Friday, June 24th, 2011 (Day 8)
Today we left Harlan, IA, which was western Iowa. The hills were ridiculous there. I easily broke 40mph down a few of them without even pedaling. After about 20 miles it turned into a really long slightly downhill stretch of long curvy roads. The sun was shining, Stereophonics was blasting on the speakers, and I was hauling. I held 35+ for about 6 miles before slowing to 24 for another 3 or 4.
Adam and I then got off of highway 44 and onto highway 30. After that point, it stayed pretty flat.
As we approached the Missouri river, the towns that surrounded its banks had sand bags piled up everywhere, some buildings had boarded up their windows, and there were painted signs on the walls of some buildings for measuring flood levels. The river was flooding, and it was projected to keep flooding for the next week or two.
As we got closer to the bridge across the river, the water was right up to the highway. We saw a news reporter being filmed as he described the scene on the side of the highway.
We crossed the bridge into Blair, Nebraska, and stopped at a gas station/cafe we saw there. Within 20 minutes of us being there, the local newspaper came and interviewed us.
We decided we'd go to Fremont, NE tonight since we had only gone 60 miles so far.
Adam and I then got off of highway 44 and onto highway 30. After that point, it stayed pretty flat.
As we approached the Missouri river, the towns that surrounded its banks had sand bags piled up everywhere, some buildings had boarded up their windows, and there were painted signs on the walls of some buildings for measuring flood levels. The river was flooding, and it was projected to keep flooding for the next week or two.
As we got closer to the bridge across the river, the water was right up to the highway. We saw a news reporter being filmed as he described the scene on the side of the highway.
We crossed the bridge into Blair, Nebraska, and stopped at a gas station/cafe we saw there. Within 20 minutes of us being there, the local newspaper came and interviewed us.
We decided we'd go to Fremont, NE tonight since we had only gone 60 miles so far.
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On our way there I sprinted ahead for awhile because I wanted to pass an upright rider that passed us going up a hill and i wanted to stay ahead of her due to my unreasonable competitive nature.
I made it to the top of a really big hill about 3 or 4 miles after passing her and waited for Adam to catch up. I sat up there for a couple minutes and looked down the hill but saw nothing. I started panicking, wondering what could have happened, thinking that he could have gotten hit by a car and I wouldn't even know.
I felt like such an asshole for going so far ahead. I tried calling his phone a bunch of times but he didn't answer any of the times. I got out of my velo and placed it perpendicular to the road and sat in the shadow of it to stay out of the sun.
While I was sitting there trying to figure out what to do, a car rolled up from the opposite direction I was headed. I grabbed my knife and held it tightly, wondering what the hell this guy wants.
He stopped on the other side of the road and rolled his window down. He started babbling away about the machine and when he realized I couldn't really understand him, he pulled a U-turn and came right up next to me. He got out of his truck and started talking to me, asking questions about what my velomobile was. He smelled like crap, had a heavy southern accent, and was creepy as all hell. I did not like this at all.
I offered him only the most simple responses to all of his questions until he left. The upright cyclist passed by me again and I felt defeated.
So, I grabbed my phone, my knife, and my wallet, and put the parking brake on my velo. I started walking down the hill, the way I came. I was walking for a few minutes when I finally saw Adam coming up the road. What a relief. It was a good 25 minutes since the last time I knew where he was, I really thought something awful had happened.
Adam explained to me that his chain came off, and he had some derailleur problems that took him awhile to fix, and that he wasn't answering because he had no cell service. I apologized like crazy for going so far ahead, then we headed to Fremont, NE, where after being kicked out of a beautiful state park because they wanted us to pay to pitch our tents (we were simply too cheap to do that), we met Ray & Ruthe. They let us stay at their home tonight.
They're really cool people. Ray owns three recumbents and even made a fairing for one of them out of coroplast like us! He also built his own shop onto his house where he does a lot of woodworking, which he is crazy good at. He even made a ton of the cabinet doors and furniture in their house! They explained to us that their son flies hot air balloons too, how awesome is that.
Ray & Ruthe gave us a room to sleep in, did our laundry, and gave us showers tonight. Ray even stayed up with Adam and me and helped make repairs to his fairing until 12am.
I made it to the top of a really big hill about 3 or 4 miles after passing her and waited for Adam to catch up. I sat up there for a couple minutes and looked down the hill but saw nothing. I started panicking, wondering what could have happened, thinking that he could have gotten hit by a car and I wouldn't even know.
I felt like such an asshole for going so far ahead. I tried calling his phone a bunch of times but he didn't answer any of the times. I got out of my velo and placed it perpendicular to the road and sat in the shadow of it to stay out of the sun.
While I was sitting there trying to figure out what to do, a car rolled up from the opposite direction I was headed. I grabbed my knife and held it tightly, wondering what the hell this guy wants.
He stopped on the other side of the road and rolled his window down. He started babbling away about the machine and when he realized I couldn't really understand him, he pulled a U-turn and came right up next to me. He got out of his truck and started talking to me, asking questions about what my velomobile was. He smelled like crap, had a heavy southern accent, and was creepy as all hell. I did not like this at all.
I offered him only the most simple responses to all of his questions until he left. The upright cyclist passed by me again and I felt defeated.
So, I grabbed my phone, my knife, and my wallet, and put the parking brake on my velo. I started walking down the hill, the way I came. I was walking for a few minutes when I finally saw Adam coming up the road. What a relief. It was a good 25 minutes since the last time I knew where he was, I really thought something awful had happened.
Adam explained to me that his chain came off, and he had some derailleur problems that took him awhile to fix, and that he wasn't answering because he had no cell service. I apologized like crazy for going so far ahead, then we headed to Fremont, NE, where after being kicked out of a beautiful state park because they wanted us to pay to pitch our tents (we were simply too cheap to do that), we met Ray & Ruthe. They let us stay at their home tonight.
They're really cool people. Ray owns three recumbents and even made a fairing for one of them out of coroplast like us! He also built his own shop onto his house where he does a lot of woodworking, which he is crazy good at. He even made a ton of the cabinet doors and furniture in their house! They explained to us that their son flies hot air balloons too, how awesome is that.
Ray & Ruthe gave us a room to sleep in, did our laundry, and gave us showers tonight. Ray even stayed up with Adam and me and helped make repairs to his fairing until 12am.
distorted panoramic pic of the state park we ended up not camping at due to high fees
Miles covered today: 82
Miles covered total: 566
Overnight Town: Fremont, NE
Miles covered total: 566
Overnight Town: Fremont, NE
