Day 56- The Great Plains

Today, I am a bit anxious. The Plains are going to be a new experience for me and I have no idea what to expect.

The day started ominously. It was raining when I woke up in Ft Collins. I took a wait and see approach and packed up the bike at a very leisurely pace and visiting with Danny some more and waiting to see what the weather was going to do.

It did stop raining so I ended up leaving about 10:00. Before leaving town, I did have a consumer success story. Back in April, I bought a new camera at Best Buy. I also bought a product guarantee policy since I was taking it to the Grand Canyon and I knew the sand is hard on electronics. The camera survived the GC but cracked the preview screen a few days ago when I dropped it. So in Ft Collins, I took it in to exchange it, no questions asked. And they did! OK sorry for the Best Buy plug.

Leaving Ft Collins, I headed straight east on Hwy 14. I am planning on staying in this route till Sterling, CO. Then north into Nebraska. Immediately I noticed the vastness of the Plains. I did turn to take a last look at the Rockies.

Then, no looking back. Now in the Plains, there isn’t a National Forest of course. There is instead the Pawnee National Grassland. It has a subtle beauty to it. Green grassland as far as the eye can see. It is mixed with additional green fields of grazing land for the many cattle out here.

The wind is going to be the big factor for riding in the Plains since there isn’t much vertical challenge. And the wind did come in the afternoon. With a vengeance I might add. It wasn’t a head wind, but rather a strong side wind from the north with scattered rain mixed in. It really took it’s toll and I cried “uncle” after only 38 miles. I decided to camp in one of the Pawnee National Grassland campgrounds in the area near Briggsdale.

At the campground there were some interesting people. John was a photographer who was fascinated by my bike. He took a few photos of course. And later I had a very interesting conversation with a guy from China. He spoke a little English and we got by with the help of his amazing phone app that could translate Chinese characters into English. I have no idea how it works but it did.

Tomorrow, I need to get to Sterling. It is 63 miles and I really need to get to a bike shop. I had a flat today and found that the valve stem was compromised and unrepairable. Now with no spare tube, I was really nervous. Plus I need to try to put in some longer mileage days across the Plains so I can make the east coast in a timely manner. I am getting nervous about that too. So tomorrow I hope the wind and weather cooperate. We will see since the wind is still blowing here at the campground tonight.