Recumbent Ron

Made it to the Wauneta, the start town. Tent set up, trike unboxed, all checked in and picked up my bling.

Had just a wonderful time at dinner, with a visit from my aunt, cousin and her two grown children. Our BRAN start town is only 19 miles from Imperial where they live. Thanks guys!

Up at 5:00, on the trike by 6:30.  Chilly, dreary and windy, even some sprinkles.   Yep, a perfect morning to practice for BRAN.  Only got in 41 of the 50 planned miles, either the wind was stronger than I realized or I just had no energy.

• June 7-13, BRAN (Bike ride Across Nebraska) 410 miles, www.bran-inc.org
• June 27-July 1, NUMB Ride 245 miles, www.numbride.org
• July 19-25, RAGBRAI (bike ride across Iowa) 462  miles,  www.ragbrai.com
• August 7-9, 7 Cities Century, 100 miles, Madison County, NE
• August 22 , Onabike, Onawa Iowa (may ride out and back with local club)
• August 30, Heatstroke 100, starting at SAC Museum
• September 5-6, Wabash Wine Weekend

RAGBRAI 2014 was a fun experience with my son Aric, who was age 20 at the time of the ride.  Our days were so full I did not have time to post daily reports, so will post just the one here with several pictures from the week long ride.  Suffice it to say we experience all kinds of weather (short of snow), saw some fantastic scenery, ate a lot of wonderful food and managed to ride most of the 400+ miles of the seven day ride.

RAGBRAI Virgins (first time riders)

Branding of the RAGBRAI virgins.

This town when all out and provided comfortable chairs for the riders to rest on.

Oh, my!

Can you guess what day of the week this was? Yep, Hump Day!

This town had a contest for their locals to decorate the porta potties.

Aric and I will never forget this day. Rainy, windy and cold. Hundreds of us were packed in this school waiting for the rain to end. We finally threw in the towel and called for a ride that day.

At last, WiFi!!!! Aric and I enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon at the air conditioned library.

My kind of team (this was on one of the many buses that carry bikers and their gear).

Our 4th and final day of riding, 47 miles from Gibbon back to Holdrege and I did not finish.  It was cold during the night, down to 42 degrees, I was chilled and I just had no muscles.  I made the mistake of skipping breakfast (did not want to ride back into town) and my snack bars just did not do it for me.  But for the little ways I went, about seven miles, I did get some interesting pictures.

Me and my shadow.

Had to take this picture. Nearly 30 years ago my wife and I had car trouble and the guy who then lived there tried to help us from what is now that boarded up garage.

Platte River

My rescuer. He actually was the father of one of the riders. Thanks again!

UFO? Metallic onion?

I woke up with a lot of trepidation today as the route was 73 miles, the farthest distance I have ever done on my trike.  Breakfast was a a premade omlet, yogurt, muffins, fruit, juice and coffee (yes, I at all of that).  We rode for 49 miles on the same straight highway #2 to Ravenna, then the rest south to Gibbon.  I know both of these towns well.  My wife’s brother and daughter live in Ravenna, and we broke down on our first trip to Yellowstone 30 years ago in Gibbon.  I stopped in Ravenna and had a nice lunch with him, but in the process found I was the last rider.  Thankfully the last SAG stop waited for me as I was low on water.

Tonight we camped on the school’s football field and it was very windy.  Could barely get tent set up. Dinner was back in town and I just did not have the energy to ride back for it so I ate at American Legion Hall across from the school instead.   This is our last night of camping before we head back to Holdrege tomorrow.

Hydrating before the long ride

Saw this just as we exited Custer County

Bill Ritter, ride director, shot this of me. I really was not that cheerful the entire ride. 😉

Dinner at the American Legion Hall. Air conditioned and plenty of liquid refreshments (if you know what I mean). Oh, World Cup Soccer on too, sure beat looking at a bunch of tents on a football field.

Breakfast this morning in Cozad was Pancakes and sausage, hosted by the men’s group of the church.  Rode 45 miles today from Cozad to Broken Bow.  Not a lot exciting today, just long stretches.  Camping at the local high school.   Broken Bow has a population of around 3,000 people, but is overshadowed by the number of livestock.  Located a couple miles south of town is the  Adams Land and Cattle south lot, with a capacity of 85,000 head.

This was a hard ride day and because of the sustained 24 mph headwinds and hills, they shortened the ride (Thank you, thank you, thank you!).

Dinner tonight in Cozad was sloppy Joes (what else to you expect in beef country), chips and carrots, dessert was ice cream sundaes.  Yum, yum!

Hard to see it here, but this was one long steep hill. Note the milled surface which also slowed me down

But it was very scenic

Dinner in the church, typical of each night.

Group Photo! I’m in there somewhere.

Although it sometimes gets me off to a late start, I always partake of the great breakfasts on the ride.  Usually eggs, sausage, and pancakes.   I try to be the first in line as sometimes they run out of food and we have to wait for them to prepare more.  As one of the slower riders, I can’t afford to wait and need to get out on the road as early as possible.

Today we left Holdrege, traveled west to Elwood, then north up around Johnson Lake Reservoir, then zigzagged our way up to Cozad, population ~4,000.  A total of 60 miles today.  Camping and showers at the East Elementary School, supper tonight was spaghetti or Cavatini, salads and deserts at the Cozad United Methodist church.  Some riders took the free shuttle bus to Camp Comeca, a local Methodist church camp, where they had horseback riding (if your rump was not sore enough from 60 miles on a bike seat…who’s bright idea was this??), indoor swimming and hiking.

What the ???? First turn out of town I saw this and had to take a picture. Actually it is on a roads department area paralleling the highway.

There was rain, there was lightening, there was more rain. We had to wade through the water to get to the SAG table

Barn rooftop I thought was interesting

I was quite excited to find this vineyard until I discovered there was no adjacent winery

Today is the meet up day for the NUMB Ride, which starts in Holdrege, NE.  There is an optional additional day ride today for those who want to do it, but as they have not provided any information about it (mileage, SAG’s, etc), I’m a  hesitant to do it.  Tonight we camp out out in the yard of a really nice YMCA.  On our own for dinner, just need to be at the 8:00 information meeting at the local Methodist church.

Speaking of the Methodist church, this ride  has been directed by a Methodist minister, Rev. Bill Ritter.  He’s the co-founder of the ride.  This is a United Methodist church mission project to alleviate hunger in the world, but one does not have to be Methodist to participate.

I was thinking how nice it would be to go see a movie at the air conditioned local theater in the afternoon, but they have only one showtime, one movie each day, starting at 7:30.

Above is the camping area behind the YMCA, where I unloaded my Rabbit.

Church where we had our riders orientation meeting.

Example of the beautiful houses in the neighborhood around the church

NUMB is a fundraising event aimed at alleviating hunger all around the world through donations for riders who participate in the event.   Since it started 19 years ago it has distributed over $650,000 for the hungry of the world.  I’ve wanted to do this ride for years but too many obstacles got in my way.  Two years ago I was not ready physically, so supported the ride as a SAG driver.   This year we start in Holdege, spend the first night in Cozad, second night in Broken Bow, third night in Gibbon (wife and I broke down there nearly 30 years ago) and then back to Holdredge.  I love these loop rides as I can drive myself to the starting point and my car is waiting for me when I get back. The NUMB ride is a fundraising event to help with hunger relief.

This will be a challenging trip for me as each and every day is more miles than any one day I have done so far this year or with my trike.  Day one is 60 miles, day two is 67, day three is 73 and day four is 47.  Thankfully they have great SAG support crew with lots of fruit and water at every stop.

Below is a close approximation of our trip route.