McCook, Nebraska

Nebraska is the 6th state we have entered. It was only 15 kms from our starting point in Wray, CO, but I did not take a picture of the sign since it was so badly shot up. That seems to be a national sport around here, shooting at all the traffic signs with a rifle or shotgun. At a certain point along today’s route we were within 1 mile of the state of Kansas and some cyclists went out of their way just so they could say they were in Kansas. Diane and a couple of the support crew drove there as well, with Diane and friend Renata singing the songs from the Wizard of Oz as they did so. You will remember that this old movie was located in that state.

It was very hot and windy again today; it is getting to the point that people are hoping for rain. A man in a gas station in Stratton, NE, said that it was good we were riding today because it was going to get hotter the rest of the week. Too bad, because each of the next 3 days is approx. 140-150 kms in length. In fact, someone said that this is the longest week distance wise.

The geography was a bit more interesting today, more trees for one thing. And a stretch of 20 kms or so that had fairly steep ups and downs. After climbing 7 mountain passes, of course, none of these hills are any big deal anymore, though they still require some hard pedaling. The heat is very tiring, and between km. 60 – 90 I was almost ready to say enough. Then we got to Stratton and found Grandma’s Bar and Grill and I was revived! I think I was just hungry, so I had a BLT for $3.00 – you can’t get that anywhere in Canada or anywhere else in the US – and a Coke and that gave me the energy I needed for the rest of the ride. It’s amazing, by the way, how much you drink during the day. Three bottles of water today, 2 bottles of juice, a 22 ounce Pepsi, a Pepsi float at Arby’s (for only 95 cents – Nebraska is a cheap state!), a bottle of ice tea, and lots of cold milk at supper.

I wanted to introduce you all to Cory today, something I’ve been meaning to do for a while. Cory works for CRWRC and was gracious enough to volunteer for probably the worst job on the tour: drive around the port-a-pottie. Happily, there has been no repeat of the earlier misadventure. Cory is the fellow in the orange shirt, and he is usually the first SAG stop. He is always cheerful, though the smell of the port-a-pottie begins to get to him by day 4 of each week. He is only allowed to clean it up (I think the company from which we lease it does this) once a week, on Saturday. Anyway, we all appreciate Cory for ministering to our calls of nature beyond the call of duty!

The picture below is also a common one. The Zantinghs from Alberta will recognize their son Matt as he’s attempting to fix a derailleur problem at a gas station. All sorts of small and big bike problems have to be solved along the way, and we have a few people who seem to be able to fix everything. Good thing, too, since my personal bicycle repair knowledge might fit on the side of a napkin. If you look closely at the picture, you can see Matt forming the words “Hi Mom.”

The other matter of interest was this huge pillar which marked the end of the Indian Wars in 1876. It has the faces of the two main Indian chiefs carved into it, and is located in what is called Massacre Canyon, which pretty much tells you what happened when the Pawnee and Sioux nations met there in the battle that this monument commemmorates. Do a little digging there and who knows what you might find.

We are currently camped at McCook High School, and generally speaking high schools are our favourite places to be because of the abundance of showers. It’s also fun to enter a town when people already know about you. Our arrival was reported on the local radio channel during the day, and people you meet anywhere are interested to hear about the trip. That’s pretty much true no matter where you go throughout the day; people are curious and wondering if this is some sort of race or what. That gives us the chance to talk to them about the purpose of our trip, and we have business cards which explain the whole trip and its purpose which we hand out as often as we can. So far the trip has raised over 2 million dollars.

Well, you know what time it is: supper! There are quite a few people still on the road,and I feel sorry for them. I’ll do my best to leave them something to eat…

Today’s stats:

Distance: 149.89 kms
Average speed: 23.6 kph
Maximum speed: 46.6
Time in saddle: 6.20.05
# of flat tires on tour: 6 (and holding, for a long time I hope!)