3:19 ST
18.6 avg
The one thing you might assume in those numbers is, with that average, we probably had a tailwind. You would be right.
What you don't see is that our total time on the road was 3:25. When you subtract the saddle time from that, you get six minutes. Six minutes is all the break time we took all day. Why would we do that, you might ask. Let's take a look...
It's July 1st, what's wrong with this picture? You got it - we are wearing our cold weather gear. For the first time on the trip. On July 1st.
It was 53 degrees and had stopped raining and was supposed to not rain for the rest of the day, or so the weather map showed. So we took off.
What do you think? Yes, it rained on us for a good part of the day. And with the wind blowing like it was - 25-28 mph NW -well, that brings us to why we had only six minutes of break time. We were wet and it was just way too cold to stop for any length of time.
The first stop was just long enough to dig out some bars from the trunk pack, unwrap a couple and stuff the rest into Gerry's back coat pocket. That way we could eat on the fly. The second stop was to down some Ibuprofen for my burning knees.
We very gladly checked into the only motel in Larimore, looking forward to a dry room and hot shower...and the possibility that we might need to sleep in our sleeping bags.
We were pleasantly surprised at how clean it was and pleased at its "quaintness". The lady and her daughter who checked us in were very excited and interested in the trip. They were quite helpful by giving me some old towels to clean all the mud and grit off the bike. The harder part of the motel is that we didn't have a fridge, microwave or coffee maker (some hot chocolate would have tasted great!), or WiFi (which is why there was no post for the day).
After a shower and getting warmed up (and a nap for me), we walked a half mile to the grocery store (the motel was on one end of town and the grocery store was on the other). When we came out it was starting to rain again. We just laughed and, stuffing our hands into our pockets, we headed back into the wind. "Lord, wouldn't it be cool if someone gave us a ride?"
"You guys want a ride?" A guy had stopped right in the middle of the street and rolled down his window. "That would be great! Thanks!" We jumped in and he told us he had seen us earlier walking with our hands in our pockets. When he saw us again just now, he figured we weren't from here. (First clue? Walking. Second clue? Probably our bright bike jackets.)
I'm still trying to figure out exactly what that means.
Today, we reached and passed 29,000 miles on the tandem. By the end of the summer it will most likely turn over to 30,000.
"When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes the lightning for the rain, and brings out the wind from His storehouses." Jer.10:13
Gratefully dry and warm,
Pat
No comments:
Post a Comment