Blizzard Time

Day 17: Valentine to O’Neil - 118 miles / I’m a Cowboy, on a carbon horse I ride.

Today was all on the Cowboy Trail an iconic bike trail. I started out early to beat the heat, which provided a nice view of the sunrise as I crossed the Cowboy Bridge. Just after crossing the bridge, I saw my spirit animal - a wolf on the trail. This was not a coyote, it was a large beautiful canine. The wolf  looked at me then ran up the hill. The wolf was muscular and had a beautiful dark brown and black coat. For a while I asked myself - was that a wolf? 25 miles up the road I stopped at Woods Lake and purchase pancake breakfast for $2 at Ma's Diner. I asked the old men who were sitting around drinking coffee - "are there wolves in this area?" They said yes. Yesterday I was blessed with a good tailwind all day. Today it was all a strong headwind for 118 miles. I started this challenge hoping to find my limit - I was very proud of myself by staying calm and not worrying about the wind. I knew it would be a very long day on the saddle - but I was going to make the most of it. I stopped often to take pictures or look at the bridges, horses, cows, and turtles. It was a beautiful ride. When I arrived in Atkinson they were more old men sitting around drinking and talking. I knew I was back in Nebraska when they started asked me what I thought about this years Nebraska football team- felt at home. Then I started talking about my bike ride - when I said my 91 year old dad would be joining me driving the van to Washington - they all took a liking to me. After I left Atkinson the wind died down a little and I took it easy and enjoyed the ride in O'Neil singing "Everyone knows it's Windy". I spotted the Super 8 motel and was excited to see a Dairy Queen across the street - its Blizzard time.