Old Men On Bikes

Ewing, Nebraska to Stuart, Nebraska This was one of the strangest days of the trip, emotionally. It started with the normal level of adversity, then went downhill, to the point I wondered how we would continue. And yet, the day ended on such a high I now wonder if anything can stop us.  As forecast, the rain abated early in the night. However, fog set in. I am fully convinced the dense fog left our camp wetter than the rain of the previous night in Norfolk. We could not possibly ride on the highway in the fog, so we set off down the trail. Once again it was slow going. We averaged around 8 mph, an appalling speed on flat ground.  Our slow pace was solely my fault. John is a much more powerful cyclist than I am. On climbs, and on slow surfaces, he is forced to ride much slower than he might otherwise just so we stay together. After 13 miles of drudgery the fog lifted enough for us to feel safe (reasonably safe) on the highway, so we hopped over there and once again ...

Norfolk, Nebraska to Ewing, Nebraska It rained off and on all night, but when 5:30 rolled around there was a break. Packing up a soggy camp was not fun, but packing it up in the rain would have been much, much worse. We sat in the pavilion long enough to have two cups of coffee each. We were cold, and it was raining, and we were not looking forward to the day. But Astoria would not get closer with us sitting on our asses, so we mounted up and got on the Cowboy Trail.  Like many of the trail trails we have been on, the Cowboy Trail is mostly crushed limestone. For whatever reason, though, it has a reputation of being slow. We knew that with the wet weather it might be tough. The first couple of miles are paved, so we got it, planning to evaluate once the pavement ended.  The trail turned out to me better than expected, at least for a while. It was definitely slower than being on the road, but we could keep manage a decent 10 mph. The trail is lovely outside Norfolk....