Days 28 and 29: Cody to Thedford, NE and Thedford to Broken Bow, NE

Cody to Thedford:

Distance: 102.5 miles

Elevation: +2835 / -3078

Temperature: mid to upper 70s most of the day

We rolled out of Cody by 6:30, since we knew we had a lot of miles to cover by the end of the day, and we knew we were going to jump into a new time zone very soon after leaving Cody, so we wanted to be mindful of what that would do to our routine.

We were still in the Sandhills, and that was the scenery for the day. It didn’t disappoint.

The largest aquifer in the US is actually located beneath the Sandhills. This means that in low areas, the water is at the surface of the land and creates marshes, temporary ponds and lakes. This is incredibly rich habitat for a variety of birds, so there was plenty to see, and hear, when riding by these.

We stopped in Valentine to grab lunch at Subway to eat later, and then headed out of town across the White River.

The Valentine National Wildlife Refuge is a huge area that encompassed numerous marshes and beautiful expanses.

This was a long day, in terms of miles, but it was not a challenging ride that comes from managing a lot of elevation, heat, wind, or cold. So, overall, it was a nice and enjoyable day.

At the end of the day, we fell into our routines upon arrival at our lodging:

1 Snack

2 Shower

3 Wash out cycle clothes

4 Dinner

5 Prep for the next day: clothes, food on bikes, make lunch, hydration, etc.

6 Discuss distances, elevation, weather (heat, wind, etc.) to plan SAG stops

7 Sleep (usually by 8:30 or 9:00)

8 Wake up (between 4:45 and 5ish)

9 Dress

10 Eat

11 Check over bikes and final prep

12 Ride

13 Repeat

View from the house where we're staying in Thedford.

Thedford to Broken Bow:

Distance: 69.5 miles

Elevation: +811 / -1187

Temperature: 53 at start and 81 at end

We are all becoming like Mary Jo...today’s ride of ONLY 69 miles is getting to feel like an “easy“ day!

Another early start (put your shocked faces on) out of Thedford and the lovely rental house we had overnight, with its beautiful views of the sand hills. The weather was perfect - a high in the low 80s - but we wanted to arrive in Broken Bow before stronger headwinds started.

We certainly didn’t need our coffee this morning...with all the livestock trucks roaring passing us, we were twitchy enough without caffeine. We continued on through the Sandhills, stopping for breaks when we needed them, including a stop at a beautiful little Catholic church called St. Anselm’s (in the town of St. Anselmo).

To our happy surprise, our rooms in the Arrow Hotel were ready for us when we rolled into Broken Bow around noon. The hotel sits on an outside corner of a lovely town square, which is surrounded by busy local businesses, and each person we met was friendlier than the last.

As we sat outside on this pleasant day for lunch, we began to notice JUST how many cattle trucks rolled through town...there were dozens and dozens. It became a bit surreal until our crack researcher Kathleen did a bit of sleuthing and discovered that Broken Bow is the home of the Adams Land & Cattle Co., one of the 5 largest beef producers in the country with over 130,000 head of cattle located here and in two other finishing lots, as well as another 130,000 head being pasture fed all over the US and Canada. No wonder you can’t escape the smell of cattle around here!

Interesting side note: the Broken Bow Volunteer Fire Department is camped outside our hotel selling fireworks out of a trailer. What a great business plan AND job security too!

Tomorrow we have another “vacation day” of only about 65 miles to St. Paul...woot, woot!

Highlights:

Easy 102 and 69 mile rides

Great weather

No horrible headwinds

LOVE when trains toot at us in greeting!

Lowlights

Deer flies

Expansion cracks on the shoulders of the highways

Nebraska facial: sand blown onto you by passing trucks is a great way to exfoliate but still a lowlight!