I hit the road a bit later than originally intended. However, a warm breakfast and a pleasant conversation with a gentleman about the trip were both fine reasons to prolong today's start. For me, an old railroad bridge just south of Valentine was the greatest point of interest today. In fact, a rails-to-trails initiative had converted the old railroad bed into a bike path. This particular Bridge was over 1/4 of a mile long and was 148 feet above the Niobrara River. Riding across this bridge was one of the highlights of the trip! About two hours later, I was riding along by livestock; cattle to be precise. I also happen to be playing music when I rode by. I was listening to some of Jack White's solo work. His music is hardly abrasive, at least I think. A cow's reaction, though triggered a response that I've never experienced as a cyclist riding by livestock. One cow's running created a ripple effect where upwards of 60 cattle in a herd ran! I thought it odd that that were running in a direction that paralleled the fence more than directly away from the fence. The remainder of the ride was relatively uneventful. A noticeable headwind, sometimes crosswind, persisted from 11:00am for the remainder of the ride. This was about 60 miles worth of riding. Conditions like these are rideable, but pedaling through wind for hours becomes a nuisance. I stopped in at a local hardware store in Atkinson, which is supplied by the warehouse that I used to have a summer job at back in Dixon. I've had an odd fascination with seeing where the suff from the warehouse ends up in a store, hundreds of miles away from a warehouse where it was pulled by an order filler. I had a pleasant time chatting with the cashier about the store and the warehouse. My mother and I had dinner at a local restaurant that was highly recommended by the cashier at the hardware store, and it did not disappoint. A burger, fries, and beer were all that was necessary to erase the fatigue from riding against the wind today. The forecast for tomorrow was similar to today's regarding the wind, so I thought I would get ahead of it with an early start. However, a setback the next morning prevented this.
