Nebraska Breakdown

               Saying good bye to Jackie and Darrel was hard but we had to keep moving west. It was a great time having the support provided by Jackie and the company of Darrel riding with us. After a typical hotel breakfast of waffles and cold cereal Drew, Sauder and I began our trip. Our goal for this day was a small town named O’Niell. Around 30 miles we stopped for lunch at a grocery store picking up bread, meat and cheese for sandwiches. After filling ourselves, we moved on. It was around this time I noticed something quite odd about my front tire. I noticed a slight bulge on the side of the tire, something that is common if the tube is bad or knotted a simple fix. However, stopping to inspect the bulge we found something much more disheartening. The problem was not the tube but rather the tire. Apparently the tire was beginning to tear at the seams. While I could ride it further, it could burst at any moment. I love my skin too much to take that chance.  The only fix for this problem would be a new tire. Now this would be easy if we were more east, but we are heading west. I had never known how unpopulated Nebraska actually is. The town we had left from, Norfolk would be the largest city until we reach Casper Wyoming. Looking at our Iphone, we saw that there are no bike shops between the 45 miles behind us and the 500 miles ahead. Looking down the road I saw a man sitting on a tractor mowing his lawn. I figured that we should at least if he knew of any bike shops around.

                After hearing our problem, the man, who I would describe as mid 70’s, retired farmer rancher and chain smoker invited us to sit under the shade of the tree in his front yard.  With four minds working on the problem, we were sure to find a solution. After calling different places, it was apparent that the only solution would be to go back to Norfolk, where we started for another tire. One of the man’s son thought of the local tinker/hoarder in town who was known to store many bikes and parts. A short drive into town to this man’s house yielded no solution. While this man, who resembled a skinny version of ZZ Top, had bicycle tires and parts, they were all in worse shape than my own tire. Thus defeated we came back to the old man’s house. Seeing that we were going nowhere fast, the man offered us a place to stay.  We gladly accepted. Conversation under the tree ultimately led to food. This led to us having Bear Burgers for dinner, yup Bear Burgers. So far on this trip the thing that has truly amazed me is the extent of American hospitality, I have little words to describe the experience of being on the receiving end of such blessings.  Tomorrow we can hopefully get back to Norwalk and find a tire or two and be on our way.