Three States Today

Day Seven: Tecumseh/Johnson, Nebraska to Farragut, Iowa

Tecumseh, Johnson, Auburn, Brownville, Rockport MO, Farragut IA

Woke up this morning in our cushy motel room...the Motel 7 rocks!...looked out the window and saw Bernie and Jim putting Jim's bike in Bernie's mini-van. What's this??!

Turned out to be an opportunity for Bernie and his daughter, Hailey, to ride a leg on their tandem, which amazingly had been stashed fully loaded and upright in the back of the van. Juuuuust fits!

Al, Bernie, Hailey, Mark, and I left Tecumseh around 11 on highway 136 and headed for Johnson. The road was hilly, no shoulder, and busy at times with trucks, but we still had a great ride.

We decided to go into Johnson, though it meant a two-mile detour from our route...Bernie, Hailey, Mark, and I met Jim there and had a bite to eat. Mark ordered a pizza burger, which turned out to be his second-favorite meal of the trip so far (after Toby's beans and rice). With a screaming tailwind, we got back to 136 and headed for Auburn. Bernie and Jim traded the bikes out and Jim was back on the road, with Bernie and Hailey riding support in the van.

Soybeans and grass, blowing in the wind...fortunately in the same direction we were going.

Big hill.
Looking back.

Amazingly, we weren't that far behind the others, who'd gone on ahead the night before and spent the night in Johnson. Al had skipped Johnson and gone straight to Auburn, so we caught up with him there. Al is going to Council Bluffs to join up with Ragbrai at the start, so this was our parting point with him. But we look forward to seeing him in Red Oak in a few days.

On the way to Auburn, Mark had another flat tire. Another shady spot, but the smile is gone. Hmm...

After Auburn, 136 turned into a red road, which was actually a relief because although it was still busy, there was now a big shoulder. We rode to Brownville, a town of 100-some people that was getting ready for a street dance. The whole town is a designated historical sight in Nebraska, and looks the part with sweetly-decorated buildings and nice parks...and of course the requisite historical marker.

Bob makes a friend in Brownville.

In Brownville we gathered up, because the bridge across the Missouri River is very narrow and two-lane. Bernie and Hailey drove behind us in the van to protect us from other traffic, and we crossed the river into Missouri.

A mile or two brought us to Black Iron Grill Steak House, where we stopped to figure out our next steps and eat a great meal...my first spaghetti of the trip, and it was DELICIOUS. Here are a few pics from this place:

Long Haul Truckers

We then rode to Rockport, which turned out to be a mistake, because we descended two miles to town and then had to climb back out. Oh well; we got these lovely pictures out of it:

And now comes the worst road I have ever ridden on in my entire life. We rode north on 275 and then took a right on Road T. T must stand for “Terrible, Treacherous, Torturous”...make up your own awful T word. The minute we turned onto it, it was bad, and it just went from bad to worse. Loose gravel was scattered over broken pavement. The whole thing was like one big rumble strip. We clattered along, trying to find a smooth spot, riding toward the center or even on the other side at times. Luckily, the road was not very busy, and also on the good side, there was a lovely sunset. But it was hard to enjoy as we bumped along, looking out for places where the road just disappeared into big, gravel-chunked holes, braking downhill and crawling up the other side...besides the horrible pavement, it was very hilly. But in this case it was almost better to go uphill than down, as it gave you more time to spot the holes.

It grew dark, and we were still on the longest five miles of our lives...road T. Everyone went ahead and I was slogging along on my own when I heard something fall off the bike on one of the descents. It was my box of Cheerios. Here's a picture of the road near where the Cheerios fell:

FINALLY we were out of Missouri and into Iowa, as the road sign changed to L22 and the surface improved...only for a minute, though, as here's what we saw next:

Nuts!

That turned out to only be a small stretch, though, thankfully.

By this time, Toby and Lauree had caught up with me and we met up with Mark who had waited for me and rode together the rest of horrible Road T. Which came to a T, finally. And then we all looked at the map and tried to figure out which way to go. Luckily we guessed correctly and now we were on the BEST road ever, so smooth and lovely!

To make a long story short, we had a lovely ride the rest of the way to Farragut...beautiful stars in the sky, one stop to put on socks (it was getting cold) and windmills marked with red lights blinking in unison in the night. Farragut seemed to the disappearing town, though...every time we thought we were near, it was nowhere in sight. Finally, we arrived and found the rest of the gang at the Farragut Tavern. We had a great night listening to music, dancing a little, and eating and drinking, closing the Tavern and then continuing the conversation at the picnic shelter. A good time was had by all. :-)

A few pics from the Farragut Tavern:Bob regales the crowd with a bunch of bullsh...interesting stories.

Love shack...baby, love shack!

What's better than a black Russian and Cheerios?

Mark turns chiropractor to help Jim's back.

Today's featured rig is Noelle Bowdler's. Noelle rides a recumbent trike made by Catrike out of Florida. Noelle special-ordered her bike about a year and a half ago, and debuted it last year. I would just like to point out Noelle's seat. Let's look at Noelle's seat...

(sorry, I forgot to take a picture of Noelle's seat...but you can get the idea from the picture above)

and now look at mine:

Now which would you rather sit on for six hours a day??

Okay, I'm a little distracted by the fact that my butt is sore...let's move on to the other features.

Noelle steers the bike using two upright handles that move the front wheels, which are connected by a tie rod. Shifting and braking are conveniently located right there on the handles. Pedals are way out front...note Noelle's dual headlight system by Dinotte, a great company.Noelle's stuff is all stashed behind her, including her camelback, so she has the convenience of nearly instant water availability without the drawback of something lying on your back.

Noelle's bike has two 20-inch wheels on the front and one 26-inch on the back, which means she carries an extra tire of each size in case of blow-outs. Noelle also carries a tool kit with various and sundry other spare parts...that's maybe the down side of such a special bike; you're less likely to be able to find the parts you need at a normal bike shop, should something go wrong. Noelle carries a spare front axle because one time the axle just flew right out and got run over by a truck before she could retrieve it.

Noelle's bike rockets down hills, and she gets going about 38-40 mph...goes a little slower up the steeper hills, but arrives without a sore butt.

Clearly I have trike envy.