Phase 3, Day 5. Kearney - Nelson, NE

108 miles and soon after I left the Platte River things got hilly again. Gentle rollers but many, many miles of them.

I made 3 mistakes today: Got a late start, missed a turn which added 10 miles to an already long day and didn't stop for lunch. All added up to a nasty bonk (bike speak for Make it Stop!) at mile 90.  It got very hot and humid as the day wore on and the last 10 miles were difficult.

Other than that it was another great day!

Soon after leaving the Platte River found gentle hills and strikingly beautiful scenery.  80-100 feet up and down all day but it adds up.  Everything here is very green and the roadside is full of wildflowers. The hilly terrain is very gentle and spent all day riding between the corn and soybean fields. Between the hills are wooded creek valleys and every 10 miles a small farm town again.

A selfie!! 

Fort Kearney was interesting. Oregon Trail/49er travelers and Pony Express riders needed a secure place to stay free from Indian threat...there was a constant tit-for-tat and sometimes nasty battle. Fort Kearney and Fort Laramie (in Wyoming..Stage 2) offered some protection when things were particularly hostel.

Fort Kearney

It was getting hot and was wearing down about mile 70 (should have stopped for lunch) but the frequent small towns nearly always have somewhere to get a cold drink. Might only be a vending machine outside the grain elevator but still good. Of course I carry tons of water but it's also 90 degree water...fine for hydration but tastes like crap.

The Pivot. This massive rig irrigates the circular fields you see from your airplane window. 

Somewhere at about hour 7 I was tired and ready to be done. Coming over another rise in the road I finally saw the Nelson water tower in the distance. It was like one of those bad dreams where no matter how hard you try you can't quite get there. I got there but it wasn't pretty. 

"You shoulda told us you was comin', you could bunk with us".  Heard that a few times since I got to Nelson.

Of course soon met a local...but not a farmer.  Russ Snyder was born and raised here but went on to play Major League Baseball to help the Baltimore Orioles win the 1966 World Series.  Later Russ and I had dinner together at the only place in town and, reluctantly, he gave me a tour of his "shrine" the town put up on the restaurant wall.  Many baseball cards, newspaper clippings, team pictures and photos of his family and his beautiful wife Ann who he has missed since 1997  

Another Selfie...my hand with Russ' 1966 World Series Championship ring. 

Nelson is the nicest "very small town" I've come across this week. Perhaps because it's the county seat....not sure.  But it's like that idilic small mid-west town I always imagined.

Tomorrow 100 more miles (Make it Stop!) to Kansas and Marysville. Russ promised it will be all flat once I make the turn down at the next corner but just in case will start early and remember to stop for lunch  There's another good Pony Express museum in Marysville to see!