Although we know that it won’t last forever, today was a good addition to the lower mileage routes through the Midwest. Right before a rest day, this was definitely appreciated for both our minds and bodies. Despite tackling some roads with higher traffic since the Omaha to Lincoln connection is well traveled, we were also able to mix in some bike trails near each of the cities and the day turned out to be quite a good one. Look forward to reading about our rest stops and the amazing stayover that we arrived at on the other end!
Ride Overview
Mileage: 58.1 miles
Elevation: +1,479 ft. / -1,515 ft.
Points of Interest: Baker’s Candies, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, St. Paul United Methodist Church
Tales of the Trail
The roads and paths out of Omaha were enjoyable for the way in which we felt like we immersed ourselves in some of the neighborhoods of the city. This was similar to when we were leaving Iowa City and were able to see a bunch of different neighborhoods as we exited. On the bike trails here, we were able to see how the houses changed styles and sizes the further we traveled from the heart of the city. We passed friendly cyclists and runners out for their morning workouts or strolls and were able to hit a few parks along the way. Green space right next to a bike path as opposed to just being adjacent to a highway is certainly a much nicer feeling. The group of Anthony, Ehsan, Max, and Cole even took a detour at Ehsan’s request to travel some of their miles around a lake.
By the time we were getting back on the actual roads, we were awake enough to notice that the naming conventions out here have become much less creative than in the East. Instead of Maple Street or Melrose Avenue, the names have now been 526th Street or Y Avenue. It does make navigating quite simple from a bike because you know exactly which direction you are heading and how far, but for the spirit of naming enjoyment, we feel there needs to be a spark of change. Anyways, enough about this point.
Up next and just off of another bike trail was our first rest stop: a diner! We met a local cyclist who encouraged us before heading off with a friend of his own and then we were ready to eat as many calories as our bodies could fit. Breakfast, sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches, it was all being ordered and all so tasty after just about 20 miles of riding. The teams sat and ate their feasts and were feeling very good about the day ahead. Back in the outside world, the weather was changing, but we’ll spoil it now that the rain, or more aptly, shower, did not last long.
What is that just around the corner? Route 6, of course! Despite the bustling highway the team was, as always, grateful for a wide shoulder. This next stretch of the route the team was very excited for as we had heard our second rest stop of the day would be Baker’s Candies. It is a 6,000 square feet store filled with as much candy or soda any human could ever want. With over 1,000 different types of candies and over 200 different bottled sodas the team definitely had some tough decisions on what to buy. Either way a candy store was the perfect rest stop for us as the sugar gave us the boost we needed to finish the day.
Whenever we got to the stayover the day was just beginning. After we arrived at the stayover we were provided a wonderful chili dinner by the people of St Paul Methodist Church. Today was full of surprises but the best one is yet to come. After dinner one of the church members took us upstairs to the top of the church which had a very beautiful dome on top with bells inside! We were already amazed by the beautiful sight, but it got even better. The guy from the church pulled out sheet music that he wrote himself and started playing Oskie-Wow-Wow (a fight song from the University of Illinois) for the whole town to hear! For the last surprise he let our whole team try and play the bells ourselves. Maaike even got to play her very own rendition of Oskie-Wow-Wow on the church bells. A lot of us less musically gifted were also able to play a scale and some slightly less technical songs. Overall this was an amazing experience that we were not expecting at all. This is the beauty of participating in Illini 4000. Every day is an adventure and you never know what surprises are in store for you. As the team goes to sleep tonight I am sure we will all be thinking about what adventures tomorrow holds.
