bran: ainsworth to butte

we set out from ainsworth after a pancake breakfast prepared on a giant revolving griddle. alex was irritated that the cowboys didn't use it as intended and kept walking around it. why have a revolving griddle if you're going to walk in circles? anyway, the pancakes were good.

the first 25 miles of the day was probably my favorite ride ever. about 12 miles out of ainsworth, we descended into the niobrara river valley, and it was incredibly beautiful. and the hills were a blast! burton (population 9) was one of two towns we passed through on our 80 mile ride to butte. in character with the other small communities we visited, the local women greeted us with an assortment of amazing foods. because i'd just eaten cowboy pancakes, i skipped the egg casseroles and had a homemade cinnamon roll instead. it was as good as the rolls at grateful bread, maybe better.
after burton, the wind picked up and we headed straight into it for the next 50 miles (see that flag blowing straight towards the camera? we were riding into that wind!). so the rest of the day sucked. i was so so so happy to finally arrive in butte, and to find out we had a home to stay in thanks to my friends john and linda and the pastor at the full gospel church.
the ladies at the full gospel church in butte outdid themselves with this potluck. i don't even know how to describe the goodness except to say that i easily consumed 10,000 calories of heavy cream and cheese sauces, mayonnaise and whipped cream salads, and my new favorite dessert - sour cream raisin crisp. between the peseks and i, we ate 7 desserts after hitting up this food line for seconds. in addition to all the salads and sides, the ladies had at least 6 main dishes that they constantly replenished from the kitchen. these included lasagna, bbq ribs, beef stroganoff, salisbury steak, dumplings and ground beef, and slow cooked turkey in gravy