The Entire Town of Bassett Came out!

Today we rode 50 miles from Bassett to O'Neill, Nebraska. We climbed only 194 feet. 

For one of the flattest days of the trip, we had one of our highest highs and certainly our lowest low.

The day started on a high with much of the town of Bassett coming out to see us off. We had kids from the local high school and elementary school listening to an introduction from our team leader, as well as a nice welcome from the mayor. We explained the 22 pushup challenge, and most of the kids dropped and gave us 22 pushups. We had not one, but two escorts out of town-thefire department and two local American Legion members on Harleys. We set out in good spirits after all of the support from the townspeople, knowing we had an easy day in store, only 50 flat miles on a nice road with favorable winds and minimal traffic.

And then the lowest low. At the front of the paceline two riders touched wheels and we had a crash. Five riders ended up going down. One of our teammates was injured, and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. He will be OK, but will not be able to continue the ride with us. We were all shaken up quite a bit, but we decided to move on once our teammate was in the hands of paramedics. One of our teammates is a practicing MD, and he provided aid on the scene and accompanied our injured friend to the hospital.  Thank you Dr. Bill. We continued the ride with heavy hearts and finished the day in O'Neill, the Irish capital of Nebraska. Lots of time for introspection this evening. Our safety officer began an after action review on our walk to dinner, and I'm sure we'll remind everyone of lessons learned in the morning. A sad day for all of us. Hoping for a better tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will ride from O'Neill to Wisner, Nebraska. We will cycle 104 miles and climb 1,675 feet. 

Totals to Date
Miles: 1,748
Elevation Gain: 58,917
Flat Tires: 29
States crossed: 4
Centuries: 4