Today we started at 7:19 AM, hoping to get as many miles in as possible before the winds picked up. The forecast was for head/cross winds at 10-20 mph. The last 17 miles of the day were directly into a 20 mph head wind. Our ride covered a total of 131.2 miles, on a flat route again – actually had a net drop of 700 feet in elevation today. We traveled on Hwy 275, Hwy 32 and Hwy 75. Hwy 275 and 75 had a wide shoulder, which were fairly smooth and clear. Hwy 32 started out very rough w
ith no shoulder for the first mile and then the road turned smoother with a three foot shoulder. Traffic for the 4th was relatively light and vehicles gave us plenty of room to ride.
Once again, even though we had a flat route today, we had total climb of 2,082 feet. There were two stretches of road with a series of hills that tested our legs, or maybe I should say, tested my legs. Matt had a strong day today, good thing since the back-to-back 130+ days had taken a toll on my legs. Hopefully, we will have less wind tomorrow or maybe a tail wind. We will leave Nebraska and start our trek across Iowa.
The temperature today was relatively cool again – started at 62 degrees and ended at 84 degrees. Despite a couple of days of head winds, we really can’t complain about the weather. Relatively cool and dry for the most part. I hope this trend will continue. Everything considered, we have been very lucky.
We are now 1,885 miles into a 3,500 mile ride. Before we take a rest day Monday, we will have logged just short of 2,100 miles. Just a note – the flat tire count is now – Matt – 2 tubes/1 tire, Gary 7 tubes/3 tires. I had another flat two days ago (a very tough day) and could not locate the cause of the flat so I changed out the tire.
