Final Planning stage

There are many possibilities, and I’m overwhelmed. Do we take a four-lane highway with a prominent shoulder, a two-lane road with little or no shoulder, or gravel roads? Gravel roads would have issues and slow us down, so we’ve decided to avoid them? Getting out of Colorado is moderately complex. We can ride the Interstate to Nebraska or take side roads to Greeley, Colorado, head east to Sterling, Colorado, and take State 138 to Nebraska and the Lincoln Highway.

Once in Nebraska, we can take the Lincoln Highway to Fremont (almost to Omaha) or zig-zag through the sand hills. Zig-zagging may require phone access and help finding food and water. The Lincoln Highway segments are:

1.        Ogallala to North Platte – 53 miles
2.        North Platte to Gothenburg – 36 miles
3.        Gothenburg to Lexington – 25 miles
4.        Lexington to Elm Creek – 21 miles
5.        Elm Creek to Kearney – 17 miles
6.        Kearney to Grand Island – 40 miles
7.        Grand Island to Central City – 25 miles
8.       Central City to Columbus – 40 miles
9.        Columbus to Fremont – 50 miles
10.        Fremont to Sioux City – 70 miles

I drove back from Colorado on May 10 on the intended route options. A few issues were evident. The road was completely reconstructed, and I had to take a 40-mile detour on less-than-desirable roads. I found a great route to Sioux City, Iowa, but the route between Sioux City and Mankato is not usable for bicycles. I spent over 6 hours rerouting Sunday to make it reasonably safe and logical. I’m not driving this segment; I’m worried, but I don’t have any other options.

Regardless of the outcome, I will depart in three days and commence the journey in five days. The days have passed swiftly this spring, and I am hopeful that my enthusiasm will persist after the ride. Currently, I have scheduled thirteen rides, providing us with a three-day buffer for any unforeseen circumstances. The rides are as follows:

Doable? It will be doable. We have all day to ride and rest.

At this point, I have 13 rides planned, giving us a three-day margin for error.  The rides are:

DAY	From Golden
1	96.64
2	60.5
3	89
4	86
5	64
6	66
7	73
8	45
9	45
10	83
11	80
12	75
13	71
TOTAL	934.14
PER DAY AVE	71.9

Doable? It will be doable.  We have all day to ride and rest.

All you quiet dreamers, carry on!

Comments from my original blog - I merged the blogs.

wildknits said: Enjoy the journey - and the break from work!! Thursday, May 15, 2014 at 7:39:50 PM CDT