We woke up this morning in the small town of Butte NE. Both of us were feeling pretty tired. As we learned throughout the day, perhaps our 99 miles yesterday wore us out more than we realized! I'm pretty proud of that feat, even if the wind helped us greatly. After getting our bikes together by a little after 6:45am, we headed down to the Firehouse Cafe again, but this time for breakfast. I had a big meal of French toast and eggs, and Laurel had two giant pancakes. Plate sized pancakes must just be the style in Nebraska. That suits me just fine! The waiter/co-owner of this restaurant has a loooong upturned mustache, that juts out from under his nose and is clearly twisted dramatically to upturn so. It is almost unreal, and hard not to stare! The food is quite delicious.
We got on our way following 11 north east, which would eventually become 18 east. The forecast was rain for the morning, and we could see a slate of clouds spreading slowly from the south. The air was thick with the feel of rain, and still. There were more rolling hills ahead, but with the stillness and the dim light of the cloudy morning, it was an atmosphere almost intimate and calm. Very still. This is beautiful land. Corn fields, grass fields, and a tree or two. It seems, despite being only rolling hills, that you are near to the sky. The clouds crested over the sun like an ocean wave as they moved in behind us, but they never overtook it. There were humbly blue clouds to the north, and slate grey and rippling in a blanket at our backs. In the quiet, birds chirped around us. This was the last 8 miles of Nebraska before the South Dakota border. We have now covered 4 states, with two to go.
South Dakota seems almost close to home to me. It is more familiar to me, in that I have been here a few times whereas I had never been to any of the other four states we have passed through thus far. Once we entered South Dakota, the hills lessened and become more slow gradual, subtle grades. The wind was still mostly from the south, and not too strong, but now we were traveling primarily west and it still cut across us and may have been a bit against us. There were many corns fields and now and again a barn of cows or horses.
Although we had managed to out-bike the morning rain, keeping just ahead of us, the light remained subdued and grey. Almost drear at points now, though not so dark. It was also very, very humid though still not especially hot. Perhaps it was more our mood, but we felt like we were trudging onwards. The miles passed slowly, and I feared to check how far we had gone, guessing it was such slow going. It was as if our tires were low, though they seemed well enough. We reached the town of Burke SD and stopped here for a snack, about 10:30am. Luckily, as it happens, we had somehow covered half the distance already in our drudgery. We had 35 miles or so left to go. Thank goodness we had covered some ground, because we were both feeling slow. It didn't seem to matter how hard we pushed the pedals, our wheels weren't going to go much faster.
After that, it did seem to get hotter, and the humidity did not lessen. The sun was out, though faint. There were a number of towns along this stretch, perhaps one every 12 miles of so, and this divided up the last 35 miles. At last we came to Colome, 11 miles from Winner, and goodness I was glad for a chance to stop. My knees felt like they were burning, and my backside was sure sore. That's one thing you may not realize about biking long distance -- the pain in the rear that it can be, literally. Sometimes it is almost unbearable, and it never goes away. Usually it builds up and worsens over the course of the day, and is more tolerable towards the beginning. This is one of the most unpleasant parts of a long bike ride. Ah, the welts and bruises we must have! Anyways, today it was an aching sort of pain, that has begun to resonate almost through my bones and I was ready for a break and was very ready to be done.
Colome is a town of perhaps 300, and it lies directly on the keystone XL route. From what we saw, it is quite small and sleepy indeed, though there are some large grain storage bins near the main road. We stopped into the Flying D's gas station and got something to drink. Sitting at the tables in the back, Laurel spotted a couple of photos labeled TransCanada pipeline, Yankton showing pipeline laid out on cleared paths through farm fields. It was posted up in the corner of a bulletin board, filled with other flyers for community activities and advertisements. I was surprised to see it there! I assumed, that as it showed pipeline construction photos and was labeled only with a location (likely the existing pipeline that goes straight north through south and North Dakota to the east) that it was perhaps a sign against the pipeline. Before leaving, I asked the cashier if she knew much about the photo, mentioning that it was the keystone pipeline. She was a cheerful woman perhaps in her mid or late thirties and had spoken to us amicably when we had come in. She responded cheerfully that oh yes, the town is quite excited about it, and hoping that it will bring more people through, as it is quite a small town. I was surprised, though perhaps should not have been. I told her that we were biking along it and asked her if the pipeline in the photos was through farm fields, and she said it was. I also asked her if it was close to being completed or was still being worked on and she said it still had a ways to go. I then asked her if there were many people in town who worked on the pipeline, and she said most are people who stay in Winner and come down. In any case, she was rather enthusiastic about it. I remained very casual in my questions, and I should have perhaps asked more, but was glad nonetheless that I had asked her about the photo and that Laurel had spotted it. I thanked her and said I should be getting on my way, and when Laurel joined me shortly at the bikes outside, I told her about the conversation. This gave me something to think on as we continued on the last 11 miles till Winner.
I have read a few articles, one about towns in Montana, hoping that the pipeline coming through will breath new life into their towns, just as this woman and some in Colome must be hoping that it will attract more people and liveliness. I told Laurel that I was doubtful of this, although I understand their hope. I just can't figure how the pipeline passing through will bring people through. There are many claims that the pipeline will bring jobs, of course. This too I doubt, as many are temporary construction positions, which will not last long. Some estimates from anti-keystone XL groups claim that as few as 52 permanent positions will be available, as many are already held by present TransCanada employees. I suppose I would need to speak to more people in Colome to know the full stance of the town, which may well be varied, but even so it was interesting to hear of their apparent excitement. In my opinion, a small town looking for revival could accomplish many of their goals and likely attract others to the area by advancing in greener energy or working towards sustainability. This can be a tough road, but it is longer lasting and in my opinion, both more rewarding and empowering down the line.
The last short part of the ride to Winner went smoothly enough, and at least a bit quicker than the rest of the day. I was very, very glad to be there. In fact, we had covered the 70 miles by about 2PM, so not such terrible time even if it had felt rather sluggish and awful. We both agreed that the 99 miles yesterday must have had some hand in tiring us out, as well as the increasing heat and humidity throughout the day. It was back in the low 90s by the time we reached Winner, and we have had a few cool days up to now so we may be a bit out of sorts. Although, I won't lie, I am definitely wearing down even if my muscles have grown strong.
There are a number of motels in Winner, and we chose the Warrior Inn. Quite nice and a low price. I was so glad to have gotten there by mid afternoon and not as late as some of the past days. I am tired, and all I've wanted to do for a while is sleep. And that's what I did! I took a nap! A glorious, glorious nap. Oh, I could sleep forever at this point. I keep wishing to take a rest day. I may have to soon, or I don't know how much farther I can manage. I did feel much better after my nap though. So maybe I will just have to catch earlier and earlier sleep, as much as I can.
Tomorrow, we ride to Murdo. Hard to believe, even so, how far we have come.