Sat Aug 8: Road ride to Nebraska?

[troy]

I am planning a boring adventure this weekend that involves about 500 miles of non-Interstate pavement, 1 night of camping, an historic river town, and an AdvRider breakfast where I hope to meet some kindred spirits.

So there is a small gang up in Nebraska that meets on the 2nd Saturday of the month for breakfast.
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236677

When I say "small", I mean, I think like maybe 3 to 7 people show up irregularly. There is even a chance that I'll arrive for breakfast and be the only one. That's OK! Now I don't really want to tip them off that I'm coming. I thought it would be kind of funny to just show up in Ceresco, NE for breakfast all the way from Kansas City. So shhhh.

That's too far to run up in the morning unless you want to take off at 4:15AM, haul butt up major I-29, and dodge the deer. So my plan is to start the adventure Friday after work--maybe even leave a bit early--and camp in Brownville, NE.
http://www.brownville-ne.com/main.taf?e ... t.events=1

Brownville is an historic river town and has a thing they call "Friday Nights" with live music, food options, etc. Not sure if it's cool or not, but they have a State Recreation area with camping right there on the river. It is supposed to be heavily wooded all along the river in this area. The photos look beautiful anyway.

Camping could be at the Brownville State Recreation Area:
http://www.visitnemahacounty.org/nature ... eation.cfm

A possible route to Brownville looks like this: Google Map Link

After breakfast, ride home along whatever route looks to be the most enjoyable. I'm still working on route options. I welcome suggestions for roads to ride, things to see, and places to eat.

Brownville and a couple nearby towns have plenty of lodging options, so camping would not be required. If you want a nice, boring ride--post up here.

[ajayhawkfan]

Brownville is a neat historic river town. I think you will enjoy it. While there check out some of the caches.

You might consider jumping across the river at Rulo and taking 111 North. Big lake is worth seeing.

That sounds like fun. I wish I could go. My brother is doing the Missouri River 340 Race http://rivermiles.com/mr340/. I told him I would try to join him at the end of the week around STL.

Have fun.

[tp_cracker]

Watch out if you go to Rulo, at one time there was a Cult group that resided in the country around there. Heard of at least one killing if not more. On a serious note, I would love to go with you, but I have too many honey do's to get accomplished this week. Plus I will be up in Lincoln on Friday for a business meeting, don't think I want to got here twice in two days .

[Kware]

Well, I too would like to go, however I am in Dallas this week and I could be as late as Saturday evening getting home. I have bought some bike type camping gear and a one night trip would be the perfect test.
Maybe I could go for next months breakfast?????

[phatt]

Sounds like fun, but I think my wife might think our 20th anniversary trumps a boring ride to Nebraska. Maybe next time.

Phil

[GLBarton]

Troy, I hope you have a great trip.....DON'T FORGET THE INSECT REPELLANT!!
another suggestion of a interesting place to visit is the Lewis and Clark Visitor center overlooking the MoRiver near Nebraska City. Good Luck finding a restaurant in Brownville....I've been there 3 times and still havn't had a meal yet (restaurants all closed) only the bar was open.

[troy]

Thanks for all the tips, guys! I'll definitely consider altering my suggested route to include Big Lake. Hard to tell from a map what is scenic, so thanks for that tip, Eddie! Anyone know if Indian Cave State Park is scenic enough to warrant a visit? It appears there is not any pavement to make the park on the route. Rather, it would have to be a slight detour if you care to stay on pavement. (I don't normally care to stay on pavement, but I'm trying to make the ride compatible with more people in chances someone will join me.)

Insect repellant? Are there insects in Nebraska along the river in August? Just kidding! I have an insect hood I wear when it's bad. It's been getting plenty cool at night, so hopefully I won't sweat too much. I'm actually not very much into camping. I have a compact tent and sleeping setup that fits in one of my side cases. I arrive at camp, take all of 10 minutes to pop up the tent and allow my mat to air up, then go to sleep. In the morning, I step out of the tent and about 15 minutes later I am on the bike to leave. It's just about sleeping. The camping is not usually a highlight of the adventure for me. If I could trust that I'd find a CLEAN, convenient lodging option for less than $70, I'd gladly stay in a motel. I've spent a lot more than $70 and still ended up in a dump. Camping is dirty, too, but not in a "why am I standing in urine" kind of way. At least with camping, when I wake up aching and frustrated, I have the satisfaction of knowing I only paid $8.50 for the privilege.

This trip keeps sounding better all the time.

[ajayhawkfan]

Indian Cave State Park is very pretty. Big Lake us unique because it is an old ox bow. The area in MO is better then the route you had in my opinion however, if you follow gravel roads to Indian Cave in NE is even better.

[Hank Moody]

Sounds like a fun trip Troy, please take pictures for those of us can't go for a variety of reasons, that damn Cisneros trail Plus I would have to buy a different bike for this ride, the old Husky wouldn't like it. Be safe!

[troy]

Quick follow-up. Enjoyed the ride! The 4 Nebraska guys at breakfast were a bit surprised to see me--that's one of the goals accomplished. The ride up and down was HOT, but I definitely enjoyed it. I was pleasantly surprised at how scenic the old highways along both sides of the river are. You get 10 miles off either side of I29, and it's quite scenic actually.

GLBarton had accurate info regarding Brownsville--no food in that town. Their "First Friday Nights" was not nearly as lively as portrayed on their website. I rode into the 1 block of town just past 8PM and saw a single car parked and no people anywhere. TJ's Bar was open and the 5 people in there were having a beer and watching TV with no sound. They had good A/C so I hung out until the night cooled enough for me to sleep in my tent. I camped right there on the river in the "Brownsville State Recreation Area" which aint nothin' to write home about. Let's just say I had the campground to myself. I slept pretty good under a very bright moon. I think I could have read in my tent by moon light. In the morning, I listened to a trio of owls hooting.

I was on a section of Hwy 111 that parallels I29 for about 1 mile with only a ditch between when I saw a 2008 Vstrom parked and the rider standing next to the bike. I pulled over to see if he needed help. He did not, but had run out of gas. His call to AAA resulted in a tow truck and a gas can 30 minutes later. He was from North Carolina. He took a Greyhound bus all the way to North Dakota where he got a killer deal on the bike from a dealer. He was on his multi-day ride back home. He had not heard of Sturgis and accidentally rode down through it!

Along Hwy 111 is Big Lake State Park. The lake is actually very small and also very nice. The MO state park is immaculate. They actually have a motel and a dozen or so very nice, large cabins and a nice in-ground swimming pool right there along the shore. The place was packed--I think a lot of families make their summer vacation there. The beautiful, shaded campground was full of RV's and tents. The lake was buzzing with all kinds of boats and wave-runners.

I can report that the A&G restaurant in Falls City, NE is good. Famous for their salads in their own bread bowl and meals come with soft-serve ice cream. I can also tell you that if you roll through Forest City, MO....don't stop no matter how tempting the shade. That place is an armpit. Oh and just because a road is marked as State Highway "T", do not assume it will be paved. I enjoyed the 5 mile gravel section, but was glad I did not have any gravel-hating street riders with me.

The Barn Door Cafe in Ceresco, NE is not worth a visit. Some of the worst coffee ever to part my lips and the food was mediocre. Good company, though!

On the way home, I remembered that Rusty's new Motorcycle Closeouts store was open in Smithville. The new store is SWEET! I came away with a new helmet that promises much better ventilation than my 4 year old, dirt packed HBC.