Norfolk to Columbus Nebraska
By the time we left at 820am the fog had lifted enough for us to be visible. We headed out of town on 1st street which parallels US81 and is much quieter.
We ran out of nice quiet road and had to get on US81. We went into Madison in search of the coffee shop promised us by Google. Once again, Google lied. Back to the highway where there was a perfectly nice gas station with a grill and coffee. Back on US81, we started our game I call "truck surfing". This is where you ride your bicycle on the shoulder and wait for the semi truck to pass 4 feet away from you and suck you into its wind stream. With the right conditions, it can be quite exciting and increase your speed by a few mph! We turned off of US81 at Humphrey to take NE-91. It started out nice. Then it got busy with trucks and hills.
We made it to Alice's in Creston where we met some super nice people.
They were concerned about us taking the paved Monastery Road and suggested the gravel Meridian Road. I, of course, preferred the gravel but left the decision up to everyone else. We chose gravel.
There were some big hills and, for the most part of the 18 miles, the gravel was good. We got close to town and found the trail through Lake Babcock and North Lake.
We got to town and got stopped by a very slow moving train so we found our way to the highway to go over the train. And, of course by the time got over it, it moved on. We got to the hotel around 2pm and Darryl showed up. We relaxed, showered, went to dinner and walked around a bit. The Loup River flows into the Platte River.
On our rest day tomorrow, Darryl is driving Kay, Brenda and I to Valentine to retrieve Brenda's car. Sunday, Brenda, Kay and I will go south while Lynn and Sandra go east. Kay and I have ridden with Lynn for 7 weeks and approximately 2,230 miles, 87,000 feet of climbing. And now it's time to part ways. My 10 weeks of vacation is about over and, I must get back to work (for some rest). Lynn will continue on with her quest to set the Guinness World Record attempt for oldest female to cross the USA west to east.
We ran out of nice quiet road and had to get on US81. We went into Madison in search of the coffee shop promised us by Google. Once again, Google lied. Back to the highway where there was a perfectly nice gas station with a grill and coffee. Back on US81, we started our game I call "truck surfing". This is where you ride your bicycle on the shoulder and wait for the semi truck to pass 4 feet away from you and suck you into its wind stream. With the right conditions, it can be quite exciting and increase your speed by a few mph! We turned off of US81 at Humphrey to take NE-91. It started out nice. Then it got busy with trucks and hills.
There were some big hills and, for the most part of the 18 miles, the gravel was good. We got close to town and found the trail through Lake Babcock and North Lake.
We got to town and got stopped by a very slow moving train so we found our way to the highway to go over the train. And, of course by the time got over it, it moved on. We got to the hotel around 2pm and Darryl showed up. We relaxed, showered, went to dinner and walked around a bit. The Loup River flows into the Platte River.
54.2 miles
1,644 feet climbing
Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/gPLeQig5ZBb
Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vrqoPyVYDyv
