79.8 miles
4:55 ST
16.1 avg
When I first looked out this morning at 5:30, the skies were clear and the wind was blowing from the north (yay). When we opened the door to leave an hour later...whoa! Where'd the clear sky go? It was dark and ominous but, thankfully, only to the north.
By the time we crossed the Yellowstone River, the clouds had already moved east. And it did look better to the south.
Besides, there was only 30% chance of rain. Remember that.
Are you kidding me?
Fourteen miles out we changed our ninth (#9) flat. Flat #8 was only two days and 45 miles ago. That was on the front, this was the rear. Sigh.
Seventeen miles out we parked under a bridge to wait for the "30%" to pass by. Thirty percent is only that until it's where you are; then it's 100% for you.
While waiting under the bridge, we discussed whether or not we're missing something God is (or has been) trying to tell us. All these flats, both of us with shin issues, my ears, storms, getting run off the road, etc., etc. We didn't come up with any definitive answers, so did the only thing there was to do: spent time praying and when the sun came out, we got back on the bike and rode down the road.
There were too many blessings to focus on today rather than dwell on the difficulties. The wind was at our backs, the road wasn't extremely hilly (there were two that made us really work), the weather was sunny the rest of the day, it was very pretty scenery,
and my shin didn't hurt nearly as much while riding as I expected it would, based on the pain of the last couple days. PTL! It's still plenty sore, but sure could be worse.
After prayer, I think the tape helped some today.
(That reminds me of something I heard years ago: "You can do no more than pray until you've prayed. You can do more than pray after you've prayed.")
Gerry liked this sign because seeing "Billings" on it makes home seem closer. Just wait until we see one with "Bozeman" on it!
We left at 6:27 this morning and got to Miles City at 1:27. That was a good time to be done because it was getting quite warm. We made a quick trip to Wal-Mart to replenish our food supplies after checking in.
After a shower, we .....ARE YOU KIDDING ME...???? Gerry saw that Bob had a flat. 2455 miles. Well, I guess we can't complain about that - his first in that many miles. When Gerry was checking the tire, he found four (4!) wires in it, and one gash.
It's been a while since I've had some favorite names, but here are three for today:
"Whoopup Creek Rd"
"Cracker Box Rd"
"Bad Route Rd"
Tomorrow will be a shorter day - 45 miles- to Forsyth, but it will be hillier. Several of them will be challenging. Sigh, I think I don't like hills very much any more. (Who am I kidding? I've never been a big fan.)
Praise the Lord with us for another safe day. Thank you for your prayer for tomorrow's ride.
Getting closer,
Pat
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