Bicycle tourist pauses for lunch in Holyoke

Gene Mayo of Fairbury, Nebraska spends much of his retirement time touring the western United States on a bicycle. On Monday, Oct. 16, he was heading east on U.S. Highway 6 and he decided to stop in Holyoke for lunch.
I have been on the road from my apartment in Fairbury for about four weeks now, he said. I figure I’ll make it home in another two weeks. I can usually cover about 60 miles in a day, he said.
This trip I left Fairbury and worked my way north toward the South Dakota border, then west on The Cowboy Trail toward the Wyoming border, then south into Colorado where I ended up in Fort Collins, he said.
I don’t visit attractions per se, just travel distances and enjoy the sites as I ride by. I may stop for the night most anywhere, some wooded areas, or BLM area, but I usually camp at designated campsites that have facilities or city parks that allow camping. For example, I like the camping in Valentine, Nebraska that has shower facilities and the cost to camp is $5.00 a night, he said. I also usually sleep in a motel a couple of nights a week.
I have an excellent bicycle for long range touring, a Sueley 24 speed, and I have a long haul trailer for my gear. I have a rain suit for the occasional weather situations I ride into, he said. My setup for the bicycle and trailer require a specific set of wheels on the bicycle. I met another touring bicyclist on this trip that had his gear in saddlebags instead of a separate trailer, and his bicycle wheels were different because the weight distribution of his luggage rode different, he said.
I have been retired for several years now, he said, so I have a lot of time to do this outdoor traveling I enjoy. I have a BS in Human Biology and for a while I was a licensed Chiropractor, he said.
I will be heading out after lunch eastbound on Highway 6 and eventually south, he said.