A thundering start for Bike Ride Across Nebraska
Posted: Tuesday, June 10, 2008
DUNNING, Neb. (AP) -- On the first day, there was rain.
Followed by thunder.
Followed by the sound of an air horn.
Followed by instructions to the occupants of hundreds of tents set up on Callaway football field to leave their sleeping bags and take shelter in Callaway High School locker rooms.
A tornado had been spotted outside of town. Hail was reportedly on the way.
And the event that had drawn campers from across Nebraska, from Alabama, Texas and Missouri, from as far away as Canada, hadn't yet begun.
But of the 600 souls who will spend a week on the Bike Ride Across Nebraska, or BRAN, many are repeaters used to bad weather, said Fred Jalass, who's participated in the ride in some way each year since 1986.
There was a tornado when the group camped in Loup City in 1997. Two year before, cyclists rode through a June snowstorm, emptying hardware stores of gloves between Creighton and Ponca.
Every year, he said, there's something.
It's a tradition that hasn't kept cyclists from returning to the ride year after year. More than 60 percent of this year's riders have done at least one BRAN before.
BRAN turns 28 this year. By the time the annual ride ends on Saturday, cyclists will have pedaled 454 miles and camped in seven small communities along the way.
Sunday morning, after tearing down their tents (the worst of the storm, including hail and tornadoes ended up bypassing Callaway), the cyclists set off on the road to Dunning, 54 miles to the north.
They stopped in Arnold for doughnuts. And when they rolled into Dunning, where they were to camp that night, most of the town was there to meet them.
The 2000 Census lists Dunning's population at 109, but 2006 estimates put it at 92. The community has been preparing for the riders since January.
At first, said Dunning resident Lori Zutavern, a group met monthly to decide how to feed and entertain a group more than six times larger than the community. The monthly meetings became fortnightly and then weekly.
A church group planned an enormous potluck dinner.
That's part of the beauty of BRAN said Jalass, who after several years as a rider became one of BRAN's co-chairmen. "Everybody is more than willing to help you with whatever you need," he said. "Even total strangers."
Followed by thunder.
Followed by the sound of an air horn.
Followed by instructions to the occupants of hundreds of tents set up on Callaway football field to leave their sleeping bags and take shelter in Callaway High School locker rooms.
A tornado had been spotted outside of town. Hail was reportedly on the way.
And the event that had drawn campers from across Nebraska, from Alabama, Texas and Missouri, from as far away as Canada, hadn't yet begun.
But of the 600 souls who will spend a week on the Bike Ride Across Nebraska, or BRAN, many are repeaters used to bad weather, said Fred Jalass, who's participated in the ride in some way each year since 1986.
There was a tornado when the group camped in Loup City in 1997. Two year before, cyclists rode through a June snowstorm, emptying hardware stores of gloves between Creighton and Ponca.
Every year, he said, there's something.
It's a tradition that hasn't kept cyclists from returning to the ride year after year. More than 60 percent of this year's riders have done at least one BRAN before.
BRAN turns 28 this year. By the time the annual ride ends on Saturday, cyclists will have pedaled 454 miles and camped in seven small communities along the way.
Sunday morning, after tearing down their tents (the worst of the storm, including hail and tornadoes ended up bypassing Callaway), the cyclists set off on the road to Dunning, 54 miles to the north.
They stopped in Arnold for doughnuts. And when they rolled into Dunning, where they were to camp that night, most of the town was there to meet them.
The 2000 Census lists Dunning's population at 109, but 2006 estimates put it at 92. The community has been preparing for the riders since January.
At first, said Dunning resident Lori Zutavern, a group met monthly to decide how to feed and entertain a group more than six times larger than the community. The monthly meetings became fortnightly and then weekly.
A church group planned an enormous potluck dinner.
That's part of the beauty of BRAN said Jalass, who after several years as a rider became one of BRAN's co-chairmen. "Everybody is more than willing to help you with whatever you need," he said. "Even total strangers."
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