{"id":17221,"date":"2015-08-02T20:37:20","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T00:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=17221"},"modified":"2015-08-03T08:22:37","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T12:22:37","slug":"day-23-sunday-august-2-oneil-to-norfolk-nebraska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=17221","title":{"rendered":"Day 23. Sunday, August 2 – O’Neil to Norfolk, Nebraska"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mornings are cool in the summertime, before the sun comes up (6:30)\"DSCN5633\"<\/a> in Nebraska’s\u00a0Irish Capital.\"DSCN5635\"<\/a>We\u00a0wanted to make the most of the morning on our long, straight, flat road, so we were out early.\"DSCN5641\"<\/a> \u00a0The early morning light was magical\"DSCN5636\"<\/a> and wonderful, old growth trees stood proudly\u00a0in the fields.\"DSCN5649\"<\/a>It was still wonderfully cool, but we knew with no clouds in the sky,\u00a0it would heat up quickly.\u00a0\"IMG_0812\"<\/a>\u00a0We pedaled past acres and acres of hay\"DSCN5667\"<\/a> and wondered where it all went. \u00a0Crossed the Elkhorn River\"DSCN5680\"<\/a> at least a half dozen\"DSCN5707\"<\/a> times in between farms\"DSCN5675\"<\/a> and vibrantly green fields. \"DSCN5683\"<\/a>\u00a0By ten, we had reached where we had planned to stop for lunch and surprisingly,\u00a0the temps had not gotten unbearable (low 80’s), but\u00a0it was too early for eat. \u00a0Climbed a couple unexpected hills in Neligh,\"DSCN5691\"<\/a> then\u00a0continued on to the next town just seven miles down the road<\/em>, which turned out to be 15 miles; but there was a place to eat, so we were happy. Fifty five miles done by\u00a011:30, it was time for a bite to eat. \"DSCN5698\"<\/a>\u00a0Thoroughly stuffed,\"DSCN5700\"<\/a> we rode out into the now<\/em> mid 90\u00b0 temps. \u00a0In the two hours it took to get to Johnny Carson’s hometown, the temperatures (in the sun) had reached 112\u00b0.<\/p>\n

We had several hours to chill, before we had to ride our bikes to dinner, but it was worth it. \u00a0The “challenge burger”\"DSCN5714\"<\/a> was three real beef patties, six slices of bacon, cheese, etc. etc.\"DSCN5721\"<\/a> and if you finish it (as if<\/em>) you get a slice of Snickers Pie (delicious). \u00a0Needless to say, perfect finish for an 80 mile day.<\/p>\n\n\t\t