D6 Alliance to Hyannis

Ride Video

This stage was scenically uneventful. It was 60 miles on pavement which meant I could be slow departing. After breakfast at Ken and Dale's, a couple of errands, a second goodbye to Arlo, and some personal business over the phone, I left at 10:00.
The Sandhills were farther than I thought from Alliance, but I made it soon enough. A stiff cross wind pushed me. The shoulder is six feet wide which is great in this situation.
Shortly after 11:00 I ride by the WWI era potash plant. Germany was a major supplier. We lost the source in the war. This place made got it from the alkaline lakes in the area. 
Not all the lakes are alkaline. I saw many with homes and alfalfa fields around them or cows. This is cattle country. Sadly the only sandhills turtles I saw were smashed on the road. I saw my first live road rattlesnake though! It was sidewinding it's way across. I wanted to help it cross, but feared it wouldn't know I was helping it. 
Trains run frequently along the double track next to the road. We still use a lot of coal.
By 1:00 I was at Morgan's Cowpoke Haven. I surprised myself by spending a half hour there looking around, eating lunch, and chatting with the gun dealer owner rail against Omaha politicians especially his representative.
Around 4:00 pm I was in Ashby. Back in Alliance I picked up a brochure for a pottery store. I stopped in and was delighted to learn Linda, the owner made coffee and smoothies. I got a berry smoothie and listen to her tell me about her Swiss immigrant dad and visiting her relatives in Switzerland. It was a comfy place, but the road called. 
At 5:20 I was in Hyannis. It's a nice town with green lawns contrasting with the brown hills. Most importantly it has a great grocery store. I stocked up and rode the ½ mile to Frye Lake where I enjoyed not one but two Henry Weinhard's root beer. I am craving sugar on this trip. And salt. Dinner was chips, bean dip, an apple, and a cold yogurt while sitting in my chair looking at the lake. I was in bed by 9:00. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Consolation Tour - Seattle to Yakima and back - D1 Home to Carter Creek

Image
I am not sure who'll actually read this, but writing this is helping me get through my recent cancer diagnosis. I couldn't do the continuation of my planned cross USA trip so I did a five day trip from home to Yakima via the Cascades to Palouse Trail and back via Naches Pass. To paraphrase my brother, spinning my pedals was better than spinning my mind. Overview static map: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48494574 Day 1 Map: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/220754440 Animated Map: https://www.relive.cc/view/vwq1gzDDdLO (This was the only entry written the day of the ride. It was written in the dark at Carter Creek ). Today's ride begins with me nervously pondering which way to ride my big loop. Go counterclockwise to Greenwater or clockwise to Snoqualmie Pass. I flip flopped all the way up to my departure. I decided to ride my commute route into work to see folks in the office. Work is a comfort in these times. I was worried about the rain situa...
Read more

Consolation Tour D3 Yakima Canyon to Little Naches River

Image
Static Map:  https://ridewithgps.com/trips/221899884?privacy_code=Hrw5hypqs7SqCpXgaV4qYVyJRR6aVWVB Animated Map:  https://www.relive.cc/view/v1vjY87M8Jq I woke up a little after six. The sky was blue but the sun hadn't reached the canyon floor. I listened to the morning birds while I contemplated the day ahead. The Waffle Caffe in Yakima two hours away, beckoned. With just a mini breakfast of bars and dried fruit, I set off down the road. Beaufiful views abounded. I found myself stopping to snap pictures almost every mile. Traffic was light. Most of the time I had the road to myself. Despite the number of times I have driven the canyon, the experience was new. I thought about my mom who drove the canyon almost daily to attend classes at CWU to finish her BA while being a new mom and managing a marriage that was heading toward the rocks. The canyon walls seem to enclose us on our own personal journeys. The canyon is more developed than I remembered or ma...
Read more

Consolation Tour D2 Carter Creek to Yakima Canyon

Image
Static map: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/221188106?privacy_code=aq0uBAb1YD3hG0VxuuIfF4J5F4JOE5iy Animated map:  https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOnkz8kn56 The day began gray at Carter Creek. I slept well despite a visit by a small critter outside my tent. In the morning I found a stroupwaffel in my handlebar bag. It all made sense. The morning prep was easy paced and steady. I was on the trail by 8:17 on the nose. The sound of the creek pervaded the camp but as soon as you reached the trail you could hear I-90. It was a strange feeling being so physically cut off with the sounds of the modern world still present.  The trail continued up past the Lake Annette trail where I spent time with college friends, Kisho as a baby, and Jesse's family at various times. This was a different perspective having taken so long to reach it. I'd find that a lot of this trip. New perspective on familiar places.  I passed the snow shed where I'd been on my fir...
Read more