Another cold, gray, rainy day here in the Dakotas!! Today it was actually rainy-soaked to the bone rainy. But it sure makes us appreciate being indoors! The weather is starting to get really really ridiculous. Come on, nature! Cut us some slack! We're in discussions to wait out the storms here in Washburn. Unfortunately that could mean us being stuck here for a good week. I'm guessing tomorrow we'll be off our bikes-it's supposed to thunderstorm all day. But according to weather.com we'd have tailwinds for awhile if we kept going. Ack! What to do!
OK. Enough of me complaining about the weather. I've been trying to have a sort of zen like tude about things...concentrating on the positive and pushing away the negative. When we get stuck in these situations (rain, wind, hills, cold) I just tell myself that everything comes to end, no matter how difficult it may be. This won't kill me, and when it's over I'll forget about how painful it was! So far it's working. I've only had one minor breakdown on the whole trip! Soon enough the sun will come back, the winds will die down and we'll never want to get off our bikes!
We've made some great progress since Pierre. We had a record breaking 92 mile day, along with a record breaking 250 mile 4 days! Yay! Even with 2 days of crazy crazy headwinds we did it! We took a break in Bismarck and treated ourselves to Indiana Jones and a big tub of popcorn at the local theatre. About 20 miles outside of Bismarck we were flagged down by a fellow in an SUV. Turns out him and his wife are avid cyclists who are also doing the Lewis and Clark trail, but in shorter sections instead of all at once. They just finished Mobridge, ND to Sydney MT. They spotted us in Chaimberlin a few days ago and have been tracking us down ever since...they just missed us in Pollock and found our tent at the Beaver Bay campground but didn't want to disturb us. They finally caught us on the road! They even had a lunch packed for us! We chatted for awhile then parted ways, they said they just like talking to people crazy enough to do what they do. It's been so much fun meeting people. Even short conversations with locals is exciting. They always have some bit of advice or encouragement for us.
We can't want to get to Montana-it might be uninteresting scenery for awhile, but it'll be flat and by the end of the state we'll be in the mountains! Sweet!
As usual, love to everyone and until next time be well.
About Me
- Klaus und Heidi
- "It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle." --Ernest Hemingway
4 comments:
Just today I remembered that you had this blog and am so glad that I did! It's great reading about your adventures. Dylan is looking very bearded. I miss you!
Amazing storms, eh? If it were me I'd pick up some trashy paperbacks and curl up in the tent to wait it out. That's just me. You and Dylan be careful out there XXO Pop
yeah, what the other Pop said. Woof! The storms just keep on coming and they are supposed to line up here in Wisco for a few days. (I never complain if my 5 mile commute is in to the wind anymore!). I was wondering if there is some minor attraction... low level hiking trails, state park in the area... put on a rain poncho and go for a hike, then do some readin' in the tent. Or befriend a local animal farmer and help him slop hogs or cows for a couple days.. heck! Mebbe he'll pay you a couple dollars.
Well you are making great time... guess it's time to even out the averages. Love to both of you, o' great voyageurs!
Daddy-OH!
Hey you two, Justin here! It is June 4th and I'm taking the day off in Miles City, MT. I took a HUGE shortcut through the Black Hills and the Badlands, so I'm way ahead of schedule. I'll probably head down to Yellowstone once I hit Livingston and spend a few days in the park. Keep the rubber side down!
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