4th Day...Wow, what a day!!!

  We woke in Sutherland, Nebraska, and it was already windy. I was up at 6:00 AM, and we had separate rooms, so I packed. It was nice to shower, but washing clothes was not an option. The clothes are getting a little rank! We were packed and ready to go by 8:00 AM. It was about 20 miles to North Platte.

Jordan has been a godsend, breaking our over 20 mph headwind. We made North Platte at 9:30 AM.  We were able to find a bike store called Alive Outside.  It was a small owner-operated shop.  They were accommodating, and we purchased a rack, panniers, and tubes.  As stated earlier, Jordan's bike must be set up to pull the trailer, so I have been pulling all the gear.  I can tell a difference without all that extra weight.  We were out of there by 10:30 AM.  We stopped at a grocery store to stock up before heading out.

The trailer is about 20 pounds lighter!

New rack and Panniers

The wind was really irritating us both. For the first time in the ride, we were getting upset with each other and the stress caused by the increased difficulty. We made Gothenburg, another 29 miles, at 2:00 PM, where we were once again at Subway! It seems that is all there is to eat in Cornhusker territory.

We had completed 59 miles and had 28 to get to the campsite in Lexington.  We are out of the planned evening stops as we are well over 40 miles ahead of schedule.  We are improvising stops to avoid the thunderstorms, but they will likely catch us on Thursday.  The forecast is rain for the next 3-4 days.  We are prepared and will plan rides with hotel stops if that is the case. This will allow us to dry out and get a good night's sleep.  One thing for sure is we are both spent!!!! 

We made it to Cozad, Nebraska, at about 5:30 PM and were both spent and hungry.  We found the Cozad City Park and rested.  We needed it as we had another 19 miles and heavy wind!  The good thing is that the first 13 were SO BAD (Weather.com listed winds at 25 MPH with gusts of 30 MPH), but we turned south for the last 6 miles and had a GREAT tailwind.  We were able to average 20 MPH with that tailwind.  It was good as, for the first time in the ride, we had a dog chase us.  There is no way we would have outrun the dog into the wind, which scared us both!

We made it to Lexington just before 8:00 PM.  We were going to camp for the night at the City campground.  Quite frankly, it was scary.  We stopped by the local store and met a guy coming out of the station.  He asked what we were doing, and we asked him if it was safe to camp.  He looked a little concerned, and we were as well, by the looks of things.  I explained Jordan just completed his Master's Degree, and we were making our trip to try to be together before he entered the real world and would not want to spend most of his vacation just hanging with an overweight, annoying father.

He went to his truck and said he had something for us. He came out with a $100 bill and said get a hotel and happy graduation.  I tried to tell him it was unnecessary, but he said there was a reason we met today and left.  We went to the Minuteman Hotel, ate at the DQ, and watched the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers playoff game.  It was an excellent game to watch.  The hotel also had laundry, so we had to wash our clothes.  THEY NEEDED IT!!!!

Jordan provided draft opportunities today for about 60 miles when possible.  Yes, at times, the wind was so strong drafting was not possible!  I have no idea how he manages to hold close to a 12 mph average in that wind.  The temperature peaked over 90 degrees once again.  It was typical July heat in Minnesota. So far, Nebraska is not my favorite state in which to bike.  As an addendum to that thought, after the fifth flat tire in 4 days, these roads are a minefield against tires.

So, at 377 miles, we are looking at the weather, and tomorrow may be our last rain-free day for a few days.  With the motel stay, we are planning 90 miles tomorrow, and if we survive the wind, we may go for 110 like we did the first day. 

SUMMARY OF DAY 4:  A total of 87.6 miles and 11.9 MPH (riding time only) and a total on-bike time of 7 hours and 22 minutes.  It was 12 hours and 21 minutes for the day, with a temperature range of 54 F at the start to almost 92 F at the peak.  Total ascent (according to Garmin Connect) was 247 feet with a decent of 772 feet.  We had a 466-foot net elevation drop from 3,345 feet to 2,879 feet.

Our 10 miles splits from MapMyRide (time includes breaks, and mph is based only on riding time) were:

0-10 in 0:44:01 - 13.6 mph
10-20 in 0:47:53 - 13.3 mph
20-30 in 3:17:48 - 10.4 mph
30-40 in 1:03:14 - 12.9 mph
40-50 in 0:55:57 - 12.0 mph
50-60 in 2:23:18 - 10.9 mph
60-70 in 1:10:54 - 11.6 mph
70-80 in 0:52:28 - 12.0 mph
Last 7.5 in 1:05:01 - 10.7 mph