Monday August 24, 2009

RIDE ACROSS NEBRASKA.

This blog entry will cover Wednesday August 19 through Monday August 24. Wednesday was a great day. Not a very good day for riding a bicycle because it rained all day. I just stayed in the “Mormon Trail Motel” and relaxed. Injuries incurred on my legs at Lake Powell needed time to heal anyway. I had time to plan the route and where I would attend Church on Sunday. I decided to go to Grand Island Nebraska. There are two wards there. It was about 160 miles away. I thought “no problem – I have three days, that is less than 60 miles per day”.

On the first day riding in Nebraska (Thursday 8/20) I did not encounter as many hills as I had in Iowa. However, there was a big problem: a 20 MPH headwind gusting to 30 MPH. A headwind makes a big difference. I was only able to ride between 7 – 8 MPH which means each mile takes 7 – 8 minutes of pain. My attitude suffered greatly because I was not able to see rapid progress as the miles passed so slowly. I rode 39 miles while expending more effort than 75 miles would normally take. I camped at a very nice “Fremont State Park Campground” that had a “Mormon Trail Historical Marker” nearby.

Friday 8/21 was more of the same. I fought really hard to ride 48 miles against a 20 MPH headwind blowing from the west. I camped at an abandoned Wal-Mart in Columbus, Nebraska. I did not arrive until after dark.

Saturday 8/22 I really had my work cut out for me. If I wanted to attend Church on Sunday I needed to ride 70 miles to Grand Island, Nebraska. Given my experience with the wind for the last two days it looked like a very hard day. However the wind died down and I was able to ride to Grand Island in time to take a shower and wash my clothes so I was all ready for Church. It was the easiest day of the past 3 days. Truck Stops are a great invention. The shower is expensive ($10.00) but you can wash your clothes while you shower and they usually have a restaurant so you can also eat while waiting for your clothes to wash and dry. It really saves a lot of time.

It is amazing how much a beautiful day – clear, sunny, cool, blue sky and no wind helps your attitude. It was fun to be outdoors riding a bicycle on Saturday. I watched the miles fly by at 4 minutes per mile. I helped a farmer catch a cow that had been wandering back and forth across the highway. The Platte River valley is absolutely flat. The little towns are about 10 miles apart. As soon as I left one town I could see the silos and water tower of the next town. It gave me a goal, something to ride to. The pioneers also made good progress through Nebraska.

The Nebraska Highways are in excellent shape. They are well maintained: no potholes, no cracks, no crumbling at the edges. But the most important thing is that they have a big wide shoulder for bicycles to ride on. Most of the shoulders are 6 foot wide. It is much safer for the bicyclist and for cars too. Cars do not have to cross over the centerline into oncoming traffic in order to pass a bicyclist without hitting him or scaring him.

Sunday August 23. I attended the Grand Island 2nd Ward at 9:00am. They had a great set of meetings. After church Bishop John Henderson and his wife Sylvia invited me to their house for dinner. They are an outstanding couple, fun to talk to with many family experiences and grandchild stories to relate. They also invited another interesting new ward member to dinner: Sister Jeanne Williams. We had a great dinner, a great discussion and even took a walk around the lake on their property. They have seven acres made to order for grandchild adventures. Sister Henderson related a number of extraordinary missionary experiences that her mother had as she strived to share the joy and happiness the gospel brings with friends and acquaintances. Everyone had interesting stories to tell. It was a pleasant, relaxing afternoon. They all seemed like family. I guess we are all brothers and sisters. Sunday night I stayed at the Comfort Inn so I could catch up on this blog.

Monday 8/24. I intend to go to the “Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer” and also find some 160 year old wagon ruts that have hardened in the mud.