The end draws near

The first of our passes in Washington states. We thought the Rockies would be hard, and it turned out they were no big deal. The Cascades, on the other hand, were the real challenge. The high on this day was 104. Two days later brought a 25- mile uphill.



Washinton state! One state left...



Along the Going to the sun highway, nearing the top of the Rockies (for us)




Glacier National park and the Rockies. It was a windy, beautiful, awe-inspiring ride along the Going-to-the-sun highway up to Logan Pass.



The cutest stuffed racoon at an exquisite wildlife museum in Chinook, Montana

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One of the coolest stops. We met a guy from the Belknap Indian Reservation, and he brought us to the reservations' office. There we spoke with him for a long time and then received a blessing in the tribe's native language.


The best game ever! Dan tied a string to a plastic bag and then people tried to throw rocks in. I guess that's what you do in the middle of nowhere...Also, you can see that the bag is straight out in the air. We had a killer wind that day, and were slogging along at 9mph. When we pulled into the lunchstop, dan pointed to the bag and said "well, I'd say we've got a West wind".

A months in pictures- Journaling hasn't been hapening too much, so here's a photo essay instead

A killer storm, with hail included, approaches. The double rainbow afterwards was gorgeous.



Anson and Zach show off their purple in New Town, North Dakota. New Town is a primarily Native American town on an Indian reservation. According to residents, most jobs come from the reservation, local small businesses or agriculture. Recently, oil discoveries have brought an influx of cash. The jobs, though, are going to outsiders with the necessary training.




Me and the Norwegian troll in Minoy, North Dakota. There's the beautiful cast!





A typical view in North Dakota. Typical directions in North Dakota: Get on Highway 2. Ride 95 miles. Get off Highway 2. Highway 2 was our best buddy






The gals at "prom".







The boys at prom.





The geograhical center of the world: Rugby, North Dakota. Unless theres a physical geography major on the other team, it could be the perfect trivia question some day.

It's also the scene of the crime. I fell 24 miles away, and I've been wearing a beautiful splint/cast ever since.





Heading out of Duluth with a gorgeous view of the town



Our build site in Duluth, Minnesota. My favorite site because there was plenty of work, and I got to paint window sills and clean, both of which I'm better at than shoveling dirt (especially with one working hand)!



Derek and his cheeseburger, just a few miles down the road from lunch. The boy carries a veritable buffet in his front pouch (for those moments when an A&W burger can't be found).






A bustling metropolis as we head towards the not too densely populated part of the U.S. Pretty soon it was fields of wheat as far as the eye could see an not a house in sight for 45 miles. A scary thing when our van broke down and we were lunchless! Luckily gas stations exist even in the middle of nowhere.





Splatted between Wisconsin and Minnesota. Can you tell where the state line is? To states like Wisconsin that pave their roads: Thank you! To states like Minnesota that struggle a bit: What's up with that?






Flood waters in Wisconsin. Wading through shin-deep water with a bike= fun. Having your home ruined by "500-year" floods twice in one year, not so much.








What an awesome state... good cheese, friendly people, rolling hills and nice scenery. What could be better?






Birthday banana split. Biggest and tastiest!









A merry-go-round Museum in Sandusky, Ohio

Pictures!

My finger, pre-fixing. cool, huh? And yup, that's a new joint. I was trying to hold it straight.

Isaiah’s farm, headwinds, the ER, prom, and “why not Minot”

On Monday, we rose at 4:15 for our longest scheduled ride, 116 miles into Devils Lake, North Dakota. We left as the sun rose, and had put in 60 miles by 9am. John Pribik and I were sweeping, so we brought up the rear. Our first duty of the day: hanging out with Dae as he changed his tire. Then we pace-lined at 22/23 mph, the hardest riding of the day, to catch up with the group. We saw the van ahead and pulled up. Quang was down again, and it was the trip’s worst fall. He looked pretty shaken up. As John said, “I just got used to seeing him without bandages!”. He refused painkillers and got back on his bicycle.

At our second lunch, the vast North Dakota sky began to darken. We got a call from Sean ahead, saying that rain, hail and swirling winds awaited us. We chose to wait it out at the gas station, and later learned that several riders rode through the storm, lightening and all. Kathy couched under a hay bail to escape the gusts of wind that were blowing her off the road.

When the skies cleared, we emerged from our hideout to complete the ride. Wonder of wonders, we had an East wind that blew us 36 miles into Devil’s Lake at 24 mph. We arrived by 3pm, ready for our North Dakota farm experience.

Isaiah’s farm sits 26 miles North of Devil’s Lake in a tiny town called Starkweather. We had tractor rides by the golden wheat and sunflower fields and then rode horses after a tasty dinner.

In the morning, full of caramel rolls and scones, we returned by schoolbus to Devil’s Lake and set out for our “easy” day. Only 58 miles to Rugby, the geographical center of North America. Ten miles into the ride, I decided it was the hardest day we’ve had. The famous North Dakota prairie wind was blowing so hard that we couldn’t get past 11mph. After 20 miles, I felt more tired than I had at the end of 120 miles the day before. For the first time I found myself musing about ways to get out of the ride.

Four miles away from lunch, I heard Kate call out “slowing”. I saw her tire in front of mine, and I pulled on my brakes. Next, my tire was skidding along hers and then my bike was on it side, pressing on me as I slid along the pavement. I was surprised and mad for a second as I realized what was happening. I gathered myself, tears of shock sliding down my cheeks, and got out of the road. Quang, riding behind me, was down too, but he seemed okay. Nothing hurt too much, but I knew right away that there was something wrong with my finger. As soon as the shock cleared, I could begin to appreciate the funny angle of it. It went straight out at the base and curled, looking rather like a hook.

We thought it was dislocated, and I was hoping somebody could put it back in so I could keep riding. Unfortunately, we had to call the ambulance, and they determined that it needed an x-ray. So I became the first person in 2300 miles to ride in the van and not finish a ride. An unexpected and unwelcome distinction.

The Emergency Room staff were efficient and friendly: after a few minutes, I was in with the doctor. The tech brought out my x-rays and put them up. “Oo” they said, notifying me with their tone that it was broken instead of dislocated. From the room, I said “shit,” without thinking. They turned around, a little shocked.

With some lydocain, the doctor straightened out my finger and then splinted it with a hard cast that extends halfway to my elbow. The pain was minimal, and didn’t get much worse.

I made it to the high school, and then headed out to make up part of the mileage I missed. I put in 24 miles, half of it with a glorious tailwind. I was back in time for our “prom”, held outside the high school gym. Lots of fun; Isaiah was my prom date, and I wore a fabulous thrift store dress. Costumes were excellent, and some couples coordinated beautifully. Good fun was had by all, and plenty of laughter accompanied the festivities.

Now we are in Minot, North Dakota and we have a day off. Woohoo!

The harder part

What I am finding most challenging about this trip is not the physical exertion. If you want, you can ride slowly enough that it is about as difficult as walking. The tough part is doing it every day. The tarmac looks pretty similar in Ohio and Wisconsin, and it is hard when you go 55 miles on one road. Some people start to fall asleep; I make 10-mile goals and try not to think about the tens of miles that remain.

Our overnight stays break up the monotony of riding eight hours a day, but there is usually the knowledge, lurking in the back of my mind, that it all begins again a few hours later. But not yesterday… we have a build day today, which means more sleep, a change of pace, and most importantly, no bicycle saddle. My butt appreciates it, and so does my mind.

Scavenging and St. Paul

After Gays Mills, we rode to Lacrosse (60 miles), and then on to Pepin, a lovely town by the harbor (70 miles). The church in Pepin greeted us with open arms and delicious food. I was over the moon when I saw a Laura Ingalls Wilder museum on the way into Pepin. Laura, the hero of the Little House on the Prairie series, is just the kind of spirited, adventurous girl that I love. My dad read each of the books to me when I was small, and I looked forward to Laura’s tale each night. The museum in Laura’s birthplace was closed, but I did get a picture of the big wooden cut-out Laura, and the map that details her travels around Pepin. Down at the harbor, I watched the sun set in vivid tones of red and blue over the flat-top mountains behind the sparkling water. The yachts of rich city folk lined up next to me.

In the morning, we set out for St. Paul. To make the ride more fun, Christopher set up a scavenger hunt. I helped with some of the clues, and we had to take pictures of each item during the day. A few favorites: an ice cream scoop, a person in a uniform (3 points if it’s a policeman), a rider’s name on a gravestone (4 points if it’s their full name), and a dead frog. My excellent team included Quang, Derek and Sean, and we amused ourselves throughout the day. We stopped at an antique store in one small town and dashed about looking for items. It broke up the ride and provided many opportunities for laughter. The gorgeous road along the banks of the Mississippi contributed to the day’s fun.

In St. Paul, I got to have dinner with my cousin Hanna, who I hadn’t seen in several years, and her boyfriend. That night, Kim and I stayed with the Pastor and his wife. The Pastor drove us through the downtowns of St. Paul and Minneapolis, narrating the shiny buildings and large green spaces as we went by. Minneapolis has just put in a light rail system that is the spitting image of the one in Strasbourg, France. Both cities have beautiful downtowns, and a number of lakes within their city limits.

The night after St. Paul we spent in the tiny town of Hinckley (an 80- mile day), and last night we arrived in Duluth. It has real appeal to it; a charming waterfront, a gritty feel and lovely air. It’s 20 degrees cooler here, thanks to the waters of Lake Superior. It’s a pleasure to feel chilly for the first time in many days. This morning, I am sitting next to the Synagogue where we are staying. There is a light breeze, there are goose bumps on my arms, and the sun is shining. The synagogue is lovely, and it’s great to be in a new kind of worship environment. This temple serves most of Northern Minnesota, because the population of Jews has declined dramatically over the last few decades. The temple was a reformed temple that merged with a conservative one thirty years ago. As more temples have closed, this one has assumed an ever larger area. The congregation totals around 350, and the president showed us the beautiful parchment torahs last night. We ate extremely well.

Biking, biking and more biking

Our longest ride- 120 miles into Gays Mills, Wisconsin. It was a long, hard, beautiful day. We started at 7:30 am, and rode nearly 50 miles to our first lunch. Lunch is usually around mile 35, but we added an impressively long detour in the first hour by taking a wrong turn. All of a sudden, we saw the riders ahead of us turning back and realized that we were lost in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin. Not where we wanted to be on such a long day.

After first lunch, we rode another 50 miles into our second lunch. The sun came out, and it was hot. The terrain included a number of hills, some of them quite steep. By 100 miles, my whole body was tired, and I leaned against the shady side of the trailer as I inhaled calories. I perked up for the last 20 miles, and made it in by 7:00 pm.

It was the landscape that made the day beautiful. Green hills, flowers along the way, cow farms and red barns dot the horizon. There were few cars and the roads were well-paved. As we neared the end, there were stunning views out over apple orchards and valleys. The strong blue of the Wisconsin sky lit up as the sun began to set.

The town of Gays Mills has seen disastrous flooding over the past few months. Waters reached several inches into ground floors, and many basements were completely flooded with water and sewage. The kitchens of our church had been destroyed, so the pastor invited us into her home. Like many of the pastors, she’s a woman, and she was especially happy to have us. She has been posted to Gays Mills for seven years, and the 598-person town might be a bit stifling.