Day 38 - June 10 - McCook, NE to Enders State Recreation Area, NE - Two Old Guys Take On A Continent

June 10, 2023

Day 38 - June 10 - McCook, NE to Enders State Recreation Area, NE

Tis’ the Season

John’s Story

The skeeters were vicious this morning. I think I have probably applied a lethal dose of 100% DEET to my body to keep them under control. If I grow any extra appendages I will send pictures.

This morning I saw something that I didn’t know existed in western Nebraska, a Walmart. On the bright side, I was able to buy some sunblock, which is running low considering the amount of sun out here.

Two days ago my left knee started bothering me, not enough to keep me from riding but uncomfortable at times. I harked back to hearing my daughter Rebecca talk about therapy for fencing injuries at Notre Dame. I remembered RICE - Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Well, about all the rest I’ll get is what I get between the end of today’s ride and the beginning of tomorrow’s. Hauling ice around is problematic. Elevation, probably not. So I put all my faith in compression. I bought an ace bandage at the pharmacy yesterday and wrapped it around my knee for a couple hours yesterday afternoon. It seems to have helped a lot.

Today was the second time we’ve had a significant headwind on this trip. The first time was a couple hours leading into Franklin, Indiana. Today it was all day long and kept getting stronger as time passed. By the time we got to the end of the day it was probably 15 mph gusting to 25 mph. The good news? There’s a nice breeze now that we’ve stopped for the day.

We stopped in Culbertson for coffee and found four local female cyclists having breakfast. They told us that this is the time of year when they see lots of touring cyclists like us passing through in both directions. We’re close to the midpoint of a coast to coast bike ride, so folks who have started on one coast or another are passing by at roughly the same time. ‘Tis the season.

Found the local Yellow Pages for Culbertson, Nebraska, in the coffee shop. It was under our table top.

Until today we didn’t see any law-enforcement officers in Nebraska. At Palisades we found two county sheriffs having a confab in front of the convenience store. One was the local county sheriff and the other was the sheriff for the county north of us. We thanked them for their service and went on our way.

Flowering yucca plants. Apparently they are a problem in this part of Nebraska and farmers can get grants from the government to get them sprayed to try to eradicate them.

Yesterday in the journal I said I thought I saw in the distance erosional remnants at the top of distant hills. Wrong. We rode past them today and they were just big trees on top of the hill. Still waiting for something that looks like the desert west.

A good part of southwestern Nebraska is the Sand Hills region. The hills here, up to 300 to 400 feet high, are stabilized sand dunes. Studies have shown that there were active sand dunes here as late as 1000 years ago. You can see this on a smaller scale even in northwestern Oklahoma on the margins of the river valleys. I won’t bore you with an explanation of where they came from. Just supposed to say that I think they are pretty darned interesting.

The Nebraska Sandhills are 60 or 70 miles north of us, but the hills we’ve been riding past all day are definitely sandhills, perhaps lower case but Sandhills nonetheless. Strip away all the greenery that you see and what do you get? The Sahara!

It’s been a day or three since I posted a flower picture, but then again it’s been a day or three since I saw any new flowers.

We crossed into the mountain time zone today at the border leading into the last county of Nebraska before Colorado. I automatically grew one hour younger. I was disappointed that there were no mountains.

I think there’s someone living in here even though it’s boarded up. Most buildings like this do not have antennas on the roof

I had my fourth flat tire today. Another rear flat. That tire has been losing 30 psi of air pressure every night for the past week (I patched the tube in Marshall, MO when I had to replace my wheel). I’ve been nursing it along until we get to Fort Collins. It finally gave up the ghost. I replaced the tube with another one that I had patched, and it seems to be holding.

We arrived at Enders State Recreation Area to find some sort of shindig going on. My first thought was, we’re not going to find a place to camp.

We just happened to arrive here on the day of the Enders Outdoor Extravaganza, a big family event sponsored by local businesses. 5K Run, craft show, working truck show, tractor show, Dutch oven cooking, BBQ smokeoff, outdoor games, kayaking, petting zoo, bounce house, live music, and the list goes on. I managed to find someone from the park to ask where we might camp. She told me just pick a green spot and plop down your tent. We did.

The deeper we went into the park the busier it got.

I saw a lot of beer being consumed, but I couldn’t find a place to buy any. I asked a passerby holding a beer about it. He told me no one is selling beer. Everyone brought their own, he said, but let me drive you to the store to buy some. Which he did. Nick is hereby granted today’s Road Angel Award.

I plan to go find some BBQ at the smokeoff. The food I bought for dinner at the grocery store in Wauneta can wait until tomorrow.

I hear that my grandson Aiden wants pictures of bugs, waterfalls and storms. I’ve already posted I a few bug pictures. I wish I had known sooner about the waterfalls because we saw a few tiny ones in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Storms I hope we see only from a distance. But here are a couple pictures for you Aiden.

Not a very clear picture of a spider, but if you’ll notice he seems to be missing one of his front legs.

It was raining here just a few minutes ago, and there’s been a bit of thunder and lightning.

This storm will pass by us (says the weatherman). It’s the best I can do in the storm department today.

Pernell Roberts song du jour.

Lily of the West

Ed’s Story

Woke up earlier than normal this morning - I believe there were more and noisier trains last night than in Arapahoe.

The mosquitoes were voracious this morning. There was no airflow and if you didn’t have 100% of your body covered with spray they would find it.

We headed out and stopped at Walmart for some needed supplies including a replacement fuel canister. Back on US 6 and the shoulder that went with it.

Once we started actually riding we felt the headwind. The wind was with us the entire way and increased as we rode. It eventually got to 15+ gusting to 20+.

We stopped at the Hilltop Perk in Culbertson, NE for coffee and a snack. Once again I got an iced coffee as it felt too warm for a hot one.

Back on the road we came across poor Igor. We heard that a biker was out there. It looks like we found him, but not his bike.

While talking to Len and Kirby yesterday in McCook they told us about the road work going on and how they rode many miles on road where the asphalt had been removed. They had to ride on the milled surface. They did mention the north bound lane had been fixed.

A nicely paved surface northbound compared to the milled road surface southbound. We were going north.

Another break in Palisades where we met the local sheriffs. An OJ and away.

About 4-5 miles later we came to the county line. Not only did we change counties, we changed time zones.

We stopped in Wauneta for lunch and purchases for dinner. While I was in the grocery store, I noticed their calendar still said Fri Jun 9. I mentioned to the checkout boy that not only did we lose an hour, we’d lost a day and went back to Friday.

We sat in the shade and ate. As I rode away, I heard the mournful cry from John “I got a flat.”

The last 8 miles were hillier than we’d seen throughout the day, but we finally made it to the Enders State Recreation Area for the night. There was a party going on which I know John has talked about.

Set up camp; showered; washed clothes in sink; charged electronics; and drank beer.

Tomorrow is a 48 mile day to Holyoke as we leave Nebraska and enter Colorado. There are like 38 miles between the last town in NE and where we are headed for the night so will stock up on extra water bottles and snacks in Imperial, NE.

Despite the party going on, this will probably be an early night. Sunset is at 8:15 PM now that we are in mountain time; sunrise comes at 5:15 so I’m sure we will be up early.

Will need to find a place to store our food. Normally we hang it from a tree or inside a shelter house. The problem is there are still so many people here. I’m sure we will figure it out before I go to bed.

Until then, happy biking!

Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 2,126 miles (3,421 km)

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Steve Miller/GrampiesWe have found that sometimes knee pain is related to seat height. As small an adjustment of 1/4 inch can make a world of difference. You might want to try raising or lowering your seat a small amount and see if that helps. Good luck.
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10 months ago

John ChimahuskyTo Steve Miller/GrampiesI’ve thought about that. I’ll try it if my knee doesn’t improve.
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10 months ago