Day 4 - Kimball to Scottsbluff - Younger on Two Wheels 2024: Nebraskathon - CycleBlaze

June 20, 2024

Day 4 - Kimball to Scottsbluff

Well this was a much more pleasant day than yesterday! Warmer, lighter winds, and a route I've done twice before, so it's familiar.

Morning in Nebraska
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As hot and dry or even as stormy as the afternoons can get, Nebraska mornings always seem to get off to a beautiful start.

Rollers
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Most of the route to Scottsbluff is these gentle rollers. This highway has a nice wide shoulder, two lanes for traffic to share, and nothing too steep or long. Perfect summer riding!

Scottsbluff is over that ridge and maybe the one after that.
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I never get tired of looking at these sandstone formations
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I asked them to pose...
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I need to climb that pass
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2-mile hill over Wildcat Ridge
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No sound but imagine the sound of panting...

View from Wildcat Ridge visitor's center
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American Goldfinch (taken at the Wildcat Ridge visitor's center)
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Showy Milkweed (also at the visitor's center)
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The reward - downhill at nearly 40mph!

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Deb AydelotteCan you smell the beet processing plant?
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5 months ago

I got to Scottsbluff way too early to check into my hotel, so stopped for lunch. Around 3pm as I was approaching the hotel, the sky was looking pretty ominous to the west.

Storm's a comin'
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I checked in, while several guests were figuring out how to stack their cars under the hotel's covered entranceway as hail was predicted.

Soon after, I got a warning on my phone that baseball-sized hail was possible!

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It did come, but nothing bigger than large marbles. Here's the view from my hotel window:

Pretty glad I wasn't still trying to ride my bike. That would have been nasty!

Tomorrow I head northeast to Alliance, NE. Highs in the 70s with light winds, so it should be a nice ride!

Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 245 miles (394 km)

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Deb AydelotteYikes! Do you have hail insurance?
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5 months ago
John AydelotteI think it's called life insurance when a baseball-sized hailstone takes me out!
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5 months ago