Day 42, Sunday, June 1


Cody, Nebraska to Gordon, Nebraska

As we packed up in Cody we knew we had a hard day ahead. We wanted to reach Gordon, 55 miles away. We would be traveling mostly west, into an increasingly strong wind as the day progressed, and mostly uphill. The worst part was there were no towns with services for the entire 55 miles.

 
Because of this, there is little to report about the ride. We rode through the Sandhills, taking short breaks every now and then to hydrate and feed, usually just standing over out bikes in the sun.

We did take one long break around noon, sitting under a rare tree in the right of way that gave us some shade. Lunch consisted of chips and gorp and whatever protein bars were at hand.


We struggled into Gordon in mid-afternoon. We had been thinking we might stay at a hotel there, after camping seven nights in a row. If either campground had any appeal, we may have camped, but neither offered the least bit of shade. Neither of us felt like setting up camp in the sun, and without even speaking about it we headed for the hotel. 

And we are glad we did. The Jefco Inn in Gordon, Nebraska has supplanted the Park Inn in Linton, Indiana as the best cheap hotel in the country. The room was huge, the beds were comfortable, we had three pillows each, and the laundry in the basement saved us a two-mile ride to the poorly reviewed laundromat. On top of that there were snacks in the lobby. I think they were intended for breakfast, but any time is the time for Pop Tarts.

Once again, the town closed down when they heard we were coming. Everything was closed except Pizza Hut and one cafe with extremely bad reviews. I will ever eat anywhere that has served undercooked sausage, so we had our second meal at Pizza Hut in a week, a place I had not been to in decades.

A hard day ended with one last surprise. When we returned to the room, ready to hit the sack, I discovered my rear tire was flat. I probably ran over something in the parking lot of the hotel. I suppose if you are going to have a flat, there are not many places better than a hotel room. I still did not enjoy fixing it.

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