Day 34 August 2 York to Fremont Sea to Sea 08
Today’s stats
Distance 96.11 miles
Time in saddle 7.13 hours
Ascent 1972
Current elevation 1204
Average speed 13.3 miles per hour
Temperature 98
When we woke up today, the wind was already blowing pretty hard. This was not a good sign. The wind was coming from the southeast. In looking at our map for today’s ride, we would be biking over 50 miles directly east and therefore we would have to be battling the wind a fair bit. It looked like a tough ride all day and we decided we needed to form pace lines whenever we could to help ease the day.
Hank, Bill and Mary started out at the same time Joan, Leanne and I did.
The early part of the day went better than expected and we were over half way by noon. We stopped in Seward for coffee. Marty joined us here and said she would help pull me along. There we turned north and had the winds on our backs for 21 miles. We sailed along at 17-18 miles per hour and felt good. When we had to turn east again to bike 25 miles to Wahoo we again were battling the wind. To battle the wind, we rode slightly to the left of the wheel in front of us, which broke the wind a little. There was a decent shoulder, which allowed us to ride somewhat side-by-side. When we arrived in Wahoo, we were very relieved to have made it that far and were ready for a lunch break. Lots of cyclists stopped at a Zesto ice cream place that served hamburgers and hot dogs as well. This was a great spot to get refreshed.
After lunch we only had 25 miles to go. We headed north for about 13 miles just outside of Wahoo. We had to take a detour onto highway 109. This highway did not have shoulders, but it was smooth and flat. We sailed along at 14-15 miles per hour. We were starting to get tired from the hot sun. When we turned the corner to head east we fast a really strong wind that hit us like a wall. This road had no shoulder so we could not benefit from any drafting. It was also rolling hills and rough road. We had 5 miles of road that just drained all the energy from us. At one point I was arguing with God. Why did he have to make today so hard and the wind so strong? Why did we not have the westerly winds that are so prevalent? Why did he send us winds from the east for three days? We were being worn down but the long hot days that battled winds.
Joan reminded me that the poor, for which we were riding, experienced difficult challenges every day and see no end in sight. Here I am complaining about a few days were we are having a difficult time. We can suck it up for a few days and know that when we are finished with our ride we have comfortable cars and homes to go back to. We are only experiencing these challenges for 9 weeks.
In spite of the difficult ride we did bike through some very beautiful farmland. Fields of corn and soybeans looked very healthy and farms looked prosperous. We did enjoy some of the rolling hills, as the views were great. One of the locals had mentioned that they had had lots of rain 2 weeks ago and now the dry heat was really making the crops grow. They also mentioned that the winds today were the strongest they had experienced in a long time.
Today’s stats
Distance 96.11 miles
Time in saddle 7.13 hours
Ascent 1972
Current elevation 1204
Average speed 13.3 miles per hour
Temperature 98
When we woke up today, the wind was already blowing pretty hard. This was not a good sign. The wind was coming from the southeast. In looking at our map for today’s ride, we would be biking over 50 miles directly east and therefore we would have to be battling the wind a fair bit. It looked like a tough ride all day and we decided we needed to form pace lines whenever we could to help ease the day.
Hank, Bill and Mary started out at the same time Joan, Leanne and I did.
The early part of the day went better than expected and we were over half way by noon. We stopped in Seward for coffee. Marty joined us here and said she would help pull me along. There we turned north and had the winds on our backs for 21 miles. We sailed along at 17-18 miles per hour and felt good. When we had to turn east again to bike 25 miles to Wahoo we again were battling the wind. To battle the wind, we rode slightly to the left of the wheel in front of us, which broke the wind a little. There was a decent shoulder, which allowed us to ride somewhat side-by-side. When we arrived in Wahoo, we were very relieved to have made it that far and were ready for a lunch break. Lots of cyclists stopped at a Zesto ice cream place that served hamburgers and hot dogs as well. This was a great spot to get refreshed.
After lunch we only had 25 miles to go. We headed north for about 13 miles just outside of Wahoo. We had to take a detour onto highway 109. This highway did not have shoulders, but it was smooth and flat. We sailed along at 14-15 miles per hour. We were starting to get tired from the hot sun. When we turned the corner to head east we fast a really strong wind that hit us like a wall. This road had no shoulder so we could not benefit from any drafting. It was also rolling hills and rough road. We had 5 miles of road that just drained all the energy from us. At one point I was arguing with God. Why did he have to make today so hard and the wind so strong? Why did we not have the westerly winds that are so prevalent? Why did he send us winds from the east for three days? We were being worn down but the long hot days that battled winds.
Joan reminded me that the poor, for which we were riding, experienced difficult challenges every day and see no end in sight. Here I am complaining about a few days were we are having a difficult time. We can suck it up for a few days and know that when we are finished with our ride we have comfortable cars and homes to go back to. We are only experiencing these challenges for 9 weeks.
In spite of the difficult ride we did bike through some very beautiful farmland. Fields of corn and soybeans looked very healthy and farms looked prosperous. We did enjoy some of the rolling hills, as the views were great. One of the locals had mentioned that they had had lots of rain 2 weeks ago and now the dry heat was really making the crops grow. They also mentioned that the winds today were the strongest they had experienced in a long time.
The ever present grain elevators and water towers in small towns.
Tonight we are staying at the YMCA in Fremont next door to an ice rink, which is air-conditioned. We can get relief from the heat by going inside the arena.
Thank God we do have air-conditioning today. It does give us opportunity to cool down.
We are now at the end of week 5, and averaged 92 miles per day this week. We are very glad this week is behind us. Many of us are not looking forward to next week when we have three days of over 100 miles per day. Please pray that it will not be as hot and that we have the winds on our backs.
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