June 25, 2024 to July 30, 2024
Days 9-14 - Valentine to Springview & TDN
...and now his ride has ended.
So I cut my tour short and caught a ride home. The winds of northern Nebraska beat me!
That's not to say I didn't have a blast during TDN! I met up with old friends and made some new ones. We had a lot of fun catching up and made some great new memories.
The route between Valentine & Springview was all one road - Hwy 12. It turned out to be a mostly headwind day, so I just put my head down and pushed on.
There was a good climb just a couple miles out of Valentine. At the top there was a marker for a scenic view. I rode a gravel road half-a-mile to the view and was somewhat underwhelmed. No river. Yes, you could see a long way, but it wasn't exactly breathtaking.
These birds were EVERYWHERE along Hwy 12. I had always thought of sandpipers as shore birds, but they apparently live out on the plains as well. They had a habit of running across the road and trying to lure you away from their nests (sort of like killdeers) but if you stopped they would keep approaching and then running away - it was weird!
I eventually got to Springview, and was early to check in. I stopped at the only local bar for a beer and met two riders who were pivotal in getting me home - Lucas & Jim from Orange County, CA. We would become friends over the next few days.
We had a spaghetti dinner at the local firehouse (one of several options). Jim was a former firefighter and was very interested in their equipment.
Storm coming in! I had paid for the tent service from the University of Nebraska. They do a really good job and set your tent up and transport your bags each day. Tuesday evening around 10pm there was a storm coming in to Springview, so I got everything into my tent and zipped in for the night. It STORMED! The wind seemed to want to lift my tent off the ground, and the rain was pounding! Fortunately there wasn't hail or tornado-level wind. It finally subsided around midnight and I got some sleep.
This is a typical remote rest stop. Trailer pulls up, unloads a table and then they have jugs of water, energy bars, watermelon slices, bananas, or other snacks. Once the last riders have passed, they pack up and move on. Usually there is a portajohn, so that's much appreciated!
Here's a typical lunch stop - this one had home-made fajitas with all the fixings! Even home-made salsa. Wish this could have been every day!
Jeff & Diane from near Scottsbluff, NE have done the TDN with me before. They have a unique ride - a dual-recumbant tricycle. With a fairing! Last time I did the ride with them I nicknamed it the SpeedSlug. It's slow going up hills, but you'll get run over if you get in their way on a downhill!
One of the perks of using the UNL tent-service is that they get up and start making coffee at 4:30 each morning, so it's ready by 5:00 am! Not only that, but it's some of the best coffee I've ever had! They french-press each pot and put it into dispensers. THIS gets me out on the road each morning!
I will add to that, that these UNL college students are some of the nicest, kindest, most interesting to talk to, and intelligent young adults I've ever met. Every time I worry about the youth of America, these kids make me think everything might be just fine!
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Camp site -day 2. All the identical tents are the UNL service tents - anything else is someone's individual tent. It ends up being about 80-110 tents at most stops.
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Today's ride: 235 miles (378 km)
Total: 724 miles (1,165 km)
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