Riding Nebraska’s Cowboy Trail - Days 1-2
/Day 1 - Norfolk -Meadow Grove
We were excited this morning... butterflies in the stomach excited... as we departed our Norfolk hotel and headed for the Cowboy Trail trailhead. We parked in the long term parking lot at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park, unloaded the bikes, loaded up the panniers and the sleeping bags and we were off! About a quarter mile down the trail, I realized I’d left my sunglasses behind (duh!). We turned around, retrieved the sunglasses and with sunglasses in place, made an anticlimactic second departure.
The morning was sunny and cool. The trail was paved for a couple of miles, then turned to gravel. It wasn’t bad riding, but slowed us down a bit. The day soon heated up and we took frequent rest stops. Once out of the park, the trail parallels SR275. About 10 miles up the trail, we stopped for break at Battle Creek at what we think might have been the old train stop. After Battle Creek, there were few good places to stop for the next 8 miles or so. When we needed a break, we looked for bits of shade provided by trees along the route and parked underneath for a few minutes to cool off. We definitely haven’t ridden any distances in awhile and our butts were complaining a bit. At times, the trail veered away from the highway and it was pleasant to hear only bird song and the crunch of the gravel beneath our tires rather than semis screaming by.
Meadow Grove is a pleasant little town and our day’s destination. There are no hotels/motels nearby so we had scoped out the town park to camp overnight. We’d stopped in at the fire station the day before to ask if we needed permission to camp. No permission was needed, but the picnic area had been reserved for the Fire Chief’s birthday party, so we were advised to set up our tent away from the party area. No problem. It’s a big park. We found a shady area in a copse of trees and set up our backpacker’s tent, laid out our sleeping bags and settled in. There were clean restrooms and fresh water nearby, but no place to sit. We commandeered a park bench from the picnic area and hauled it to our camp site for the evening. No one seemed to notice or mind.
Our little backpackers’ tent worked out just fine in Meadow Grove’s city park.
We went in search of a late lunch or early dinner and found no restaurants in town. Nada! The local Mini-Mart had little to offer in the way of meals, but the cashier suggested that maybe the Village Bar, the only one in town, tucked away down a side street might have something. We found the bar; it was open. It had cold beer on tap and frozen pizza they’d bake for us. Good enough! A few locals were already bellied up to the bar. They all knew each other and talked of their haying activities and local goings-on.
The Village Bar was so far off the highway, we doubt anyone but locals could find it… perhaps the way they prefer it.
Back at the park, the Chief’s birthday party was an obvious success judging by the number of trucks parked in the parking lot and in the field. We intruded only long enough to use the restrooms for our evening ablutions and then surreptitiously retreated to our little tent for the evening.
Trail miles: 17 Actual miles: 18.5
Day 2 - Meadow Grove - Neligh (NEE-lee)
Our little tent did well on a windy night. We were warm enough in our sleeping bags, but our air mattresses didn’t quite cut it on the hard ground. We slept some, but were not nearly rested enough when it was time to get up and start the day. We walked down to the Mini Mart to secure our morning coffee, then after morning ablutions in the park restrooms, we broke camp, loaded up the bikes, returned the park bench to its designated spot and we were on the trail again by 0715.
It was sunny and clear and already warming up when we left. Red-winged blackbirds scolded us as we rode past. Ant hills in great numbers dotted the trail and unidentified animals had dug deep holes in the middle of the path. We reckoned they were probably gophers or something larger than rabbits or ground squirrels, but never saw the diggers.
Today was a tough day. We were tired and sore from the git-go. The trail was rougher... rocky in some spots and there were several stretches of deep gravel. Sometimes we could power through the deep stuff and other times we couldn’t and resorted to walking our bikes till the trail normalized a bit. The day was hot and humid and a 20mph headwind made cycling doubly hard. When the trail detoured onto SR275 for the final few miles into Neleigh, we weren’t disappointed. It was like heaven riding on pavement for a change. We quadrupled our speed.
Tim at the DeLuxe Motel was waiting for us and our room was ready when we arrived around Noon. The air-conditioned room, the soft bed and the shower felt absolutely wonderful. Tim suggested that Nana’s and Mama’s was THE place for lunch in town (they close at 2pm). It was right on Main Street and we walked down. The food was ‘home cookin’, tasty and generous. After last night’s frozen pizza lunch/dinner and only coffee and a granola bar for brekkie this morning, it was just what the doctor ordered. We ate our fill and retreated to our cool room for a snooze.
Nana’s & Mama’s on Main Street in downtown NELIGH, Nebraska.
Lunch was so filling, we didn’t really need dinner, but Cubby’s, the local mini-mart offered soft serve ice cream for 75 cents/cup. We walked over and savored the treat. Best soft serve we’ve had in a long time (and, yes, it’s probably the only soft serve we’ve had in a long time).
Trail miles: 18 Actual miles: 18.5
We’re looking forward to a good night’s sleep and fine ride tomorrow. Join us for the next installment of Riding the Cowboy Trail. Come on... it’s good exercise!