BUTTE — Pie has a very special place in the hearts of those who have taken part in the Bike Ride Across Nebraska.

So do pancakes. And hamburger casseroles. And ice cream. And Jell-O salad. And pot roast.

The Bike Ride Across Nebraska — BRAN for short — is in progress this week. It’s the 28th year of the ride, which spans seven days and takes 600 cyclists through numerous small Nebraska communities.

Long before the ride begins, church women’s groups, rodeo associations, community clubs, legionnaires and school boosters, among other groups, begin planning their menus.

In Dunning (site of the best meal ever served on BRAN, a gigantic church potluck in 2003), members of the Sandhills Community Church were busy for days before riders rolled into town on Sunday. They had a reputation to maintain.

Jean Ann Teahon alone made six pies, six loaves of bread and a hamburger casserole in preparation for the cyclists.

Then she spent all day at the church washing fruit, setting out dishes and tending the raffle sign up.

Laurie Zutavern, one of the organizers of the Dunning BRAN festivities, referred to the spread as a “smorgasbord.”

In Burton, population nine (according to the sign. The current population is actually eight, but there’s a baby on the way), the women of the Assembly of God church spent three weeks planning their brunch buffet.

Burton wasn’t an overnight stop on the trip, but riders passed through Tuesday morning on their way from Ainsworth to Butte.

Organizer Oretta Farlin made three dozen cinnamon roles and two egg casseroles on Monday in preparation for the riders. Other church members donated baked goods, casseroles and fruit.

“Our rolls were all homemade,” Farlin said.

Sunday morning after church, the men pitched in and set up the tables and chairs. And Tuesday morning, the stream of cyclists through the church was steady.

In Callaway, the rodeo association served eggs and biscuits for breakfast. In Butte, a group of church woman prepared a dessert spread including numerous rhubarb desserts, raisin cream cobbler and cream puffs. In Ainsworth, men made pancakes on a huge rotating outdoor skillet. In Brewster, a woman sold homemade goat’s milk ice cream from a refrigerator on her front porch (it was delicious).

The competition is fierce, in part because these meals bring in a lot of money. In Burton, the church ladies planned to send the money they raised to a church camp near Lexington for dorm renovations. And BRAN Inc. gives awards for best lunch stand. Plus, food is a key factor in which town is selected as Best Host Community (the winner gets money for scholarships).

But it’s also fun to feed people, Farlin said.

And for that reason, she said, she planned to stay at the church Tuesday as long as it took.

“We’re serving until we’re out of food or until they quit coming,” she said.

Reach Cara Pesek at 473-7361 or cpesek@journalstar.com.