Late last night Maddie and I attempted to do some laundry. We didn’t realize Paul and Suz kept the cats in the laundry room overnight, so as soon as I opened the door they bolted. One of them hopped in Maddie’s lap, so we easily carried him back. The other did his best to stay away, and he proved extremely elusive. Even 2 on 1 we couldn’t corral him, so we gave up after about 15 minutes of chasing, during which the cat made us look like uncoordinated fools. Cats are very agile, if you didn’t know. A few minutes later he came up next to me looking for an ear scratch, so I pounced. It’s not just the biking that entertains us on this trip; we love spontaneous midnight cat corralling!
Suz had a wonderful breakfast casserole waiting for us this morning, accompanied by raspberries and blackberries. After we ate, Paul drove us back out to our route, and then some. Paul taught us a lot about farming and what it’s like to live in Nebraska. Plus, we had fun talking basketball; Paul played in college and coached a 2x state championship team in Nebraska for 20+ years.
After Paul’s shortcut we had just 35 miles to ride until the start of the Cowboy Trail. The hilly terrain has finally abated, leaving the flat roads that we expected from Nebraska. The hills we did face were gently sloping. We flew through the first 12 miles, moving faster than we have since Indiana. We rode north on the wide shoulder of Highway 81 until we hit Norfolk, the beginning of the Cowboy Trail. I’ve been reading and watching videos about the Cowboy Trail for months now, so it’s really cool to finally be riding on it. In fact, I can’t get over how cool it is that we’re in Nebraska! And we rode our bikes to get here!
I’m not sure if it’s the fact that we’re just about at the halfway point, but I felt like I was getting a second wind today. It was a beautiful day of easy riding. The Cowboy Trail is made of crushed limestone, so our top speed was limited. But it wasn’t too bumpy, and the scenery was a nice change of pace from the last few weeks. It’s an old rail trail, meaning there are lower grades and it also crosses over a bunch of rivers, providing some beautiful views of water every few miles. We’ve got 150 more miles on this trail, though we may ride some of it on the highway that runs parallel if we are looking for a speed boost. It feels good to be in the Cornhusker State!
- Charlie
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