Great American Wheel Route Bikepacking

[pem]

Noted. I plan to ride early morning til noonish the next 4 days. May find a pool somewhere through the weekend heat wave. I also look at convection activity every afternoon while in the mid-west. The NOAA SPC (storm prediction center) posts convection activity.

 

[PedalUma]

convection activity

My childhood dyslexia arose as I first read this post. Would Midwest Conventions interfere with pool access? Yes, a tornado would be worse than crashing an agg convention! But an agg convention would be more fun for making a mock documentary.

 

[PedalUma]

Without the Rockies she is picking up average speed and making distance.

 

[PedalUma]

She is now on a offroad loose gravel trail for 200 miles across Nebraska. Some call it the American Outback.

Patrice_McDonald - Great American Wheel Adventure 2026 individual history by trackleaders.com

Full history tracking archive for Patrice_McDonald, in the Great American Wheel Adventure 2026. Includes statistics, speed plots and other analysis.

trackleaders.com

 

[EMGX]

Noted. I plan to ride early morning til noonish the next 4 days. May find a pool somewhere through the weekend heat wave. I also look at convection activity every afternoon while in the mid-west. The NOAA SPC (storm prediction center) posts convection activity.

Ebike or not, you're amazing!

 

[PedalUma]

Ebike or not, you're amazing!

@pem, Your elevation gains are 12,049 meters. Mount Everest is 8,900 meters high. You have climbed 1.35 x Everest! How is the Nebraska high plains heat? Have you upped the power? If so, how does that feel? Is it cooling? How loose is the gravel on the Cowboy Trail? One key to diagnosing problems is to find their preciosity. A rock stuck in a tire hitting the bottom of the fender will have the periosity of the wheel. A stuck link in the chain will click once per revolution of the chain. An odd sound that happens once per revolution of the pedals is at the chainring or cranks. You have made it across Pacific time and Mountain time, and are now well into Central time. We all think you are the best and wish you well on your grand adventure.

 

[pem]

This morning’s ride was through the beautiful Nebraska Sandhills. The Sandhills are stabilized sand dunes. Stabilized by the beautiful native grasses growing thick upon them. I made such good speed. I had the sense I was riding through mountains yet on the flat. I left Valentine at 6 a.m, but was sidelined by the clank for an hour. I will remember “periosity” (what a great word). When I finally figured it out, I had a sense of what a scientist must feel when they make some big discovery. Anyway, yes, since you explained to me how far I might be able to ride at City 2 & 3, I have been living in the City; no longer an eco girl. It’s close to effortless. I can ride for hours with only the exertion of legs in piston motion. Quite extraordinary. I rode 48 miles today (still had one full green bar). But for the heat, I could have ridden 78. I wasn’t over-heating but am conscious of the need to gradually increase my heat exposure.

 

[PedalUma]

legs in piston motion

I would like you to try a technique. Make a reminder note and tape it to your handlebar for one full day with one word, Swimming. Focus on the top and the bottom of the stroke exclusively. Push forward at the top and pull back and up at the bottom. Visualize being in an Olympic pool with scuba fins. Make the cadence quick and very effortless. Swim, using mostly your ankles. Point your toes. You will suddenly be flying over the prairie. You are lightly and effortlessly swimming with fins not stomping down with clodhoppers. Your extra grippy pedals make this technique possible. There will be no going back.
The motor's internal controller likes a smooth cadence not thumping spikes.

 

[PedalUma]

Here you go @pem. I converted your photo to jpeg and made it less than 1 mb.

 

[PedalUma]

I would like @pem to talk about it. One of her fellow riders was struck in the back of the head this morning by an awning pole that broke loose from a camper doing 70 mph. The driver saw it and hit the brakes and hit him at 20. Chris is a Welchman and is in a South Dakota hospital. It is unlikely he can continue. I want Patrice to play it safe and not to ride along the interstate highways. Some shortcut. In those rural areas state and county roads run with the interstates so there will be farm equipment driving on the shoulder. There are big rigs and cars doing 90.

 

[PedalUma]

@pem did something like 65 miles today and pushed up her average speed. She is in eastern Nebraska and will be in Iowa soon.

Patrice_McDonald - Great American Wheel Adventure 2026 individual history by trackleaders.com

Full history tracking archive for Patrice_McDonald, in the Great American Wheel Adventure 2026. Includes statistics, speed plots and other analysis.

trackleaders.com

 

[PedalUma]

@DaveMatthews
I just wrote a song with AI assistance for Paterice McDonald on the Great American Wheel Route and sent it to her. It could use maybe a JC Mellencamp tempo and heartland chord progression, or maybe the magic of Gordon Lightfoot and sung by Bonnie Raitt with some slideneck. You are free to use it in anyway or refine it, editing, modifying in anyway. She is 72 and all alone in a motel outside of Omaha tonight. The cowboy is a reference to the end of the Cowboy Trail she just finished. The barbell is from philosopher Taleb on making decisions and risk; should she ride along an interstate, or play it safe. Prospero is her bike frame's name from Pashley in Stafford upon Avon. No one needs to know all that. But a musician does.

"Prospero's Lightning"
(Verse 1)
I lost the cowboy to the endless highway wind.
I am coming up on Omaha, where the prairies bend.
Got a barbell decision weighing heavy on my mind,
Two heavy paths ahead, leaving yesterday behind.
The road keeps pulling forward, out past the line. [1]

(Verse 2)
The Missouri River whispers, a silver, winding friend,
Reminding me of quiet times, and the nights we used to spend.
I could pull a U-turn southward, or head to where the Rockies soar,
But a restless heart ain't safe unless it's knocking on a door.
Do I build a life in cattle country, or drift where I began?
Oh, the hardest choice I’ve faced was loving such a travelin' man.

(Chorus)
But the badlands and the tallgrass roll under vast Nebraska skies,
And every mile brings a brand new dawn to wash away his eyes.
My custom steel steed answers, with a magic all its own,
Carving tracks through dirt and gravel, miles away from home.
A campfire shared with strangers, sharing stories in the glow,
Just a girl, a worn-out bedroll, and my lightning, Prospero. [1, 2]

(Verse 3)
It's a Taleb barbell choice I'm riding, hedging safety with the storm,
The extreme risk of the open trail against a love that kept me warm.
This steel steed feels the tempest, an intuitive, wild spark,
An electrical wizard running, casting currents through the dark.
Eighteen hundred miles of dust to find out who I am,
Leaving Omaha behind me and the ghost of that cowboy man. [1]

(Outro / Climax)
The trail ahead is calling, out to where the wild things reign,
I’m going to ride this lightning storm until I finally hit Maine.
Yeah, we're tracking down the freedom that the highway couldn't yield,
Just an electrical wizard flying through an open gravel field. [1]

 

[PedalUma]

Maybe something like: G-C-D-Em-G-C-D-G. Em-C-G-D-Em-C-D-G. G-C-D-Em-G-C-D-G. It would start mellow and rock in the middle. 4/4 with some syncopation and answer and call of the bass. For now it is just a poem idea, not a song.
G|--------14----12----|-10-----------------|-------7-----5----|-3------------------|D|-----12----12----12-|----12-10----------|-----5---5-----5--|---5-3--------------|A|-12-----------------|----------12-10-8--|-5-----7----------|-------5-3-0--------|E|--------------------|-------------------|------------------|-------------3-1----| 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 1 + 2 + 3 4 1 + 2 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 3 4

 

[pem]

Maybe something like: G-C-D-Em-G-C-D-G. Em-C-G-D-Em-C-D-G. G-C-D-Em-G-C-D-G. It would start mellow and rock in the middle. 4/4 with some syncopation and answer and call of the bass. For now it is just a poem idea, not a song.
G|--------14----12----|-10-----------------|-------7-----5----|-3------------------|D|-----12----12----12-|----12-10----------|-----5---5-----5--|---5-3--------------|A|-12-----------------|----------12-10-8--|-5-----7----------|-------5-3-0--------|E|--------------------|-------------------|------------------|-------------3-1----| 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 1 + 2 + 3 4 1 + 2 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 3 4

Rick, this is definitely a masterpiece. Not only is it very clever, but incorporates so much of the journey and our discussions. I am honored by the inspiration. Now, you should use all your abundant talents to set it to music so that I can add it to my GAWR playlist. The newest big hit, “Choosin Texas” will immediately sink to forgotten, when PL’s Lightning is aired.

 

[PedalUma]

@pem, @Catalyzt, please HELP! I need to hear a bassline. Then all the other elements fall in place.
The handmade bike frame was made in Shakespeare's birthplace. So, here is the second version. I hope you like it.
Prospero’s Lightning
Verse I
The highway wind hath stolen my brave lad,
And Omaha now greets my heavy sight.
A barbell choice of paths, both good and bad,
Doth weigh upon my mind this bitter night.
Two heavy roads before my eyes extend;
I leave my yesterdays where prairies bend.
Verse II
Missouri’s stream doth whisper soft and clear,
Of quiet nights we spent in love’s embrace.
Should I turn south, or toward the mountains steer?
A restless heart must find a resting place.
Shall cattle country hold my wandering hand?
Ah, heavy woe to love a shifting man!
Chorus
Nebraska’s sky looks down on fields of grass,
And every dawn doth wash away his gaze.
My custom steel, forged where the Avon passed—
Where the Great Bard himself spent early days—
Now carves the dirt. I share the campfire’s glow;
A maid, a bedroll, and my Prospero.
Verse III
A Taleb choice I ride through storm and strife,
Extreme, wild risk against a hearth fire warm.
This wizard steel, with spark of magic life,
Casts currents through the darkness of the storm.
Through miles of dust I ride to find my name,
And leave the ghost of him from whence I came.
Outro & Climax

The wild lands call to where the tempests reign;
This lightning steed shall bear me unto Maine!
We hunt the freedom highways could not yield,
A wizard flying through the gravel field!

 

[pem]

I’ll think about the bass (“it’s all about that bass, that bass” Meghan Trainor) but there won’t be any Missouri on this ride.

 

[PedalUma]

Here is the third permutation. Oh, it is spooky dark magic, and I love it.
Prospero’s Lightning (The Ravenswood Crossroads Session)

(A weeping bottleneck slide guitar sets a heavy, syncopated delta groove. A low, mourning blues harp blows a cold wind through the chords.)
Verse 1

The highway wind didn't take him—the shadows just called him back.
Now I’m parsing the mud of Omaha, looking for a missing track.
Got a Taleb barbell balance, an oracle's heavy design,
One foot in the ashes of yesterday, one crossing the blackbird line.
(Slide guitar shivers, mimics a raven’s cry)

Verse 2

The Missouri River’s a serpent, whispering ancient, ink-stained lies,
Telling me how the bloodline bleeds, under these heavy Nebraska skies.
I could turn my back on the magic, head south where the cattle roam,
But a restless heart with a book of life ain't ever gonna find a home.
The hardest choice a witch can make is trying to love a mortal man.
(Blues harp cuts in, short, breathless, and sharp)

Chorus

But the tallgrass hums with a power, waking up the Ravenswood clay,
And every mile is an alchemical dawn, washing his memory away.
This custom steel was forged in Stratford, where the old Bard cast his spell,
It runs on a lightning frequency, right between heaven and hell.
No map, no reins, just a worn-out bedroll against the freezing cold,
Riding a wizard named Prospero, tracking down the secrets untold.

Verse 3

I met a man at the crossroads, his guitar was tuned to the storm,
He asked if I’d trade my higher magic just to keep a cowboy warm.
But this engine runs on current, a wild, intuitive spark,
An electrical wizard flying, casting sigils through the dark.
Eighteen hundred miles of dust, shedding the skin of who I was before,
Leaving the ghost of that cowboy man, knocking on a closed-up door.
(Slide guitar and blues harp collide in an aggressive, dueling jam)

Outro / Climax

The wild things are screaming my name now, out where the tempests reign,
I’m gonna ride this blackbird lightning until I hit the coast of Maine.
Hunting the ultimate freedom that the asphalt couldn't yield...
Just a slide-guitar electric wizard, flying through a gravel field.
(The music strips away until it’s just the raw thumping of a boot on wood, a final ghostly wail of the harmonica, and the fading hiss of an amplifier.)