5:42 ST
13.6 avg
We hadn't planned to get this far today but are happy to be here. "Here" is the North Dakota state line. We thought we would have to stop at Sisseton because of accommodations, but at one of our breaks (while we still had cell service) Gerry saw this hotel/casino online and was able to get a room.
Riding farther today made the distance to Fargo more manageable, so now we'll be able to get there a day earlier than thought. Yay!
We left at 6:35 this morning because we wanted to get a good start before the winds picked up. We hopped right onto I-29 and rode blissfully for about 20 miles on flat roads with no wind.
Well, the roads were flat but we were climbing gently and steadily for miles and miles. Then, when we saw the sign for "Scenic Overlook Ahead", we figured we'd be going down.
And we did. You can see through the overpass how we dropped. Right into a large, flat, wide valley.
Awesome-sauce! The flatness made the headwind that had been picking up do-able.
And then...there was this: rumble strips in the wonderfully wide shoulder - for 28 miles.
Pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, "brrrt-brrrt-brrrt."
Pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, "brrrt-brrrt-brrrt."
Pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, "brrrt-brrrt-brrrt."
Pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, "brrrt-brrrt-brrrt."
Gerry figured out that in the 28 miles x 87/mile, we rode over 2,436 of these.
Pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, "brrrt-brrrt-brrrt."
Besides being annoying, they really cut down our speed, because our forward horizontal energy turns into wasted vertical energy.
Other than that, I-29 was more pleasant to ride than we had anticipated. The traffic was not nearly as heavy as we had thought it would be. And most of the vehicles gave us a very wide berth.
This part of the Continental Divide sure looks different than the Continental Divide in our neck of the woods at home.(Notice there are no mountains?)
State #7!!!
Can you believe we did South Dakota in three days? Pretty sure that's not going to happen in North Dakota.
We are always grateful and humbled when God allows us a good day of riding then gives us dry digs before the rain.
I forgot to give you my favorite name for the other day:
Drumgoon Dairy
We loved the coolness of our ride today, and the lower humidity. It's official........We are NORTH!!
We are excited to meet and stay with a Warmshowers host tomorrow. We have tried four times during the trip and this is the first one that has worked out.
Our prayer needs for today:
-Gerry's shin splint has flared up again and I've been having headaches each morning.
-I slept only about three hours last night so need a good night tonight.
-Wisdom as we plan our route north to the border and then back through ND.
- God's appointments with people.
Resting,
Pat and Gerry
1 comment:
On top of the shins, and headaches....what's the prognosis of your ears??
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