Day 28 - ending at Lincoln, NE - Nebraska on the Open Road

September 1, 2019

Day 28 - ending at Lincoln, NE

Up at 5:50am to a somewhat misty, foggy morning. After devoting an hour to report work, I packed up. By this evening I should be back at the Lincoln airport, packing the bike in the truck. I have plans after that for staying at a motel near the airport, then drive home on Monday. Breakfast first.

Google Maps showed Country Cookin' open. I headed downtown to there at 8:30am. The place is more like a banquet hall than a restaurant, but with all the patrons they had, they needed their banquet-sized room. I had the Breakfast Deluxe, plus orange juice and coffee. Once again, I wasn't able to finish the potatoes. In hindsight I should probably have asked that they not include those. I was done eating at 9:24am.

I went east another block to a Shell station for today's supply of Gatorade and ice, then was on my way to the Beatrice trailhead for the Homestead Trail. Today's route was mapped out to be on trails most of the way - even in Lincoln. I read a few of the dozens of information boards at the trailhead, then started out at 9:47am.

The first section of trail north out of town is concrete. At 9:59am I was riding on a crushed limestone surface, which was in good shape. The fog had cleared, the sky was overcast, and the wind was from the south. Trail riding takes away traffic concerns, and I was enjoying the change. A little after 10:00am I turned on my radio and listened to a church service on 94.7MHz - KWBE. It was sort of like being in church, hearing all the background noises of babies crying and doors closing.

At 11:05am I passed Pickrell. Noon came before I made it to Cortland. The noon report today is 15.5 miles. When I did pass Cortland at 12:54pm, the sun was coming out. A little later I crossed Gage Road, which put me in Lancaster County. I stopped at the trailhead near the small town of Roca to buy a trail pass and make a donation at their self-serve station. I was starting to see Sunday afternoon trail users now.

I came to the end of the Homestead Trail, and the start of the Jamaica North Trail at 3:15pm. About that time I decided to deviate from the route I had planned for getting to the airport. I wanted to see the state capitol building before I left town. Rather than drive there to see it tomorrow, I had the time to bike there today. So, when I arrived at the junction for Salt Creek Levee Trail, I consulted Google Maps for routing to the capitol. It showed taking Salt Creek Levee Trail to start with, so I did. Later I figured out staying on the Jamaica North Trail would have been better.

Anyway, going north and east through residential and downtown streets, some with dedicated bike lanes, brought me to the northwest corner of the capitol block at 4:52pm. A sign indicated they have tours inside the capitol, even on Sundays, but they ended at 5:00pm. I missed the tour, but just seeing the outside is worth the trip. The more I saw of the building as I walked around the block, the more impressed I was with all the thought and details in the design. All the county names are on the building's lower perimeter. There are engravings of scenes and sayings all over. And they're apparently big on bison, also.

Eventually it was time to go, and I needed to rely once again on Google Maps. So I went north, then west, then north again to get to Haymarket Park Bridge. Most of that was on dedicated bike lanes. Some intersections even had bike traffic signals! Along the way I passed many parked bicycles. One of them caught my eye. Though a three-speed, it was another "Open Road distributed by Montgomery Ward"!

A little after crossing over the Haymarket Park Bridge, I connected back up with my original GPS waypoints routing, which allowed me to put the phone away. Past a park, through a residential neighborhood, and a short ride on Cornhusker Highway brought me to the road to the airport. There is a neat piece of artwork along this road - a large paper airplane.

I could see my truck when I was still a ways off. Riding the bike into the parking lot was no problem, thanks to sidewalks. At 6:41pm I was there, and my bike-riding tour of Nebraska was over. Thirty minutes later I was driving over to the "Cash or Credit" exit gate. Parking cost would have been $168, but I saved $35 using the coupon I'd printed out at home beforehand.

I only had a short distance to go to get to the Horizon Inn, where I planned to rest up overnight before the drive home tomorrow. The motel was almost full, but I did get a room (#103), which wasn't far from the Breakfast Room. Appropriate for this state, railroad tracks were just beyond my room's window.

Now, a shower and report-writing. Until I get the last day's entry submitted, this trip is not done. And that isn't happening tonight, being I'm cleaned up and so close to a bed. Still, I was happy and thankful for another safe and successful trip, where I met so many kind and caring people.

Jeff

Spent: $13.04 + $3 (breakfast) + $2.50 (Gatorade) + $10 (trail pass, donation) = $28.54.

Day 28 - Beatrice, NE to Lincoln, NE

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