it was very gray & raining outside when we went downstairs to the casino’s dakotah breakfast room at 7 or so. we were scheduled to eat around 7:30, get snacks at the trailer at 8, & leave by 8:30. the surly weather changed those plans. with only 50 mi to ride, we could afford to wait out the wet weather.
by about 9, the rains had stopped falling, so riders began to leave. i imagine joann & i cleared out around 9:30. this was the view from the casino as i rode down the drive to our lakeside road. the sunshine peeking thru the clouds lit up a patch of water & shown in rays down onto the lake.
the road surface was wet, & the shoulders often littered with tire fragments & glass. that combination often spells tire troubles, & by 8 mi, my front tire was flat. joann & i had seen denise & patty in the van back 2-3 miles where they were staving off some dogs that were very threatening; the dogs … in a pack of 5 … had already terrorized one of our riders. i called denise, knowing there was a good bike bump in the van. she had already gotten a call from a rider further back who had had a flat or 2 this morning, but she’d be up my way after picking her up.
joann & i started working on my tire … keeping our eyes on a german shepherd that roamed nearby. when denise & patty arrived shortly thereafter, they made quick work out of completing the flat-fixing job.
traffic this morning was a whole different ballgame than yesterday. beginning at 12 mi into the route, once we turned onto hwy 281 south, where there was hardly any shoulder, truck traffic was pretty heavy. you had to keep your eye on your rearview mirrow at all times … & we got off our bikes & off to the right of the shoulder a time or 2 when 2 trucks passed each other beside us. there’s only so much room on a 2-lane road!
we finally got to the 1st sag stop at 20 mi. there was carol, as always one to lift our spirits. if this outfit … & the bouquet stuck in the end of a roll of toilet paper … wouldn’t do the job, what would?
carol also pointed out to us the fancy, silver, dome-topped potty stops she had carefully selected for us.
at this point, it was getting warm, & due to the flat tire, joann & i were way back in the pack. & we didn’t like riding on a narrow road with no shoulder & lots of trucks. so we put ourselves into & our bikes on top of the subaru (with carol’s help), & got “bumped up” to the next sag stop at mile 40. there we took our bikes down & rode the remaining 10 mi into carrington.
carrington, ND, is a town of about 2000. once we got our stuff into our room, i took off walking … to an ATM, & to the post office downtown, which is maybe 6-8 blocks from our motel here on the highway. on my way back, i stopped at the supervalu across the highway & bot a container of cut-up fresh fruit & a 12-oz container of dry cottage cheese for a lunch snack. this vehicle was coming down the road as i started to cross the street. it’s a good indication of the dominance of agriculture in the area when you see a giant piece of farm equipment like that going down a main street of town.
tomorrow’s route … 91 mi … takes us to mayville. denise says we’ll have pretty much no shoulder most of the way. gloria, joann & i have already planned with denise & patty to get onto the van in cooperstown at about mile 48 for the rest of the ride into mayville. maybe we’ll have time for some rummikub once we get there.
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