500+ miles later...

Vacation is officially over and I wish I was still out riding. To catch you up to speed on everything that happened over the past week here is a daily synopsis.

DAY 1 (Saturday)
Boarded the buses in Waterloo, NE at 5 AM to head out to Gordon, NE. The ride wasn't all that exciting. Tried to get some sleep but sleeping on a bus is about as easy as sleeping on an airplane in coach class. We arrived in Gordon a little after noon. The town was very welcoming to everyone. The campground was the city park which seemed to be located in the middle of town. Walked downtown to the local diner for lunch and had a chicken salad sandwich on cibata bread. Very tasty. There was a funnel cake stand setup in the park and I just couldn't resist. There was some live country music too in the park along with some hamburgers and fixins for dinner. Then it was off to bed for some needed sleep because I didn't want to ride while being tired.

DAY 2 (Sunday) - Gordon to Hyannis 85 miles
Awoke at 3:30 AM to pack everything up, including the tent and place them onto the truck. It was cold as hell this morning; felt like 30 degrees. Breakfast was being served at 4:30 AM. Since this was supposed to be the longest day distance wise I wanted to get a good early start.

I thought I would take my camera gear and some other things in hopes of getting some good photographic opportunities. This was a big mistake. The rubber hit the road at 6 AM and it was looking to be a great day. There were a few nice little hills out of town and the pedaling was going really good. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, there appeared the hills from hell. These were reminiscent of the hills in San Francisco. If anyone ever tells me that Nebraska is flat, I will slap them up side the head. This might not have been too bad but the fact that I had about ten extra pounds strapped to my back started to take its toll. My butt and other areas were in extreme pain. At the halfway point, I pawned off the pack on the SAG driver; photos be damned, my butt was more important. The rest of the ride went much better; it's amazing how much of a difference a few pounds can make.

Arrived in Hyannis feeling a little tired but not too much. Went to the showers in the high school, the cold water wasn't working so we took showers in scalding water. After we left someone went to adjust the water. Everyone who showered after us, had nice showers. Oh well. The girl scouts were serving lunch in the football field where we camped. Sloppy Joes and gatorade; yummy. Dinner was served by the local church in the school.

DAY 3 (Monday) - Hyannis to Tryon 73 miles
This morning was a little warmer than the first. Awoke at 3:30, packed everything and went up to the school for breakfast. Started on the road at 5:45 AM. Caught up to a couple people I met the day before and finished riding into Tryon with them. When we reached the halfway point a noticeable wind was starting up. For the most part it was a crosswind from the south. The first half of the route was traveling south while the last part headed west. Anyone who started later than us were in for a serious headwind for about 30 miles.

About 10 miles outside of Tryon was a steep hill. Once I crested this hill I cranked it downhill. This was not such a good idea. Towards the bottom of the hill, the area opened up. It was like a valley on both sides of the road. The southerly wind that was approaching 25 mph at this time was slamming into me and made me feel as though the bike was going to get blown out from under me. Not very fun.

Arrived in Tryon, showered, ate lunch and took a little nap. It was hot and muggy in the tent so I went into the school to lay on the cool floor. Dinner time came and this was by far the best place we ate all week. They had loads of home cooked goodies. After leaving the dining facility with a full stomach, the winds had picked up even more and there were some nasty clouds moving in from the west.

The evening in the tent was not fun. The wind was blowing so hard that the tent kept mashing up against me while I tried to sleep. Then the rain came. I did not sleep very well.

DAY 4 (Tuesday) - Tryon to Merna 71 miles
I awoke at 3:30 AM and it was still raining. I rolled off my air mattress into a pool of water. My tent sprung a leak. Thankfully I wrapped most of my stuff in garbage bags for just such an emergency. Everything was packed and placed on the truck then off to the school for some breakfast burritos.

The first half of this days ride wasn't too bad. It seemed like it was going to clear up for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, it turned miserable. It turned to light drizzle and mist. The cool temperatures didn't make it very comfortable either. I even attempted to wear my poncho to warm up and dry up a little. BIG MISTAKE. With a headwind, the poncho became a parachute. It could be a good way to get some resistance training in but I didn't like it at the time. So, off came the poncho. Arrived in Merna not feeling very dry or very happy. The sky was heavily overcast and it was only raining lightly off and on.

Grabbed my luggage off the truck and pitched tent. Went into town to the local eatery for lunch. Apparently people love their hamburgers because when I got there and tried to order one, they were all out of hamburgers. I kid you not. So I ordered a chicken fried steak sandwich. When that arrived someone had just come back from getting more hamburger meat. This was not looking up to be a good day for me.

Arrived back to camp and someone said that the weather reports stated there was going to be 3 to 5 inches of rain that night. Then I heard they opened up the gyms for people to sleep in. Well, my tent seemed to have dried out, so I took it down and decided to sleep in the gym that night. I was going to have a dry peaceful night of sleeping.

DAY 5 (Wednesday) - Merna to Ord 60 miles

More to come...need to eat lunch.