So over 2400 miles down, only 1600 left. We are taking a much needed day off. My butt can take a break and I can wonder around town without getting on a bike seat. The last week has been quite busy, a lot of riding. We had one of the worst days so far from Devil's Lake to Rugby, ND. 20 or 30 mile an hour winds made pacelining a must, but after Isaiah dropped off our group because he wasn't feeling well, only Ian and I pushed through the 58 miles to the school gym where we were staying. After that we had our "Bike and Build Prom", which Kathy has undoubtedly talked forever about so I can spare you the details, but I was dressed in a marching band tux we found.
The day before was also no cakewalk. 118 miles from Crookston, MN to Devil's Lake, ND. The first 100 miles went very fast, a group of us averaged just over 20 mph (compared to under 12 into Rugby). We got a picture of our odometers as we passed 100 miles in under 5 hours, then the rain came. It was first just a sprinkle but ominous clouds in the distance told another story. About 8 miles later we got hit with a true windy Great Plains storm. Thunder and lightning on both sides of the road, 20 mph cross winds with rain that felt like it was BBs hitting your arms and face. I was riding about 5 to 10 feet behind Bobby and we were both screaming at the top of our lungs and neither of us could hear each other. We stopped at a rest area a few miles out of town to catch our breath and have Ian and Isaiah catch up, eventually Jessie caught us too after our 3 minute rest break. We finally arrive in Devil's Lake to Isaiah's dad waiting with a warm pickup truck ready to take us to his farm. We had a great time at Isaiah's farm - tractor tours, horseback rides, a hot tub(!) and great food. A good time was had by all, and to cap it all off we saw a wonderful thunderstorm in the distance at night, very awesome!
That is about all for today, time to explore Minot.
An engineer designing from scratch could hardly concoct a better device to unclog modern roads - cheap, nonpolluting, small and silent...
-- Rick Smith, International Herald Tribune, May 2006
About Me
- Anson
- I am a born and bred Alaskan who just graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. I am spending three months working with the World Wildlife Fund in Nepal to bring gasification stoves and alternative energy projects to rural areas of Nepal. Among other things, I am an avid backcountry skier, part-time adventure racer, and a budding photographer. I have biked across the North American continent, fallen 13,000 feet out of an airplane, ski raced till by body gave out, tried new things whenever I could.
No comments:
Post a Comment