The Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust was formed in 1978 as a result of a $7.5 million dollar out of court settlement with the Grayrocks Damn project owners who were doing some nefarious things in Wyoming, as a result of that settlement the Crane Trust has been protecting the habitat of the Whooping Crane and other migratory water fowl in the Big Bend Region of the Platte River Valley for the last 40 years. As a way of celebrating four decades of preservation they had their first ever Buffalo Stampede Bike Ride to help support the cause on Saturday and it look like the ride will be an annual, non-competitive, social bicycle ride.
I have yet to make it out to watch the cranes migrating through the sand hills but it is something on my bucket list, so supporting the ride made a lot of sense to me so that future generations can enjoy nature outside of a zoo setting. The plan was to sign up for the official ride, ride part of the Buffalo Stampede ride and then break off and get in a few gravel miles down to Blue Hill to make the ride portion of the even a bit longer than the 2 hour drive to get there. Even though I wasn't riding much of the Buffalo Stampede ride or stopping at any of the designated SAG stops, I still felt like I needed to register for that ride and contribute anyway. Originally the ride was supposed to be a group of us coming down from Lincoln and Omaha but as the date got nearer, the participants started dropping like flies until there was just me.
Well, just me for the ride but I did manage to talk my partner in crime into coming down and we snagged a hotel for the evening to see what Hastings had to offer and so that she had a place to hang out for the time I was riding.
The official ride was a 100% paved routes in the 45, 35 and 11 mile distances but since I was adding a little bit of gravel to the ride I decided to bring the Fargo down with me as it would be at home on both the pavement and the gravel. There really isn't much that this bike can't handle.
I did run into Brent and Brian (not pictured) but both of them had the official road routes in mind so I didn't see them for much of the day and only at the beginning of the ride but it was still good to see them both, if even only or a bit.
The wind swept prairies of central Nebraska were living up to their name on Saturday and the wind was whipping out of the NNW at about 20-25 mph putting the wind at our backs to start and making our exit from the Crane Trust center a bit brisk of pace.
About 5.5 miles into the ride and the group zigged west and I stayed the course for about another 2 mile before skirting off of the pavement and onto the gravel of Osage Road.
Not sure who owns these cars but it's kind of a shame to see them sitting in the weeds, especially when they still look like they are in good shape currently.
When planning the route I had envisioned a fast route with the terrain around Hastings being fairly flat but what I didn't know during the preparation phase was that rains would sweep through the night before making the already thick gravel even more supple. The gravel isn't quite as sandy as it is further west around Gothenburg but it's definitely sandier than what we are used to in the east, so while things were flat the plush gravel helped to make things more arduous than I originally thought it was going to be. So, when the opportunity presented itself for a lake beer I jumped at the chance to take a little respite.
Shortly after leaving the lake I came upon these two guys, one second I was pedaling along and the next, I had two companions. Moments after that I could hear the hum of a four wheeler and the dogs owner in hot pursuit. From my perspective it was kind of a comical scene, try as he might the two dogs just didn't want to follow him home and it took the better part of 15 minutes for him to get them distracted enough that they wouldn't keep following me or turn around and stop following him. To my credit, I did stop several times to allow him to regain the attention of the pups but all they had in mind that day was running. He finally did convince them to follow at the next crossroads by heading west rather than north and back home, it's like they were willing to follow him as long as it wasn't straight back home. I parted ways with them at that intersection, hopefully he was eventually able to convince them that there was no place like home.
Notwithstanding the softer gravel, the wind was in my favor and I still made it to Blue Hill in about 2.5 hours of moving time and cruising along at a decent 14.6 mph. Little known fact, I used to have in-laws that lived in Blue Hill so I had been there several times before but not since the late 90's so it had been awhile and to be honest I don't remember being downtown more than once or twice before. The former in-laws that lived in Blue Hill have since passed but I do believe that there are still other former in-laws in the area but I haven't been in contact with them in years so it's possible that they may have moved on from the area as well.
The downtown area was a little more sleepy than I had expected and it seemed like most things were closed, this was not playing well into the plan as we had initially planned to eat at the Blue Hill Tavern but it would not be open for another two and a half hours. Not really wanting to stick around that long it was time for plan B and the local grocery store to see what we could find in way of food.
While not an ideal substitute for a hot meal, I did manage to find a deli sandwich, some really good watermelon and a huge pickle as a substitute. The company was better than the food for sure.
After lunch it was time to bid adieu to Blue Hill and to start the 24 mile ride back to Hastings into the blustery headwind which felt like it was gaining in intensity if anything.
While the winds were not smile inducing, the skies were pretty darn amazing for the trip back, deep blue with a few fluffy clouds that seemed impervious to the wind as they stood their ground in the sky. Temps were really mild as well in comparison to the heat we had been having lately and the wind did a good job of keeping me cool, so that was one bonus of the whole situation.
Despite the wonderful views that the rolling countryside had to offer, I was more than a little delighted to see Hastings starting to appear on the horizon. The wind was a struggle and the 24 miles seemed a lot farther than it was in actuality, I was glad to be nearing the end.
I called the other half and had her meet me at First Street Brewery in downtown Hastings for a post ride libation rather than trying to figure out how to get to the hotel. Plus the brewery was on the original planned route so Garmin was leading me right towards it and because I'm not a horse, you can lead me to beer and I will drink. When researching places to stop on the way back in Hastings, I discovered that the brewery has only been open about 2 years so relatively new in beer year; the beer really hit the spot also so there was no complaining on that end either.
After a few barley pops, it was time to find some food but first a quick shower was in order so to the hotel we flew and then retraced our steps to Sanchez Plaza for some Molcajete and some really good homemade corn tortillas before retiring to the hotel again for the evening. Despite the rest of the group not making it down for the ride, it ended up being a good time and a nice getaway for just the two of us. Something we don't get all the much it seems these days so that was perhaps better than the original plan had been. Will I be back next year, probably but if it will include another gravel ride in conjunction with the Buffalo Stampede ride? Of that I am not sure but I would guess the odds would be pretty good on that front also. Maybe next year I'll try to push the route a little farther south into the Red Cloud or Guide Rock area turning the ride into a nice century ride. Let's just hope the wind isn't a repeat from this year.
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