If the Lightening Don't Get You Than the Airplane Will!

Or the truckers, or the floods, or the national guard, or the constant headwinds...

It's been an interesting bit of riding since I last wrote. We have exited eastern Montana and are currently holed up in a cheap hotel in Harvey, ND waiting out a thunder and hailstorm. We just passed the 1500 mile mark and hope to be in Fargo in a couple of days taking a well-earned rest day.

While the roads and scenery have been generally good, we have been fighting a light-to-moderate headwind for the last eight days! It hasn't kept us from riding the distances we need, but does make us very tired at the end of each day.

The trucks in eastern Montana were awful. Due to an oil boom and the increase in road travel since the trains stopped running due to flooded tracks, riding has become noisier and a little more dangerous. A number of truckers have had to take evasive manuevers to avoid hitting us or have driven too close because they didn't move over soon enough. The way they lay on their air horns and the occasional overheard comments ("oh good, hippies on bicycles") we get the sense that they see us as a nuisance.

The flooding in the Minot area caused some delays due to detours (water still in the road) and store closings (we had a difficult time finding an open bike shop). At one shop (that was still closed) the owner fished out some spare tires for us and then pointed to a military Humvee that was coming in our direction. He indicated that we were probably going to be fined for being in a restricted zone (after circling around us for 15 minutes, they left).

During a recent thunderstorm (our first real rainy ride), we were watching the lightening as it slowly approached us. We were then surprised when the flash of light and clap of thunder happened simultaneously! We headed for the only house within miles and scared the poor woman inside by asking if we could hang out on her porch until the weather improved. She would have agreed to anything as long as she didn't have to open the door. After locking the door I think she was wondering whether she should call 911 or make us a cup of tea. She must have done neither as we left 20 minutes later without incident (or tea).

Then, when heading toward Minot on a nicely paved county road, we spotted a plane in the distance. We assumed that it was sitting in a field and that the road we were on would wind around it. Nope. We soon realized that it was heading straight for us! It's wingspan exceeded the width of the road and it was speeding up. At a distance of no more than 75' its wheels finally left the road, clearing over Jake's head by 10'. I get the sense that the FAA doesn't come out this way very often.

We're still surprised by the lack of eastbound cyclists. We met a nice guy named Dave pedaling solo from Michigan to Washington state and a Norwegian who was 2/3 of the way across from Maine to Washington - but haven't seen anyone heading east in over two weeks. We're slow enough that folks should be passing us with some regularity. Is there something you're all not telling us???

Hope you are all well and enjoying your summer. Special shout outs to Danielle and Brian, two great Special Ed teachers I work with who have weddings this June and July. And happy birthday to my sister Meg whose birthday is today.

Take care,

Rob & Jake