One week complete

  Even though we had a short day yesterday and less wind, today we are both spent. We slept later than planned, and Jordan spent another night on the bathroom floor. The quad and calf muscles are the only things that feel OK. We both have hand swelling and weakness issues, so it is hard to zip up a coat.

It is hard to explain how the bike feels. There is no comfortable way to sit on it. To make matters worse, the last 15 miles were so rough that I compared them to a 100-year-old brick street. The hands and backside may have had more comfort in a grinder.

The temperature was 76 degrees at noon, and with a 13 mph southeast wind, we were riding east for another 15 miles before turning north. If the wind holds, we will have a nice change for once: we will not have a headwind. We can not say that for the past five days.

Just past Ames, Nebraska, the shoulder totally disappeared.  Jordan almost bit the dust from a semi-truck, which was disrespectful!  We were short-tempered and yelled at each other once again.  We talked seriously about quitting.  We decided to dredge forward on a gravel road to get off the highway.  It was VERY LOOSE gravel, and we struggled.  It was still dangerous When we returned to the Lincoln Highway.  We walked against traffic for about a mile and were excited to see a shoulder again!

We laughed, nothing about Bicycles, just RV's

We made it to Fremont, Nebraska, at 4:00 PM and looked for a place to eat. We found a diner called "Mel's Diner." Of course, I knew the name was symbolic, but Jordan needed to learn. The sitcom Alice was centered around Mel's Diner!  We fueled up, knowing we had about 15 miles to a municipal campground. We made the campground just after 6:00 PM.

Dinner at Fremont, Nebraska

We camped at Winslow, Nebraska, about 70 miles south of South Sioux City, where we made a reservation at a Knights Inn. Tomorrow's route is very hilly, so we will have to work very hard just to get the needed 70 miles. 

ALL SET UP in Winslow Municipal Campground

We are at 586.6 miles after 58 miles today and have about 375 miles. We had some of the worst road conditions, and trucks almost removed our chances of success. We had a 3-mile detour on loose gravel and walked about 3 miles for safety. After today, we researched and found we must change the route to be as safe as possible. Even then, we have some unknowns.

I wish I could write more, but I am so tired.

SUMMARY OF DAY 7: A total of 58 miles and 11.2 MPH (riding time only) and a total on-bike time of 5 hours and 10 minutes.  It was just under 8 hours for the day, with a temperature range of 64 F at the start to almost 86 F at the peak.  Total ascent (according to Garmin Connect) was 316 feet with a decent of 436 feet.  We had a net elevation decrease of 321 feet, going from 1,495 feet to 1,174 feet overall.

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

0-10 in 0:44:30 - 13.6 mph
10-20 in 1:03:36 - 12.4 mph
20-30 in 1:38:47 - 11.5 mph
30-40 in 1:36:36 - 8.0 mph
40-50 in 2:22:17 - 9.7 mph
Last 8 in 32:55 - 15.1 mph