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.

A few photos from Vermont

My posts from Vermont are not yet up, but here are a few photos from Rochester, Vermont.

If you'd like to send anything...

Here's how to do it!

Bike & Build
Attn: Katrina Roi
General Delivery
STREET ADDRESS (if noted)
CITY, ST ZIP Please mark the envelope or package with "Please hold for pick-up on DATE."

7/24
2800 W Michigan ST
Duluth, MN 55806-1742

7/31
117 5th Ave SW
Minot, ND 58701-9998

8/7
91 3rd St
Chinook, MT 59523

8/14
518 Main Ave
Libby, MT 59923-1876

Assorted notes on the unexpected, noteworthy or nonessential

Some things I've noticed so far that I didn't necessarily expect:
1. Along the road, we have seen a number of big cars for sale. We saw one hummer, a minivan and lots of SUV's. High gas prices taking their toll, perhaps? It certainly goes along with the lower SUV sales and the rising bike sales across the country.

2. Through Wisconsin, all of the flood damage to crops has been surprising. We pass a lot of drowned fields, and we had to ford part of the road yesterday. I splashed through water up to my knees, carrying my bike on my shoulder to get to dry road.

3. There are so many funeral homes! Of course people die everywhere, but I am surprised by just how many of them there are...

4. Hairdressers really like puns and pop culture references. Just about every town has an agonizingly bad sign for a hair salon. My favorite so far was "Scissorhands hairdressing". I certainly wouldn't want them coming near me with sharp objects.

5. Some states need to spend more money on their roads. My unscientific study suggests that Ohio REALLY needs to appropriate some more funds. Wisconsin is doing a pretty good job, but Illinois needs some work. Well done Vermont and New York.

Cool cool Madison

Our evening in Janesville couldn't have been nicer. We got invited to a home, where they served us tasty chicken, fresh salads and wine. We sat under shady trees and enjoyed the light breeze. None of us wanted to leave and we stayed for hours, chatting away.

In the hot and muggy morning, we hopped into the saddle and set off for Madison. Another short ride- 43 miles, and another slow one for me. After lunch, I watched my average speed drop from 16.8 to 15.0 as the wind picked up and the heat drained my energy.

I perked up as we rode into Madison, replete with funky shops, a down-to-earth vibe and lots of coffee shops. It's not fussy or pretentious, and it has a Midwestern feel to it. The houses are fun, decorated with bright, jungly gardens and stained glass. It's biker-friendly and well-established with a vibrancy that suggests a growing place. I walked downtown with Sharon and Sean once the sun went down. We missed the concert in the park, but we saw the main streets and some people got drinks at a restaurant. On the way home, we walked down to the river, sparkling in the moonlight.

Woohoo Wisconsin; pop and awesome farmer dudes

Yesterday, we biked 44 miles from Chicago to Grayslake, Illinois. The most exciting thing in Grayslake are the two pubs. Kind of a downer after Chicago. But there was an awesome couch to sleep on and "Sneaky Pete's snack shop" with a mean grilled chicken around the corner. So it wasn't half bad.

In the morning, we rode the 69 miles to Janesville, Wisconsin, population 60,000. I moseyed along for the last 30 miles, feeling the heat and enjoying my meandering. I stopped at a meat store and had a can of pop, read the Walworth County newspaper and perused the oxtail, livers, hearts etc. on display. People have great accents, and it finally feels a little different to what I know. Who knew the Northern United States was so homogeneous? Not me.

The best part of the day another stop a few miles down the road. I was sprawled on some grass under a tree when this old man hobbled over. I thought he might to ask me to get off his property, but instead, he said "Do you get good mileage on that thing?" and invited me in for a glass of icewater. He talked to me (and it was mostly him talking because he doesn't hear very well) for a half hour, until I needed to go.

He showed me the airstrip he is building in his backyard, the treadmill he just bought ("I walk a half mile on it every day!"), the stand-alone jacuzzi his daughter gave him, and his collection of antique stoves. One of the stoves is 125 years old, and it's been fully restored, ceramic tiles and all. He showed me the 1/4 size salesman models he has, his collection of stove finials and catalogues from the late 1800's.

He flew planes in WWII, which started when he was only 18, and he went to Carleton College on the GI bill. He was accepted at medical school, but then he didn't want to to anymore after the war. He ended up returning to the 220-acre family farm. His favorite class at college was a music appreciation course that was vastly different to all of the science classes he was taking. When he would listen to the radio with his kids, he would identify the composer and describe the themes of pieces of music they heard. He said his kids were way impressed by their farmer dad.

His cat, Wilbur, is his companion now because his wife died two years ago. He also had this drastic operation a couple of years ago for prostate cancer , and he said that he doesn't socialize too much anymore because of it. He has this wonderful outlook on life, and a joyful way of talking. He kept telling me that there is so much to discover in life and how much fun he has working on his projects. On the way out he showed me pictures of all of his family members. So much of the time it's hard to meet people because we are in a big group or too tired to talk. Which made this all the more special.

Big city buzz

On Sunday, we had our first day off. It was glorious. When we arrived Saturday evening after our 115-mile ride, I was exhausted but excited to be in a city. Chicago was the biggest, most exciting thing we had seen in 1300 miles. Diana Jih, a friend from Dartmouth who is working at local foods organizations in Chicago this summer, joined us. We took the El downtown and saw Millenium Park, “the Bean”, and had a beer at RockBottom Brewery. That night, I biked with Diana back to her apartment, somewhere near half awake. I gritted my teeth and limped along behind Diana for the 3-mile ride. Sitting on the saddle never hurt so much, and I laughed at the irony of 3 miles bothering me way more than 115.

Diana’s apartment is decorated a la Frank Lloyd Wright, and it’s got stained glass, oriental carpets and dark wood. The kitchen has an old aga, and there are New Yorkers dotted around. In the morning, we sat on the veranda and ate Boston brown bread with carrot ginger marmalade that Diana had made. The wind was blowing, and I had to run after pieces of the Chicago Times.

In the afternoon, I met up with Sarah, the Iraqi student who will be starting at Dartmouth this fall. It felt oddly normal to see her in Chicago, although it was a far cry from the last time we met in Damascus. I noticed my tank top and skirt, the way I stretched out on the grass in Wicker Park and the blond families pushing their kids in strollers.

Sarah had questions about Dartmouth, and she talked about her first impressions of the United States. She has been here for two months now, and she noted the lack of safety net here. In Iraq, before the war, she said, you could get by even if you didn’t work hard or even if you didn't work. You might not be able to afford luxuries, but you would have access to electricity, water and heat. Here, everything costs money and it isn't easy to make it. Her mom, trained as an engineer, just got a part-time job as a cashier at Target, but she has a hard time being on her feet for so many hours. As the day cooled off, we walked around the area, bought pastries at a Mexican bakery, and hopped on the bus back home.

In the evening, Quang and I biked to a Chinese restaurant and had bubble tea and ‘vegetarian fun rolls'. Several of the riders regaled us with stories of their sky-diving exploits that morning. For some, it was the experience of a lifetime, while others were not too fazed. I can't wait to try it sometime.

Michigan!

82 miles, 15.9 mph
Today we finally left Ohio and made it to Michigan! We are staying in the small town of Camden. A welcome sign, designed by the art teacher next door reads "Welcome Bike and Build". Underneath, it says "Welcome to the middle of nowhere" in German. That's about right. We emerged from the corn fields into this small town after miles and miles of nothing.

The day was MUCH better than yesterday, and most of the way was fun and enjoyable. We started off with a great breakfast and biked our first 24 miles. An impromtu trip to Walmart yielded neither the chapstick or Camelback cleaner that Eric and I were looking for. We did, however, obtain two bibles from a member of Gideon International. We were mistaken for a couple and assured that our lives would improve if we found God.

Day after my birthday

Today: 95 miles, average speed: 12 mph.

Today was the most challenging day so far, and I wasn't too impressed with myself. The day started off early. At 5:40 the alarm buzzed, I dragged my body unwillingly out of the bed I was sharing with Michelle and pulled on my spandex, sweaty jersey and cycling shoes. Michelle and I were staying with an elderly woman just down the street from the amazing church that hosted us in Avon Lake, Ohio. We arrived at the church by 6:00, in time for a lavish breakfast. Dan, one of our leaders, assured me that my wheel was fine, despite its wobble (courtesy of the VERY potholed street we rode into Cleveland).

We set off a few minutes later, and the 95-mile day began. About 11 hours later we arrived. Uck. The directions were pretty simple; basically we got on route 6 and never got off. The shoulder varied from a couple of feet to a few inches, and the quality of the pavement varied with the counties we passed through. There was a certain consistency to most of the terrain. Corn fields. Corn fields. More corn fields. A soybean fiel. More corn fields. It was all quite beautiful, but by mile 55 or so I was not feeling so good and I wasn't appreciating the scenery very much.
Earlier on we had a delicious lunch (at mile 40) and were regaled by some great van-top dancing on the part of Dan. At mile 45, we stopped at the Carousel Museum of Sandusky, Ohio. It was a blast- we saw carousel rabbits and boars and ostrichs, each more wonderfully carved than the last.

At that 55- mile mark, I started to think about the next time that I could convince my companions to take a snack break. We stopped at a light, and I was feeling a bit light-headed. My fellow riders noticed I was looking flushed, and kindly suggested that we stop at a gas station. One of the other riders, Joy, pulled in behind us and was happy to take a break to. She was having a rough day, dealing with a bad head cold.

We spent the next hour or so at the gas station. I ate and drank all of the salty/sweet foods I could- chocolate milk, awesome orange/cream slushie, chex mix, banana, twizzlers. I knew I wasn't dehydrated and I wasn't hungry. So it was probably the salts I was missing. A few minutes after downing the food, I started to feel more alert and more like myself. The other riders were great, and two stayed with me until I was ready to go. We took the rest of the ride slow, pushing against a decent head wind and made the last 30 miles in. It wasn't fun for a lot of it, I didn't feel strong, and I was not impressed with my performance. We were the last to arrive, around 6:30pm. My legs didn't feel that bad, but I was beat.

Luckily, the church greeted us warmly and we got showers right away. We had a fun discussion with Pastor Steve and the generous members of his congregation who cooked for us. Plan for tomorrow: drink gatorade.

Photos: Me under a tarp on our first rainy day. It was cold and wet, and it was hard to see with the water pouring into my eyes. And the wonderful women on the way to Boonville, NY who donated donuts to all of us.