Recent ride / west half

A buddy and I just completed a ride from Atkinson to Valentine and back (around 200mi.) Sept.29-Oct2. We were very pleased with the Trail in general and the scenery was amazing! Met some wonderful people in the small towns along the way and were blown away by their friendliness and hospitality! Especially in Ainsworth. We really liked the remote, desolate, and wilderness feel of the trail. It's nice not having annoying mile markers or signs every 100 yards. The biggest challenge for us was the goatheads or puncture vine that we encountered in a few specific sections of the trail that caused a slight tire issue. We were aware of them and prepared to deal with them. It's a good thing because they ARE a reality. We were running tubeless tires, had a pump, and C02 cartridges. I would strongly encourage this set up if you are planning to ride the trail. It will reduce your chance of flats dramatically. We camped in city parks and the Mill Race Park and that all went very well. We will definitely be back someday and would highly recommend this Trail to others. One curiosity was the very pronounced washboards for a few miles between Arabia and Valentine. Not natural and not sure how they got there other than vehicles driving on the trail. Any ideas?

Didn't you love Atkinson? I loved that little town. But yes, there was washboarding, and we ran into a soggy, loose gravel issue over between Bassett and Newport (lots of sub irrigated soil was probably some of the problem). But we watched the Goatheads etal, and I got one over by Inman, and Lisa had a few in her tires. But only one flat on our ride (me). We loved the trail.