Nerd Em's Adventures
May 1.
The next big cold front has arrived. Old man winter will just not let go this year. The rain began overnight. At 7am, it is raining and in the 40s F. The radar and the forecast indicate that this is going to last all day, and the wind is going to pick up. Yep, I’m not going anywhere today. Read more
Today is a day about forward progress. My pre-trip notes are pretty blah for this section – just details about potential places to stay plus food and water sources. And so ‘blah’ is pretty much what the day brings. Read more
The weather forecast last night included a wind advisory for today.
Yes, there were a few angry words thrown around in my head when I heard that. But I didn’t give up hope – I took the “we’ll just see what it’s like in the morning” approach.
Well, what we see from the window this morning are traffic lights being held out at a steep angle with the wind. The trees are all bent over to the south. I say a few things to myself. Curse word. Curse word. Curse word. Read more
It’s a day that starts out sluggish but ends with nearly 100 miles completed. Kermit, the mental health counselor, has a lot to do with my attitude readjustment today.
We start out under cold and windy conditions again. The northerly wind is only around 10 mph, though, so forward progress is somewhat slowed but achievable. The landscape is pretty flat and barren – 10 miles west of York we reach the limits of glacial till in Nebraska, though I have trouble picking out any terminal moraine. I guess 2.5 million years of erosion make detection of such things a bit more difficult. Read more
The fog is so thick in the morning, visibility is reduced to mere feet. The fog has enveloped everything in its misty embrace – the whole world is grey, fuzzy and WET. It will be a while before I’m going anywhere. Read more
Normally, a flat tire is not how you want to start the day. But the flat tire saves me from getting absolutely soaked first thing, so I see it as a blessing.
Of course, I had not detected the tire was flat until I had the whole bike loaded and ready to go. Seeing that rain is imminent, I just roll the bike down two blocks to the city park so I can fix it under a picnic shelter. Read more
It storms again overnight, leaving the pavement damp, the air cool, and the sky full of low-flung clouds scooting overhead at speed this morning. There is a pretty stiff northeasterly breeze smashing my hopes of heading north at any point today. Read more
Erg.
What did you say?
Erg. Or ‘sand sea’. That’s what large sand dune fields are called. And it does feel very much like a sea as you rise and fall from crest to crest over the dunes. It’s a fantastic day to go riding in an erg. Read more
I want an early start this morning so I have plenty of time to get in some hiking at Chadron State Park this afternoon. It is cold enough to see your breath and to need gloves when I leave at daybreak.
Unfortunately, my asthma is incredibly bad this morning. I woke several times through the night wheezing. I also woke once to a headache and nose bleed. The room I stayed in definitely had a mold problem – those are all the symptoms I get with mold. It causes the most severe asthma attacks for me of any of my triggers. If you want to know if mold or mildew is present somewhere, send me in, I’m like a canary in a coal mine with mold. Read more
The post office in Chadron has unusual Saturday hours: 10.30am-1pm. This does give me time to go do laundry, however, before the post office opens.
There are a couple laundromats in Chadron. I use the first one you come across on the way into town from the west. It has clean bathrooms, plenty of washers and dryers that work well, change machine, detergent machine, free wifi and small, individual TVs (though I don’t know if they work). Very nice! Read more