Day 35, 7 September: Norfolk, NE to Onawa, IA
Today was a more sedate 0645 start and a bittersweet farewell to Mike Obert. He has been a combination of Sherpa, maid, and go’fer for our trek across Nebraska. When he first offered, we were not sure how best to integrate him into our routine, but he quickly became a key, and welcome, cog in the machinery of R2R.
Much to Dave’s, and my, chagrin, the first 15 miles were long rollers – up and down.
Our plan for the day was to ride to the 45 mile point where a gravel road section began. If rideable, we would continue on to the Missouri River bridge at about 65 miles. The bridge is NOT designed for bicycles – see photo – so we would load bikes on Mark’s truck and transport the last 5 miles to our KOA cabins.
As it turned out the smoke from the Canadian fires, gravel and dust from big rigs, and Bill’s 2nd flat tire convinced us the wisest course of action was to load up the bikes at the 45-mile point. So it was a shorter than expected day, but my lungs are grateful.
Our two-person cabins are small, similar to the ones we had in Arco… whenever that was. Grilled cheeseburgers for dinner. Hoping for some rain tonight to wash out the smoke and on to the east tomorrow.
Ron Bowman
USNA 1973 Ride-2-Remember 
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