Friday, July 14, 2023
Day 42
Chadron, Nebraska to Carter Lake,Iowa
Road trippin’
After a month and a half on bicycles, riding in a vehicle feels rather strange!! With over 2,000 miles ridden, we’ll cover over 400 miles today in the Uhaul. The mind continues to weigh pros and cons.
During the night, we were awakened by the loud noise of hail crashing on the vehicles in the parking lot. And the light show!! Thank goodness we’re not in a tent. Thank goodness we will travel safely to Carter Lake today.
Drew rides to the Uhaul yard a few miles away and returns with our trusty stead.
We load and secure both bikes using bungees we’ve found on the side of the road. We’ve become quite the treasurer hunters!
As we travel, we see riders traveling…a trio, two pairs and a single rider digging deep and pushing hard in the wind. My heart went out to this soul.
One pair was traveling west into a headwind/sidewind. Oh, how they were working.
As we drove, we noticed the road surfaces were quite rough. We went through long stretches with no services, no structures and no coverage.
The Cowboy Trail was alongside the road for a fair bit of the day, so maybe we didn’t miss it after all? lol.
After about 8 hours, we arrived in Omaha. It was like coming home having stayed at the Best Western each year before RAGBRAI. Unloading the Uhaul and settling into the room, we have landed for a bit. We had a light dinner at Perkins called it a day. We did make the right decision to drive.
Now. Rest. Recover. Prepare for the most amazing RAGBRAI year yet!