August 22, 2024
Day 39 - ending at Crete, NE
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Fortunately I woke up at 4:48am this morning, since I have a long mileage day planned (65 miles). I hope to be at Tuxedo Park in Crete, Nebraska this evening. But I had more immediate concerns. There was a pretty good storm west of here that looked like it would certainly make it to Hebron within an hour or two. This got me hustling to get packed and get the tent down. The bike was loaded and I was ready to leave at 6:22am.
Now I had to decide where to hang out until this rain passed. There is a restaurant downtown that opens at 7:30am - Blue Bison. The Shell gas station was already open, but I could see from Google Maps Street View that they have no overhang to park the bike under. Then I remembered that in 2016, a local resident had told me that most town folks eat at the hospital. There'd certainly be a protected place there to park the bike, so that's where I headed to. I'd been hearing some distant thunder, and saw a bolt of lightning as I made my way there. The cafe at the hospital is Little Blue Bistro. They were closed. I looked them up on my phone and found they don't open till 11:00am. So I made my way back into town and parked under the overhang at Blue Bison at 6:50am. The weather radar showed the storm had slowed down and was decreasing in intensity, though it looked like it was still going to rain here.
There were a couple of outdoor tables and chairs where I was, so I sat down and worked on pictures selection. A little later, two ladies walked up, asked about my trip, then went inside the restaurant. Soon the OPEN sign was lit and I went in. I found out the workers names later; they are Hannah and Deb. They made me feel so welcomed. Hannah set me up at a table with an outlet so I could charge my phone, then took my order. It finally started raining, but it certainly wasn't a storm. Hannah asked if I wanted to bring my bike inside, but it was well protected under the awning. Deb cooked my breakfast. While I was eating Deb came out with two more eggs, saying she wasn't happy with the way the first two had come out. After I'd finished my four-egg breakfast, I had a scone and an apple fritter for dessert. I had ice in my thermos and as much coffee as I could hold. This stop worked out so well.
It had stopped raining by the time I was back outside. I headed east through town to Casey's for Gatorade. Finally all set to go at 9:00am, heading north on US-81 again for a few miles. I checked this morning my made-at-home routing, and saw that I had mapped out some gravel roads to ride on today. What was I thinking on such a long mileage day!? So, referring to my DeLorme paper maps, I made a new route as I went. At 9:48am I left US-81 for good for this trip, turning east on 85D Spur, which would take me through Belvidere and Alexandria.
I arrived in Belvidere at 9:56am. Apparently Belvedere is big on railroading - a double-track main line passes through town, and their park is named Whistle Stop Station. I was quite surprised heading east out of town that I was on a gravel road. I thought the thick red lines on my DeLorme maps indicated paved roads. I don't know. Anyway it was slow going. Eventually I was right parallel with the railroad tracks. This gave me an opportunity for some train pictures, and also to see a wrecked coal car. The last mile into Alexandria was paved. I arrived in that town right at noon. My morning progress was only 19.6 miles. Anyway I was back on pavement heading north on NE-53. I pulled out an old Nebraska Bicycling Map I have, which does a better job of showing which roads are not gravel.
The same strong southeast wind that's been here most of this week was still present today. That made going north a breeze, and going east work. By now I had completely thrown out my original routing plan. At 12:41pm I turned east onto NE-4, which put me in Daykin at 1:14pm. I stopped at Farmer's Cooperative for lunch there.
At 2:38pm, I turned back north, this time on NE-15. Finally at 3:54pm I turned east on NE-41, which would get me to Wilber. I hadn't planned to be in Wilber twice on this trip, but that ended up making the most sense as I routed as I went. The only problem with the paved roads I was on today is they have almost no shoulder. So I was doing a lot of traffic checking and pulling off when needed. From Wilber I planned to take NE-103 north to Crete, where the campground is. And I know NE-103 has a wide shoulder. So that's how that came about.
I arrived in Wilber at 5:31pm. And since I was in Wilber, I decided I'd have supper again at Czech'erd Flag Bar. When I went in, there was a local lady there selling baked goods. I bought some cookies to go with my supper. When I was leaving she insisted that I take some cinnamon rolls with me for breakfast tomorrow. How kind! I passed a Dollar General Store on my way north out of town, so bought a canned coffee to go with the rolls tomorrow morning.
NE-103 does have a wide shoulder, but I'd forgotten it's not in the best of shape. So I wasn't zooming along. It was more like a care-free after-supper ride for 11 miles.
I was at NE-33 in Crete at 7:44pm. After two wrong turns I finally found the campground. I'm set up at Site #5, which has electricity.
I'm kind of tired tonight. It sure was fun to meet more kind, helpful people today, and have everything work out in spite of the weather delay and long miles.
Jeff
Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 1,435 miles (2,309 km)
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