Week 127: to Norfolk:

August 30, 2017

"After each rolling crest, I'm hoping to see a flatter road instead of another dip" Rachel says. That doesn't happen until about 5 miles away from Stanton.

Yesterday evening a couple of huge camper trailers with what looks like bunkbed style sleeping pulled into the campground. Not much later a bus full of Mexican workers shows up. There is going to be a carnival in town for the Labor Day weekend. The guys are not overly loud, but they have some buddies in sports cars who like to drive on the grass...... We move our tent between some trees to be safe.

We sleep okay, but with so many people in the campground and the busy road nearby it is not one of our better campsites. In the morning we pack up and head north on 15. Through town and for about another ten kilometers the shoulder is nice, then it just disappears. The road is fairly narrow and there is a lot of truck traffic. Most truckers are okay, but there are a few who don't move over much, or feel it is necessary to honk while passing. The truckers are like us on bikes...wanting the most momentum from the downhill to get up the uphill. It's very obvious on the long straight rolling road, the truckers goal is speed. The worry is how much control they have if they really needed to stop quickly.

We hope for a shoulder on route 92 but no such luck. There is a detour in effect for route 15 that is our route. Again for route 57 north, but again no shoulder. Traffic is lighter here though. Stanton seems like a nice town. We fix a sandwich on a bench across from a brewpub and ponder having a beer. No, not with 20 km to go. The road into Norfolk finally has a shoulder for us.

We have to go a couple of kilometers to the northeast of Norfolk to our warmshowers hosts Sara and Sean. It is still fairly early, time to enjoy conversation with our hosts and a beer. Later this evening they will fix brats and potato salad.

Route 15 loses its shoulder soon. Not much fun with the trucks.

Patrick wants a green and yellow car. One of these preferably.

Taking a snack break. The shoulder is just temporary.

Rachel spots this treasure in a Stanton garage.

Mailbox and bicycle sign at our hosts, Sarah and Sean, place in Norfolk.

Today's ride: 92 km (57 miles)
Total: 38,441 km (23,872 miles)

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