Sunday, July 21, 2013

Day 27/28 - Red Cloud, NE to Fairbury, NE

Daily  Stats:
Time: 4h59m22s
Distance: 121.32km
Avg Spd: 24.3km/hr
Climbing: 706m

Yesterday brought us to Fairbury, Nebraska, population 4,292.  The ride was tough for me.  121km should be nothing right now, but my legs were totally shot.  We pedaled around 20km/hr and I spinned as slow as I could up most of the rolling hills for the first three hours.  It was a nice change of pace, but there was a lot of hills.  I'm very, very grateful that today is a day of rest.  I'll walk a bit this afternoon and maybe go for a short spin to loosen the legs.

We stopped yesterday around the 70km mark at "Gramp's Crossing" for a soda pop and breakfast.  It was a sweet little train-themed restaurant, and it was a welcome relief.  They also had funny signs around the building as in the picture below and one in the washroom that read "Employees must wash hands.  If an employee does not come to wash your hands, you may wash them yourself."

Around the 100km mark, the skies opened up and dumped rain on us again.  Thankfully it was warm outside, and the rain was a welcome relief.  Even after the rain stopped twenty minutes later, the air was warm enough to dry us out without making us too cold.  Thankfully the 'magical free fries' (thanks to Sara and Wayne) at Gramp's rejuvenated my legs, and we were able to ride at normal speed the last two hours into camp.

We're staying at Fairbury City Park, and it's a pretty nice location. There's a pool on the premises, and we were able to use their showers.  Unfortunately they are not nice showers.  The hot water is heated by the sun, and since it was cloudy and rainy yesterday, the water was ice cold.  The result was the fastest shower of my life.

The park itself if huge, and well treed.  We've set up tent city under the huge branches and used them to string up laundry.

We were graciously welcomed to First United Presbyterian Church this morning, and were treated the biggest potluck spread I've seen in my life.

Thankfully they gave us two plates - one for lunch and one for dessert.

Last night, a whole slew of us took over four lanes at the bowling alley, and had a good time knocking pins and laughing.  After four weeks, we're getting to know eachother quite well, and are able to have a lot of fun.

The one thing I would change about our current location is the trains...  Oh, the trains.  Union Pacific has two lines that blow right through town, adjacent to the park.  And they blow through town every twenty minutes, often sounding their horns the whole way through.  All through the night.  Despite the trains, I was able to sleep in 'til almost 7:30 today!  Such a treat - even after going to bed at 10:30pm.

Well, that's it for now.  I'll have to clean up the bike this afternoon, and sleep off all the food I've eaten.

1 comment:

  1. Steve!
    Thanks for the great post and great pictures. Loved seeing the pix of that huge potluck-impressive. And from the look on your face the quality was as good as the quantity.
    The gramps sign about employees washing hands was shared with all of your fans here at Partners Worldwide.
    Good rides all week. Stay strong.
    Mark Iz

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