Day 37 - June 9 - Arapahoe, NE to McCook, NE - Two Old Guys Take On A Continent

June 9, 2023

Day 37 - June 9 - Arapahoe, NE to McCook, NE

Almost Like a Day Off

Ed’s Story

The day began like any other day. Except it didn’t. We got up later than usual, and we left later than usual. This was OK because we knew we only had 40 miles to ride.

Additionally, John had to spend a lot of time talking to Brian, the camper he met last night from Oklahoma City. He tried to blame leaving later on me for getting up late, but then admitted he was doing a lot of talking. John had a new BFF (biking friend forever).

I mentioned last night about the trains. Well, it turns out there were only two trains that came through during the night. After the initial wake up due to the horn, I fell back asleep. We have camped in other places on other rides where the trains pass by every 15 minutes or so. We were lucky.

With the exception of the last 10 miles, the road was effectively flat. I talked about the road berm yesterday. Well the berm was with us the entire 40 miles today. In some places it was as wide as a road lane and just as smooth. That is one of the reasons for a good ride time today.

Religion in the heartland…a view from the road.

Who would have thought there were pioneer Bohemian settlers out in Nebraska.

We stopped in Cambridge for an orange juice and banana break. It was there John remembered he had a letter waiting for him in Indianola.

We continued on briefly stopping in Bartley looking for the CENEX gas/convenience store supposedly there. It wasn’t so back on the road.

We arrived in Indianola and as John went to the post office I visited the local Ag Coop Convenience store for more OJ and a snack.

Another veterans memorial…this one at the entrance to Indianola.

We ran into about 5 hills the last 10 miles before McCook but we surpassed them easily.

We arrived in McCook and found Katerina Park, our home for the night. There are 9 RV spots here each with electric, and a watery hydrant in the middle. This is a free camping spot but donations are requested. We donated $10 to the cause. It might have been more as this is a nice spot, but there are no showers at this facility.

We worked our way to the Loop Brewing Company for lunch. Pizza and a beer (or two) hit the spot.

All the beers on tap were named after some train related item.

After lunch it was off to the YMCA for our $2.00 shower. They couldn’t just take your two dollars; they needed to put your life history into their computer for tracking purposes. I was waiting for them to ask for a sample of my DNA . On top of that they did not provide towels either.

We found a grocery store on Google maps. However, when we got there, it was no longer a grocery store. We checked out a little Mexican grocery shop, but they did not have what we needed. We ended up going further west and shopping at Gary’s Supermarket. I intend to have another salad tonight. I bought a bag of lettuce, a pepper, and tomato. I also bought a can of chickpeas that I might add.

As I started writing the journal this evening, two other touring cyclists pulled into the camp. Len and Tyler are following basically our same route only backwards. They will not end up in DC but will go to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where they are from.

Len and Tyler, father and son, the latest two tourers we’ve met.

They gave us some idea of what to expect on the road ahead of us. Additionally, they will be sending us the names of several other WarmShower hosts. We probably already have them on our list, but it doesn’t hurt to verify.

Oh by the way, the trains are back. There is another set of tracks near here but not as close. I have heard some car switching. Will let you know tomorrow if they impact my sleep.

Tomorrow is a 53 mile day to the Ender State Recreation Area. I will report on it then but the word on the street is to bring quarters for your shower, as the shower is not free. Additionally we shift to Mountain Time sometime tomorrow.

Until then , happy biking!

John’s Story

We were tooling along early this morning and our GPS devices said turn left onto this road. It was hard to tell there was even a road there, though we did find one, but it was a gravel double track. We opted not to follow the route and stayed on the highway. Five or 6 miles later the GPS map showed that road reconnecting with the highway. That’s the picture below. You can see what we would’ve been riding on. When we were visiting with our WarmShowers host in Franklin, he told us about all of the irrigation canals in this part of Nebraska, each with a gravel road paralleling it for maintenance. I think that’s what this road was.

Michael in Franklin talked about getting out onto the irrigation canal roads with his gravel bike to explore. We were not so adventurous.

This trail was used for military expeditions that dealt with hostile tribes in the area. The simple marker is typical of those we've seen in Nebraska.

Time for some road signs.

I really like the Nebraska highway signs with the prairie schooner logo.

They use the same logo for historical markers.

Living in Oklahoma, I’m used to seeing Historic Route 66 signs. There seems to be a digit missing.

Do you know what these are, Johnny? You might need to ask your mom and dad.

Here’s another view of the same sort of thing.

And last but not least in the Johnny photo portfolio today, a giant tractor pulling a giant piece of farm equipment behind it.

It’s been a few days since I put a “hills” picture in the journal. I’ve added this one because it’s the first time that the horizon wasn’t smooth. I can see evidence on the hill in the far center distance of possible erosional remnants standing proud of the landscape. The first thing I thought of was Chimney Rock in western Nebraska, but it is over a 200 mile drive away to the northwest. We’ll come a lot closer to it after we enter northeastern Colorado in a few days, but I don’t think we’ll be able to see it. I do believe that what I’m seeing on the horizon here is something similar. Maybe we’ll get a closer look at it tomorrow.

We talk about how “flat“ it was today, except for the few hills leading into McCook, but all day we were slowly gaining elevation on our way to the Continental Divide.

Here’s the profile of our ride today. Flat indeed!

Finally, a town with a brewery in it that’s open on the day we are stopping there! A miracle! Notify the media! Ed and I shared a large pizza and a couple of beers for lunch. I’m still so full at dinner time I’ve eaten almost nothing. But it was worth it.

About the time we left the brewery to go to the YMCA to shower, storm clouds started brewing. All of the storms formed north or south or east of us and moved to the east, so we didn’t get any rain. That’s fine, because all of the cool air falling out of the thunderstorms is blowing past us right now, and the evening is quite pleasant.

Just in case more storms decide to pop up west of us, I better batten down the hatches, so good night.

Late breaking news. Met another touring cyclist about dark. Ben left San Francisco and headed north to Redding, then east across Nevada and has ended up here. He is headed to Maine, but does not have a set itinerary, just playing it day by day. He says he wants to start paying attention to where other people have stayed in the past because he has stayed in a lot of sketchy places since he left California and a number of times has had to jump a fence to camp in a farmer’s field.

Ben is winging it on his way across the country. He’s a lot braver than I am! We had to step under a street light to get a decent picture since it’s already dark.

Here’s the Pernell Roberts hit for today.

Sylvie

Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 2,173 miles (3,497 km)

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