo and looked around a little bit, investigating an old, closed-for-years store.
As I walked back to the bike, I realized I'd walked past a large-ish snake several times. Unlike all the snake roadkill I'd see in the next couple of days, this one was very much alive.
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The pavement ended, and I endured several miles of rough gravel. I foolishly had not eaten anything this morning before heading out, and the combination of rough gravel, a headwind, and a rumbling stomach meant that this section was not Loads of Fun.
I left the gravel State Route 471 and got on a paved road. I looked around another near-ghost-town, but didn't step off the road and into the possibly snake-infested weeds this time.
I entered Nebraska and struggled up and down a series of long rollers. I ate M&Ms but still felt listless.
I was in the Oglala National Grassland for a while, which was pleasant, especially with the light traffic, but I was near bonking. I needed real food.
Finally, at nearly 60 miles, I reached Crawford, and immediately headed for the Dairy Sweet, which I remembered fondly from three years ago. The picnic tables had been enclosed since I was there last, which was a major improvement from three years ago when Joy and I had been plagued by flies while eating our food. The woman running the place, and the two girls helping her, were super-friendly.
There was an old man eating there with his family, and he asked me about my trip. He had an unusual conversational style, in that he would ask a followup question ten minutes after the last question. Several times I thought the conversation had ended, and then I would be startled when he would would ask something like "and how many miles do you do a day?"
I'd thought I might stay in Crawford, but the food had energized me, and I headed toward Chadron, which was 23 miles away. Now, after a day and a half of revisiting stuff that Joy and I had done three years ago, I was on a new road, which helped motivate me to keep going.
There was construction for about ten miles, but it wasn't a problem. The flaggers were friendly and helpful, as they almost always are when I'm bike touring.
I arrived in Chadron, population five-thousand-something-and-big-enough-to-have-a-walmart, and checked into the Best Western.
I must have made a positive impression on the lady running the place, because after I told her that I mostly just wanted a quiet room where I could sleep, she said "I'll tell you what... you can have a jacuzzi suite for the same price as a single. It's pretty far from the other rooms"
This turned out to be an incredible upgrade - a huge, fancy suite.
I walked to the Walmart while it spit rain, bought chocolate milk, ice cream, a frozen pizza, and soft drinks, then walked back to my suite. Ten minutes after I got inside, the rain came down.
Today's ride: 82 miles (132 km)
Total: 1,949 miles (3,137 km)
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5 years ago
5 years ago
However, I'd totally be up for sleeping in a jail... As long as it was empty.
5 years ago
I stayed in the Best Western in Chadron many times when visiting my parents who were in a retirement home just down the hill. Nice place, good people.
Cheers,
Keith
5 years ago