Don't Tred on Me

When I started noticing miniature sunflowers, horses, and hills, I knew I finally hit the landscape change. When I got caught off guard by a rattle snake sharing the left half of my lane on the road- I knew I was getting my official welcome to the "West".

With about 30 miles to go to my destination yesterday, I reached a sign that said highway 30, the only non-hilly, straight route West for me, was closed, I had to take the "Detour" which went through a really hilly neighborhood. This was around 5 pm, and I could see cumulonimbus clouds behind me coming from the south. The city worker that morning told me my destination might have thunderstorms around 9pm coming from the south, and by the look of the clouds, it sounded right. So I was wondering whether I'd make it to where I needed to go as a result of this hilly detour. While biking through the neighborhood, I said hi to a man watering some flowers. As I was passing, he yelled to ask if I wanted some cold water. I kind of backtracked and said I'm alright (kind of stressed about the detour and wanting to move on), but then I asked whether he knew how much of highway 30 was closed, and where this detour lead. He said 13 miles of the highway were closed, and this detour went through 8 miles of hilly gravel road before getting back to black top. Very reminiscent of Iowa. We chatted about my possible routes and we agreed that I should go back to the construction site and just try to get through because they're probably not even working anymore. He offered a beer, and though I would have loved to chat, I decided I should beat the storms. I rode past the road blocks, and in front I could see the blinking of construction vehicles. Since it was too loud to hear anything because of the construction, I waved to the workers trying to point myself around them. The lead guy on top of a truck pointed out a guy at ground level. So I came up to him and screamed I'm crossing the country, can I get through. He says "Dude...all we're doing is this little stretch, pleease go ahead". And that's how one of the best rides I've had so far started. I had 13 miles of beautiful highway all to myself through rolling hills and a sunset. To give you a sense of the elation I felt after avoiding a horrible detour and getting a highway all to myself with no traffic, imagine being able to walk again after being in a wheelchair. Then imagine the storm clouds moving in behind me like slow avalanches. Getting the highway to myself, I was beating them as they were coming in from the south with me headed west, and it felt like riding a surf wave. So maybe you get the picture, I was having a good time.

Once I got back onto the opened highway 13 miles later, the landscape changed immediately to sandy, rocky soil with patches of grass and free range cattle. That's where I encountered my first rattlesnake and a reality check. As I was biking down the road, no cars behind me, still feeling the freedom of no traffic after the construction site, I saw something ahead of me in the second half of the lane and thought "nooo, that can't b- IT'S A RATTLESNAKE!!!" I passed it during the all caps part as it rattled its tail at me and did a taunt strike. It was way too close for comfort. A mile later I saw another one crossing the road, and I avoided it. A mile later there was a dead one in the middle of the road. That's 3 in about 3 miles. I think I was passing through a preferred habitat, and they were coming out onto the road as it was getting dark and chilly because the road was warm. However, this morning I saw another dead one as well. Let's just say that I no longer stay in the shoulder of the road, and my entire ride today was wide eyed scanning the horizon for anything that looks like a snake. Any irregularity in the road (squiggly tar stains, pieces of tire and tubing, etc) makes me tense up.

Anyways, I got to the town where I had to turn off the highway to get to the campsite and asked some people walking by if I was going the right way. It was getting dark and I could start to see lightning in the horizons (3/4ths of the sky was overcast). This road ended up being really hilly, but it took me to my first glimpse of the real high plains. I climbed up in elevation to an area with no trees, plain fields in all directions high up, with the valley in the distance. It was beautiful, but harsh. There was nothing to stop the wind, so there was a strong, crisp headwind. It reminded me of the mountains, which makes sense, since neither has trees. According to my map I was supposed to go straight down this road to the park, but at some point there was an intersection, and straight meant taking a gravel road, which seemed off, but I took it anyways. The park never came after 2 miles and the storms were getting closer (the lightning was amazing), so I decided to ask for some directions. I came to the first house I saw and knocked on the door, but the woman inside probably got scared, paced around a bit, and then sat back down on the couch and ignored me. So then I biked down to the next house a half mile away and did the same thing. This time a young guy informed me that I was actually supposed to turn where the gravel started and then go 5 miles more. That sucked. So I put on my rain coat, and headed out. The whole time I debated on setting up my tent on the side of the road near the open fields so as not to bike through the storms. I was thinking "lightning or rattle snakes, take a pick". Ultimately I decided on braving lightning rather than rattle snakes, and biked on. There's comfort in the civilizational qualities of a campground. About 10 minutes into my bike ride back to the main road, the guy I talked to caught up with his pick up and offered me a ride to the park. I definitely took the offer. Sean was in his late 20s/early 30s and is from the area. He worked as a forest fire fighter in Nevada and (utah?) for a few years before coming back. I asked him the silly question I've been wondering as I ride through the countryside "so, I've uhh always lived in the city, and this might seem stupid, but what do you guys do for fun?" He laughed and his answer was "we uhh, find stuff to do...there's always stuff to find to do".

Anyways, he dropped me off at the campsite with a lot of appreciation on my part, and I set up for the night. Luckily no storms hit, and I packed up around 8 and headed out for Sidney, NE. I had a hilly ride, and when I got to Chappell, NE halfway through the day (36mi from Sidney), I stopped for lunch and realized the best camping option I had was to stay here. So I took half the day off at an RV campground with wifi. It looks like the lack of campgrounds on the way to Wyoming means I'll be stopping in Kimball near the border tomorrow before heading into Wyoming past Cheyenne on Friday.

I'm almost halfway! Send some second wind, I'm starting to need it! This is where the real challenge starts.

-Miroslav

Samuel L. Jackson says it best-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ2QFmJ7h0A
And by planes, he means Plains.


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