It's only 40 miles from Sterling to Sidney, so I decided to get a late start so that I wouldn't arrive too
early to  check in to the motel. I needn't have worried--it was really slow going.
Uphill, headwinds, heat, and lousy roads. Still beats a day in the box.

The first 10 miles were nice and easy--cruising up the valley of the South Platte--past the
mansions of the well-too-do ranching syndicates.

But then I turned north and noticed the country beginning to change. There might be
some hills on this ride.

After lots of up and down I finally reached the big one...a hill steep enough to require a
passing lane on a road without much traffic. It was actually quite the grind, what with the headwinds and all.

Up top was a plain. And a town called Peetz. Between the coal cars I could see what looked like a
gas station and convenience store. When the train finally passed I could see it was only a farmers' co-op.
But I least I was delayed by a train...I can check that off the list.

Arbor Day? Do you see any trees in that picture? Maybe way off there in the distance...over the bear's left shoulder.

Nebraska...the good life. Nebraska...the milled pavement.
It really sucks to ride on this. Especially uphill into a headwind.
I had about 6 miles of this. No sign of imminent paving.

The last couple miles into Sidney was a little more pleasant. Sidney is corporate headquarters
for Cabela's--so there are dozens of Cabela's facilities in the area. We plan to go to the
store after dinner.

Linda and I met for lunch at a restaurant next door to Cabela's. Then we headed north to look at the
remains of the Sioux Army Depot north of town. Part was taken over by Cabela's, but there
are still several hundred of these ammunition storage bunkers.



The door to this one was open a little bit. Nobody was home.

We saw three different Minuteman Missile launch sites. None of the pictures came out
very well. I believe this is the G-5 site.