Day 39: Lincoln to Newport

121km/75m, 6hrs 59mins, 17.3kph/10.7mph, 697m/2265ft of climbing.

Hot today, in the 80s Fahrenheit, not my sort of weather. With that, a headwind (back to normal) and the fact that all today's climbing came in the last 30km, this was a tougher day than I've had for a while. More to come tomorrow and the day after, because I'm beginning to nose into the mountains.

For a long time after leaving Lincoln, highway 2 runs alongside a wide, slow, amazingly still river. Most of the time it looks more like a lake than a river. So, some aquatic fauna was to be expected, but I was surprised to meet a turtle at the roadside. He was quite big - about eighteen inches long - and posed phlegmatically enough for my photo.

An insight into small-town America this evening. I ate in a Mexican restaurant. The food was rather good, actually, and I had a half-pint bottle of Samuel Adams beer with my meal. Afterwards I sat at the bar and had two more - so, a total of one and one half pints. I ordered a fourth and was refused. "I'm sorry sir, it's just a policy we have here, we operate a three-drink maximum because we're a family-oriented restaurant." I expressed incredulity, and asked whether I could have had three pints instead of three halves? Yes, that would have been fine. Three Margueritas? Also fine. Needless to say I pointed out the inadequacy of their rule. However, the final and best word on the matter came from the local man sitting next to me, who turned to me and said "only in America. And we think we're free, right?"