July 16, 2025
Day 37: Chadron to Merriman
Z I’ll start out with a big thank you to our Warmshowers host, Kurt, for letting us stay two nights. He is a serious biker and was very familiar with our route through NE and gave us some good tips. We stopped by a grocery store first thing this morning to grab a quick breakfast and supplies for a couple of lunches and a dinner. The weather was overcast, cool and we encountered some heavy mist/fog at times. The route was relatively flat once we crossed the Pine Ridge and there was a head wind at times. We were mostly on the road, but we did ride a portion of the Cowboy Trail starting at Rushville. Overall, it’s a well groomed trail but it started to get soft and sandy in places, so we jumped back to the road. We stopped for lunch in Rushville at the city park and historic ballfield and had the standard tuna packet, a bagel, cheddar cheese, and a banana. The scenery was mostly wide open grassy fields. We are now in a region referred to as the Sandhills, which is deceiving because most of what you see is rolling grassy fields, but it’s all sand dunes underneath. Tonight we are camping at Cottonwood Lake State Campground an oasis among the sand dunes. I had picked up a can of Scotchgard spray in Chadron and applied it to the tent once it was setup. I also found a small tear and repaired it with a piece of duct tape. Dinner was noodles with chicken and chocolate pudding.
Today's ride: 80 miles (129 km)
Total: 1,821 miles (2,931 km)
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