Day 22. Columbus, NE to Norfolk, NE

47.4 miles
2:54 ST
16.3 avg

A tornado ripped through northeast Nebraska again last night near Coleridge which is about 45 miles north of Pilger. Though the damage wasn't as extensive as that in Pilger, there was still loss. Please pray for all these people.

" When He utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, and brings out the wind from his storehouses."
Jeremiah 10:13

Yesterday we talked about riding out to Pilger today on our way here to Norfolk. It's only 16 miles to the east, but we saw on tv last night that they weren't letting people in, plus we didn't think it was wise to add 32 miles on a HOT day.

Because it was going to be only 45+ miles we didn't leave until 9:00. The downside to that is that we missed the "cool" (75-ish) temps to ride in.

God blessed us with one more day of tailwind. Not as strong as the last two days but, hey, any tailwind is always welcome! 

Yes, it was hot. Not a cloud in the sky. Sweat was again running into my eyes and dripping off my eyelashes. Gerry has a sweat band that helps a lot but even he had to stop to wipe his eyes. It also helped for us to stand and let the wind cool us off.

This has been a common sight each day...a water tower and a church steeple marking the towns along the way.

About ten miles out of Norfolk, the coolest thing happened. It was hot (I know, I said that already.) A few scattered clouds had moved in. Then one cloud glided along with us, giving us very welcome shade. You can see in this picture the edge of it just off the other roadway.

And here you can see the front edge of it going before us.

We happily rode in shade for 10-15 minutes, truly grateful for this little (to some, but not to us) gift.

Many of you probably already know that Norfolk's claim to fame is being the hometown of Johnny Carson. I didn't until my brother-in-law, Tom, told us. By golly, he was right.

It was 89 degrees when we arrived, a huge difference from the 40s in Bozeman again today. I offered to send some of this heat up.

We enjoyed talking with the desk clerk this morning at the Super 8 where we stayed last night. His encouragement in the Lord was a bright start to the day.

Yesterday, after we checked in, we walked a block to the grocery store. We still had our bike clothes on because, well, it was  HOT (did I say that already?) and we were already sweaty. One of the young checkout gals asked us, "Are you guys running or something?" We were able to share what we're doing and their reaction was amusing. "No way!" "Are you kidding?" "Wow, I couldn't even ride to Omaha!" 

Tomorrow is our day off after five days of riding. It's supposed to be as hot, if not hotter, so it's a good time to rest. 

In His care,
Pat