July 9 June 17, 2022
In politically divisive times, I hope we can all at least agree about a few bicycle-related things. For example:
- · bicycles can take you to some interesting new places
- · sitting on a bicycle saddle isn’t always comfortable
- · let’s ride a bike across a state!
- · no? maybe across the park to the bar, at least?
Well, my dear ol’ da and I have accomplished these bullet points! Now we are sitting around a lot and I have decided to sit in an actual chair to relay to you these events
As you are possibly aware, I enjoyed a BRANtastic voyage with Dad back in 2012, before I became the dad of former Baby Snot (now Snot Jr. 2). Well, my dad’s been on four or five other BRANs since then, but I did not make it to another one until this year, 10 years after my maiden voyage! I was looking forward to some moderate bicycling followed by some daily intensive hammock and mandolin time. “Ah, this will be some good living!” I thought. Well, it certainly started out that way. Even before we boarded the Love Bus I was happy when Dad informed me that I didn’t need to box up my bike this time because there was a truck with hooks that would be transporting our bikes! So cool!
I believe this is the first year that the event has been organized by the Omaha Pedalers, having formerly been piloted by the Rotary Club of Omaha Northwest. Dad and I enjoyed a nice bus ride out to Alliance, NE, the home of Carhenge. We set up my tent, a Kelty Gunnison 4.1 that had been sitting around in an unopened box in the basement since 2012. There was a great spot for the hammock too.
After that we headed over to Carhenge, a place of interest in Nebraska that I hadn’t experienced previously. It was wondrous!
In addition to the cars possibly used as some form of calendar or for some druidic rituals, there are some fantastic sculptures, you can walk around, the birds like it, great place for photos, hi-jinks, etc.
I normally would have stopped to check out the gift shop, but Dad wanted to get back to town for mass. I had a nice relaxing time with the hammock and, once Dad got back, we enjoyed a wonderful meal over at Mi Ranchito. I was very hungry and the food was abundant and the margaritas were refreshing and $1.99! We made it back to the high school in time for most of the pre-ride meeting. There we spoke of many things, including some reminders to use good bicycling etiquette, remembering the passing of a BRAN stalwart (Frank Perrone), welcoming a first-time BRANer (Scott Ussery), and celebrating the continuing presence of Al “The BRAN Man” Roeder on what was to be his last BRAN. Unfortunately, Al experienced some medical issues and was forced to withdraw from this year’s BRAN. It was great to have him on the bus with us from Wahoo, however, and he joked with me during our lunch stop in North Platte about how he used to have a red beard like mine and that I should appreciate it while it lasts. Other in-memorium honorees were Ted Roche and Don Van Driest. Ted was the long-time treasurer of the Omaha Pedalers and the support and gear (SAG) director for BRAN. Don, although not a BRAN person, was an advocate for establishing multi-use trails, including the Cowboy Trail up around Highway 20 in the northern part of the state and the Field Club Trail corridor in the 36th& Center area.
I am not sure how Al is doing now, but of course we all wish him a quick recovery from whatever caused his withdrawl.
Day 1 (Sunday, 6/5), Alliance to Hyannis: After awakening and heading outside to get a sense of what this BRAN held in store I noted a woman creepily clowning to her partner inside the tent with the evocative line "Gimme your fingernails!" I made it over to a table for a breakfast burrito and felt ready to ride!
This was a delightful ride through some tranquil sandhill scenery. The wetlands along Highway 2 were filled with many colorful birds. Interestingly to me, there were many yellow-headed blackbirds interspersed with the red-winged variety. Also some lesser scaups (or similar waterfowl). We rode near the former town of Antioch (a potash boom town), which is often described as a Nebraska ghost town. Ellsworth provided a comfortable lunch stop at the bowling alley and grounds.
There were many homemade foods that I scarfed down greedily. I also met a few different people, including John – a guy with a tuxedo jersey (like those tuxedo t-shirts)! Way to make a great first impression! There’s also a mega-weapons and leather gear shop at Ellsworth that was impressive in its size and scope. I tried a packet of Beyond Meat Jerky that my wife, Mrs. Snot, had thoughtfully purchased.
It was a bit on the rubbery side and not highly recommended, although the nutritional content seemed pretty good. It was sunny, and this woman wisely applied some sunscreen before hopping on the highway.
I noted 3 dead turtles in the road – ornate box turtles.
Day 2 (Monday, 6/6) Hyannis to Thedford: This day was similar to the first day. I was excited to get to Thedford because I’d received a few emails that mentioned that you could go tubing on the Middle Loup River as long as you get there by the time the last trip left (3:00 p.m.) for the reasonable cost of $15! So I tried to keep a good pace, and eventually succeeded in arriving in time for some very enjoyable, refreshing tubing. But along the way I also read a few historical markers, including a fascinating account of Hecla, Nebraska – a town named after an Icelandic volcano. We were also getting out into some serious windmill country, as evidenced by this awesome sculptural sign for Seven Pines Ranch. The turtle mortality rate along this stretch of Highway 2 wasn’t quite as high, as I only noted a single dead ornate box turtle.
Just enough excitement to make the experience more memorable. I also made the acquaintance of a nice couple from Wayne. I’ll call them Max and Lianna. They were fun and conversational and even offered me a beer once my supply was depeleted.
When I got back to the old campsite, I got showered off and made it out to the Sandhills Correl where they had plenty of food and $5 margaritas. I also met up with Max and Lianna and their friends. They are an awesome group of people and it was really nice to spend some time with them. We discussed why there weren’t too many younger riders. I think the relatively serious nature of the event might be one reason – there are some days with a lot of miles and there’s no party atmosphere associated with BRAN (as opposed to RAGBRAI). That’s probably why, at 50, I felt like I was a bit younger than the average BRANimal.
We got a smattering of rain that night and we found out that the rain fly leaked. In the morning a quick inspection revealed that the clear plastic “window” was becoming detached from the rest of the nylon rain fly. This is apparently fairly common as Kelty’s website includes the following information in the FAQs:
My window is falling out of my rainfly is that something you can repair / replace? Print
Modified on: Fri, 19 Mar, 2021 at 12:36 PM
Our repair team is able to replace windows in your rainfly. If your window is too damaged our repair team may have to replace it with non see through fabric.
Day 3 (Tuesday, 6/7) Thedford to Callaway: This day seemed to me to be a little more off-the-beaten path as we turned south off of Highway 2 and onto Arnold Road at Dunning. The morning started with a nice conversation with a fellow BRANimal who happened to be 10 years my senior. We talked a bit about how the rain got inside both of our tents. Then he helped me compress my large Bigfoot tote so I could zip it. It turned out he was not going to ride that day due to some serious pain in his knee. Pain that he hadn’t experienced before. This was understandably bumming him out a bit. But, fortunately, he had a few things to look forward to. It turned out that he’s planning on attending a motorcycle rally with his son in Missouri. It just so happened that it is a BMW rally and that it is the 50thanniversary of the R75/5, which is a type of motorbike that I owned for a couple years back before the turn of the century!
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Anyway, he seemed like a great guy and I appreciated his willingness to lend me a helping hand even though he was undergoing some frustration. It later occurred to me that this is probably one of the best ways to deal with pain and frustration. Take your mind off it by helping someone else or making a connection with someone.
Another thing that I learned about during this BRAN was that I need to make sure the top of my head is covered during outdoor events (i.e., no more visors) unless I want a sunburned pate!
The ride itself was a pleasant, pastoral experience. Ten miles or so down the road I came across a painted turtle basking in the middle of the road – right on the faded painted yellow line!
I was concerned for turtle’s safety. So I picked him up and moved him slowly off to the side of the road in the direction he was facing.
This day also featured a lovely climb and overlook into some lovely valleys. This location is also just a bit northwest of an area known as the seven valleys. Here is a map:
Descending into Arnold, we seemed to be temporarily exiting the Sandhills as we entered the Middle Loup River Valley. Arnold was nice and the people were quite friendly and talkative. Some of the volunteers at the community center attempted to prevent Snot Sr. from leaving since Arnold is in need of a school band teacher. There is an old one-room schoolhouse that has been renovated into a bed and breakfast. I attempted to find the famous Rialto Theater, mentioned in our BRAN 40.2 Tour Guide, but I apparently did not understand the directions I received, so here’s a photo from the internet:
I can see why I missed it, because it doesn’t really have the standard theater-front marquis. This turned out to be the highest mileage day as we had to take a detour around Highway 92 between Arnold and Callaway because part of that road had apparently gotten flooded and was now impassable. So we took Highway 40 and, after our arrival in Callaway, Strava congratulated me on 90.15 miles of pedaling! Turtle tally: 1 live painted turtle in road, 1 dead ornate box turtle on the road.
and on to Ord. Prior to Broken Bow, we ascended Democrat Hill, a scenic and pleasant climb with quite a few mellow grades on the way up. Along the way there was a large wind farm - Broken Bow 2 and this scenic SAG stop where Sandy (the pickle lady) and Denny seemed to be in good spirits as always.
Sandy always maintained a good supply of pickles, pickle juice, and peanut butter. I am a fan of all of these, but I determined that I don't really like to mix them (an opinion that is certainly not for everyone).
I was feeling pretty tired and hot as I rolled in to Ord. I relaxed in the shade for a while and eventually ambled over to the campground area where I found Snot Sr. having some mild difficulties with the tent poles.
We teamed up to construct our shelter after I taped our rain fly more thoroughly (more duct tape along pretty much the entire seam and tape on inside as well as outside).
Then we rode our bikes a short distance to the downtown area where we enjoyed some food at Carl’s (very nice, comfortable place with friendly people and good food and drinks) and a quick stop over at Scratchtown Brewing Co. for a satisfying beer, a hat to try to help protect my balding pate, and some live music on the patio. It was there I met Dan who told me about his experience with the Windmill Fest over the years. He said he’d helped out with the festival a few times. There had been some crazy times. I think the festival used to be much bigger and there used to be a couple rock days and a couple country days (vs. the current event just featured young country artists). He told me that during the rock show days at one of the campground he saw his first streaker – a naked guy went running by being chased by four girls! There was apparently also a wet t-shirt contest as part of the festivities back in those hedonistic days! Things back at the BRAN campground were quite a bit more sedate: wet clothing was relegated to some temporarily strung clotheslines.
They also discussed classic rock from time to time – On Day 1 I happened to hear Ryan mention that “God Only Knows” was Paul McCartney's favorite song and is Brian Wilson’s magnum opus (I’d argue it was “Good Vibrations,” but I’m certainly no subject-matter expert). I was certainly experiencing some good vibrations as I departed the enjoyable oasis of Ord. Here is a fascinating and creative landscaping sculpture I enjoyed whilst rolling out on Highway 11.
Dad’s 16-year-old Pearl Izumi shoes were not faring well at this point, so we duct taped the front part of the shoes back together before we left.
It was on this day that I first tried a mixture that I had overheard someone talking about at Phil’s SAG stop (the 2ndone each day). It was referred to, in reverent tones, as “jet fuel” and consisted of one Styrofoam cup filled with hot water, one instant oatmeal packet, and a generous scoop of instant vanilla espresso (I think there was a non-vanilla option too) mix. It tastes really good and the effect was a long-lasting energy that also made me feel happier and satisfied my caffeine addiction.
I stopped at Scotia to mail a postcard and take a picture of the chalk building.
I stopped at a convenience store at Cedar Rapids to avoid a sudden moderate rain and to purchase a red wine called “Work Horse” that was bottled at a vineyard in nearby St. Paul.
My stay at St. Edwards was delightful! Everything we needed was at the 1-year-old community center that was spacious and filled with kind people, delicious food, and beer. There was a photographic presentation about the local area, with prints for sale. For dinner, I enjoyed a fantastic falafel wrap and a delicious pie with ice cream for dessert. There was a band playing some old-timey country/bluegrass-flavored tunes out on the bandstand at City Park– the Root Marm Chicken Farm Jug Band.
And the next morning they had a delicious pancake breakfast!
BRANimalistically yours,
BSO
Afterwards
The Kelty team has been easy to work with. I sent the rain fly in and requested the “non see through” (opaque) fabric, as I wasn’t entirely convinced that these windows formed a structurally-sound, durable part of the rain fly. Also, if I’ve got the rain fly on, then I generally don’t really feel interested in gazing up out of the rain fly window at the rain pelting the rain fly.
7/1: I already got the rain fly back and, although it still has windows, the clear plastic seems to be stitched onto the rest of the rain fly so I am hopeful that it will hold together for a few more years.
