Day 20 (May 15) - Creighton, NE

Eric writing (Carson is cooking one of the MRCs). When you bike a great distance, sometimes geography is your friend, and things just work out. I would like to think that that has mostly been the case and will continue to be. But sometimes, fortune tosses you a lightning bolt – such as this morning, when we were confronted with the concrete fact that there are only two crossings from Sioux City into Nebraska. One is easy, fast, short, and convenient – but it’s an interstate highway. No bikes. The other route was, shall we say, a bit longer and much more circuitous.

Naturally, we chose Option A, and I ferried Carson across the Missouri River in the car, at which point he hit the two-wheeler. This made for the first day that we didn’t both bike out in the morning – although after I passed him and checked into the new hotel, I biked back out and waited for him, so I still got in 28 miles, my longest ride so far. Once again I shake my head – the 14 miles back to Creighton, Nebraska, which is where we are now, featured stiff winds, roller-coaster hills, and stiffer pavement (including a mile-long “de-paved” section heading into ‘town’). Carson had to deal with that for almost NINETY miles today. (Carson: “Let the chafing begin!”)

Giant thunderclouds loom in the distance, a cool breeze is blowing through our motel-room doorway, and the smell of chili is in the air. For both of us, a truly bizarre introduction to Nebraska.