Sunday, August 6, 2023
Columbus to Lincoln Nebraska
We had a long mileage day today so we left just before 7am. Lynn also left at that time so we could all leave together one last time . She went east, Brenda, Kay and I headed south on US81. We took NE64 to Bellwood.
We took NE15 to David City then NE92 into Brainard. We went into a bar to see about breakfast. We felt like we were intruding. When I asked if anybody knew anything about the trail, I didn't get any response from anybody. Finally the bartender asked what I wanted to know. I said anything. She told me that she heard it had just been mowed. It was obvious that they weren't in the mood for conversation so Brenda bought a cup of coffee and we went outside to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that we had made from the hotel this morning. It was about 10am and we had already gone 50 of our 76 miles. The roads were in great condition, the traffic was light and the wind was pushing us along! We decided to give the trail a go.
This 13 mile trail turned out to be a fabulous find!
The middle of the trail was a little town called Loma.
We stopped on a bridge that crossed a creek (assumably the Oak Creek). While we were on the bridge, we heard a big "crack" and saw a big branch, or top section of a big dead tree fall to the ground. It was well off the trail so we weren't in any danger... but wow. This was the second time on this trip that we heard and saw a tree fall!
The trail ended for us at Valparaiso.
We stopped for ice water and restroom at the Phillips 66 station. The employee there was friendly. Then we headed south on NE79 to US34 and into Lincoln. We barely got into town at 1pm when I got a flat (rear) tire. Again. Wirh only 10 miles to go. This time we found a tiny wire from vehicle tire debris from the highway. So, we got it changed and back on the road. We stopped at a Phillips 66 to add more air to my tire since the hand pump is hard to get enough air into the tire. The guy from the Valparaiso Phillips 66 came out to say hi... he had finished his shift at Valparaiso and was now working at this one. It was funny! We rode on the trails through town, stopped at Goodcents for a sandwich and arrived at our warmshowers hosts, Eli and Rachel around 4... just before it started raining. Eli has a friend who is a bike mechanic so Kay and Eli rode to his house to have him check her back wheel. He said she needs some new parts and some work but he greased and adjusted the hub and was confident she could ride another few days (and 200+ miles). Rachel had made lasagna and meatballs for dinner. It was good!
Tomorrow we ride the Chief Standing Bear trail.
76.8 miles
1,191 feer climbing
Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/GlU7Uy5p3Bb
Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vYvrV81Nmxv
