Entry for Monday, 7 June 1999

Photo 1. Meeting for breakfast at the Hacienda Restaurant in Gordon, NE.

Photo 2. Leaving Gordon, NE behind in the early morning.

Photo 3. View of the Sandhills of Nebraska.

Photo 4. Sign on the door of the only gas station in Merriman, NE (pop. 91).

Photo 5. Self portrait.

Photo 6. The gas station in Kilgore, NE.

Photo 7. Owner of the Kilgore gas station fixing a lawn mower.

Photo 8. Nebraska sky over the Sandhills.

Last Modified on 6/8/99 at 6:50:57

Day's Narrative: This was a beautiful day.

The Hacienda Restaurant opens at 5:00 AM -- dawn. I didn't get there then, but I managed to at 5:45. I had my usual eggs, sausage and hash browns. On the restaurant walls were local art. One that I remember was a painted, wooden cutout of a sheep inscribed with "Ewes my Favorite Girl." Pretty bad.

Photo 1 shows the early morning breakfast group at the Hacienda Restaurant-- all with their hats on.

This is the Sandhills section of Nebraska. A hundred years ago these hills were sand and considered uninhabitable. In the 1880's they were settled by ranchers, and over the years the hills were covered with grass. Now the Sandhills are some of the most successful cattle growing country in the US.

The first store after Gordon was at Merriman (pop. 200) 30 miles down the road. Photo 4 shows the sign on the front door of the Merriman gas station. This is really true, as anyone who has lived in a small town can tell you.

Connie caught up with me about five miles after Merriman and I unloaded some of the cold weather clothing I was carrying and had a banana and a Fresca. We agreed to meet for lunch 11 miles further in the next town, Cody.

On the the cash register at the restaurant in Cody was the sign "State your problem briefly then leave quietly and no one will get hurt." We had burgers for lunch. I have discovered that a hamburger gives me a real energy charge. After lunch we decided to stay in the Super 8 Motel Valentine because the motel had a guest laundry and the Comfort Inn did not.

Five miles of the road after Cody was under construction, so Connie carried me over it. I didn't mind a bit at this point. I really didn't want to ride 90 miles today anyway.

Sections of this road, US 20, have small ditches every 50 feet or so which are so bad that I couldn't sit on the seat when riding over them. I suspect that the tar and gravel surface was laid over an original concrete road, and over the years the concrete slabs have separated, creating small "ditches." This really slowed my time since in order to avoid banging my bottom on the bike seat I had to stop pedaling every 50 feet.

This section of road through the Sandhills has even less traffic than before. Sometimes 15 or 20 minutes would go by without meeting a car in either direction. I got to the point of waving at the cows, then I mooed when passing several. All they did was look at me as if I were stupid.

The wind was calm until 7:30 AM, then I had a slight tailwind until about 11:00. As the road began to change direction during the day the wind gradually became a headwind. For the last hour of riding I slowed to 10 mph with a 15 mph headwind.

This country, the Great Plains, really gives me a feeling of freedom. That's not exactly the right word, but riding along with a 180 degree view all around, and only the sound of the wind, and a few birds flying around, is a real experience. I grew up in Kentucky where you can only see a wedge of sky between the trees. Having lived in the West for 27 years now, I could never go back to that little wedge of sky between the trees.

At the town of Kilgore I stopped at the gas station and had a Pepsi -- no Cokes available. I had a long talk with the owner who declined to pose for an internet photo, but I did capture him working on a lawn mower.

From Kilgore to Valentine was 23 miles. I counted on stopping at Crankston (pop. 99) 11 miles down the road for more water, but I discovered that Crankston did not have a store. This is the first time on this trip a small town has not had a store. I came into Valentine at 5 PM (Central Time) with an empty water bottle and immediately drank two Frescas.

This was a long ride for me and I was bushed. Of course, all bicyclers should try and maintain their invincible image, so I have developed some rules to give the appearance of being refreshed even when you are exhausted.

1. Always wave at passersby and cars. People think if you can wave you can't be tired.
2. Dress spiffy. A nice bicycle jersey and shorts gives the appearance of being a professional. People think that if you are dressed like this that you are good and couldn't be tired.
3. Pedal fast, even if you have to downshift to do it. Bicyclers who are tired always pedal slowly.

We will stay here tomorrow night. Tomorrow we want to ride to the town of Sparky on the tandem.

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© Ray & Connie Poore, 1998