Day 27 - ND tried to push us back to MT
Day 27 - Baker, MT to Hettinger, ND - 87 miles - 1683 ft of elevation gain
Today was a day none of us will forget. It was memorable for several reasons. We got a late start because a few alarms weren’t set. The wind was relentless all day long. We finally crossed out of Montana after 12 days of weaving in and out. And lastly, because we had a special guest visit us and ride with us for the day.
Most have voted today as the toughest ride to date. There are a few that think the long, hot day was the worse. I guess we can settle the debate by saying they were both tough. The wind was strong and required a constant pedal stroke, even on the downhills. It was like climbing a hill all day long. I mentioned an African proverb in the morning that says “If you want to go faster, go alone. If you want to go farther, go together.” Well today you weren’t going faster alone. We met up with a man biking from Portland to Minneapolis and at 8:30pm, on our way back from dinner, he was pushing his bike. This was his 15th time biking this route, so I’m guessing he’s experienced this wind thing before.
There were two phenomena that happen when the headwind is so strong. One when a vehicle, particularly a large truck, passes going the same direction, it creates a vortex that momentarily sucks you along. For a split second there is calm and you feel the pull propelling you forward. Just as quick as it came, the pull is gone and the headwind slaps you in the face again. However, when a tractor trailer passes you going the opposite direction, the wind in your face becomes stronger and tries to knock you off your bike. Simultaneously, the thrust of wind from all directions created by the passing vehicle lifts up small projectiles from the road and flings them against your body. So the slap of the wind and sting of small stones banging against your legs is quite a rush. Unfortunately for us it seemed the opposing traffic was more frequent than the traffic heading our way. The wind really did make the ride tough, and 3 boys fought as long as they could, and decided to use the van for a portion of the ride.
We stopped for lunch in Bowman, ND at a pizza shop. They were very interested in our trip. One of the managers allowed us to have a drink on the house. The boys were very excited because we only do water at restaurants.
Our special guest drove up from Colorado Springs the evening before to ride a day with us. Zach Miller is an ultra-runner sponsored by The North Face, GU, and Petzl. He grew up in Lancaster County and has visited Lifecycles in the past. For our ride, he made a donation of GU products, some TNF gloves, and a few other things. He mentioned possibly joining us for a ride, as he fixed up an old small bus to travel the country in this year. I reached out on Instagram and told him to look for our long blue line on his travels. He wrote back and thus began the plan to meet up with us and ride for a day. Zach was very gracious in talking with everyone on the team while we rode. He even gave tours of his bus. He rode the entire 87 miles with us on a gravel bike with big tires. I believe he got the workout he wanted and we got someone new to talk with for the day.
I told the boys from the start we would run the gamut of hotels, today’s hotel looks rough on the outside, but had clean rooms and a hot shower. One thing we just keep moving so if you don’t like today’s situation there is always a change tomorrow. This is another small town, so the restaurant options were minimal. We decided to knock two things off the list: eating and visiting South Dakota. So we drove 26 mins across the border and dined at Powderhorn in Lemmon, SD. It was a small establishment but they had super cheap prices. The boys were so excited because they could order a ton of food for their budget. Zach joined us for dinner and then we parted ways. We are having a later start in the morning to hopefully allow our bodies to recover.
Praying for the wind to decide to go east with us tomorrow!
