July 10, 2016
Day 38 - Battle Creek to Decatur
Today was one of the hardest days cycling - ever.
As always, I am up before dawn trying to figure a way to cheat the wind. But the wind blew all night and was already blowing. Had a quiet ride into Norfolk on empty back roads.
Then stopped at the Hy-Vee grocery store for breakfast. When I got out, my cycling gloves had blown away. So I bought some cheap jersey gloves at the hardware store. Went a bit out of my way to see downtown Norfolk - which is tree-lined and very attractive. But can it compete with the bypass?
Then it was east on the highway. Except that the highway leaves the Elkhorn River valley. And there is one goathill after another.
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And I was beginning to get the distinct feeling - that the NOAA weather folks were lying. They predicted strong south winds which I could live with. But they were shifting to the northeast and getting stronger.
I saw a sign for Pilger and remembered that it had been devastated by a tornado two years ago. So I turned off and discovered that there was no downtown left. They are slowly rebuilding.
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I met Ned - who does a little of everything for the town. And I met Panzer the town kitty. The town hall had been flattened, but she survived. She managed to hide under a heavy bookcase.
who Survived the Total Destruction of the Town Hall
(The New Community Center Is Under Construction in the Background)
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30 mph to 40 mph east wind - great. (Did I mention the tops of flag poles were swaying?) I called NOAA in Omaha - "unexpected outflow". I had lunch, updated my journal, dried my tent. Then i headed out on a dirt road to Wisner - Foolishly thinking that it might have some cover in the valley. Total insanity - killer wind and sandy road. When I finally got to Wisner - all of 7 miles - I hung out at the Subway for two hours.
I worked up the courage to get out on Highway 51. Highway 51 has 8,427,946 hills - from granny gear to big. Not to mention the state gave me 12 miles of milled pavement. The wind had shifted to SSE - 20 mph - with gusts over 30 mph. Such an easy ride. But I made it to the Missouri River.
Today's ride: 76 miles (122 km)
Total: 1,931 miles (3,108 km)
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