Day #45 (6/20/24) – Bike Across America

I woke up early and checked the weather forecast. The rain that was forecast last night has largely gone away – maybe a sprinkle or two out there. Nothing that will keep me from riding. Temperature is starting at 60 and going up to 80. Light winds (5 to 10 mph) from the east will give me a little tailwind as I’m traveling SW today. Another great day for biking!

I did my morning routine. Alex & Taylor had laid out an assortment of breakfast items for me. They were awesome hosts!

I was biking by 7:00. It was 4 miles to the Nebraska border (mostly on trails). The bridge over the Missouri River had a sidewalk on one side, so it was a safe crossing into Nebraska.

Here is a picture of the Missouri River and downtown Sioux City.

I was on bike trails for a few more miles, then a few roads that would take me to Hwy 35. I’d be on Hwy 35 most of the day.

Hwy 35 had a great shoulder to ride on for several miles. At first the road was flat as I biked in the floodplain. But I could see the bluffs in the distance that I would have to climb.

The climbs were long, but not too steep. After the first one, the climbs just kept on coming all day. I thought Nebraska was supposed to be flat, but this part of the state was all rolling hills – some of them rather large.

Here are a couple of pictures from the top of some of the early climbs.

A good picture of the rolling hills.

There were lots of prairie grasses and wildflowers along the road. Here are some pictures of ones I haven’t shared previously.

Then my nice wide shoulder that I was biking on got much narrower. For a few miles it disappeared altogether. I felt a lot less safe without a shoulder and had to keep looking for traffic from both directions. I felt bad about making some cars wait. I usually bailed off the road and into the gravel when a truck came behind me and there was oncoming traffic.

I made it to the town of Wayne at 11:30 after 50 miles. I stopped for lunch at a local sports bar & grill.

Besides a good lunch, Wayne, Nebraska is also the halfway point for my cross country adventure!! I had a lot of mixed emotions about finally being halfway. First, I was thinking that it took until day #45 to get there, but granted I did take a lot of days off visiting family. Still, I guess that finishing by the end of July is still possible (41 more days). Then I was thinking about how many miles are in some remote areas, but I quickly refocused on taking it one day at a time. Then I was thinking about how big this country is and how much of it is in the Great Plains and the mountain west. Mostly I felt a sense of accomplishment, so I had an ice cream sundae after lunch to celebrate.

About 10 minutes after I arrived at the sports bar for lunch, it started to rain. I wasn’t expecting it to rain, but I was thankful to be inside and dry. I kind of slow rolled my lunch and sundae to wait for the rain to clear.

While I was waiting, I checked the street view on Google Maps for the amount of shoulder there was on the remaining 30 miles of Hwy 35 that I had left. It looked like I would have a wide shoulder to ride on for most of the rest of the way. So, I kept to Hwy 35 for the afternoon.

I got back on the bike a little after 1:00. The roads were wet, but they dried quickly. here are some scenery pictures.

I made it into the town of Norfolk a little before 4:00, and booked a hotel for the night. Norfolk has two distinctions. First, it is the eastern terminus of the 188 mile Cowboy Trail that I’ll be riding for the next few days. And second, it is the boyhood home of Johnny Carson. My hotel is on Johnny Carson Blvd!!

For the day, I biked 81 miles and climbed 2,840 feet. My body continues to feel good, and the weather tomorrow looks good for biking. So, I plan to ride a section of the Cowboy Trail. Looking forward to a flat rail trail after all the hills the previous two days.