Day 4: Holdrege to Blue Hill 59 miles

Before I forget want to say thanks to Nelson for suggesting a tent fan. Peggy and Dale got one as did I and it definitely made our camping experience.more enjoyable!
On day three I forgot to mention who the people are at the dinner table. In addition to Peggy, Dale, Jane and I we were joined by Marvin Liewer  from Butte NE and Joyce Troyer from Manhattan KS.
Marvin is an amazing guy. He built a log cabin all by himself! Goggle his name and you'll.see his web site that.tells all about it.
During.dinner at the Sail Restaurant Peggy just happened to mention Shickley and Joyce said you've got to be kidding! Turns out her husband Darrell was from Shickley and Peggy knew his brother Terry! Small world!
Today we were expecting better conditions but unfortunately we had to ride. into the same brutal head winds for 30 plus.miles then it was cross winds from there. Fortunately the ride was only 59 miles! It was really tough going but we all finished.It's getting late so I'm not going to mention all.them but Wilcox had a great spread.for us and they were all cheering for us when we rode in. We had our awards banquet tonight complete with live music from The Toasted Ponies. It was a great spread and a lot of fun to see the slide show of pictures Rich had taken over the course of our 4 day journey...especially when you know a lot of their names now.Congratulations to Coreen Frasier from Little Rock, Arkansas for receiving the TDN Spirit Award! Peggy got to have her picture taken with Rhonda Revelle,.Nebraska's girls soft ball coach. Funny story told at the banquet by Rhonda Revelle about Susan Rodenburg...about 60 miles into Friday's ride their group pulled over to a shady area on the left hand side of the road to rest and cool down a little. (Dale and I just happened to be there at the same time!) Just then someone hollered that a wonderful farm couple had cold water on the other side of the road. The group left their bikes and walked over to the farm house. As they did one of them looked back and saw Susan's bike laying in the middle of the road! They said "Susan...your bikes in the middle of the road!!" She said.. "I know...I'm hoping someone will run over it so I don't have to ride any more!" Boy I could relate to that! It was a tough day for cycling!
 Last day tomorrow..42 miles back.to Doniphan.