Day 37: The North Wind Doth Blow

Hope, ND to Cooperstown, ND

Stats!
Miles biked today: 30.1
Total miles biked on trip so far: 1448.7
Max speed: 32.5
# of other cross-country bike tourists we met: 3

First things first, we took no pictures today, so I'm decorating today's post with old pictures from other days that we didn't use, for one reason or another.

Today was a tough day for biking. Somehow we managed to avoid the rain all last night, and the tent was still pretty dry when we packed it up. Right after we hit the road, the rain started. Winds were coming out of the northeast at 20-30 mph, meaning that heading southwest would be optimal. We spent 10 miles heading north and 20 going west, but the 10 north took longer. While it was mostly flat, and we can beat 20 mph on a flat surface with the wind on our side, we spend the 10 miles heading north doing 4.5 - 6 mph, and every push felt just as hard as a steep hill. The wind was brutal and bitterly cold. My toes went numb and my ears were really hurting from the wind whipping and the rain.

We were very grateful to finally reach Cooperstown. After the 20 miles mostly west, when we weren't going too much against the wind, Dean suggested going another 30 to Pekin despite the rain. However, we would have to turn north right outside of Cooperstown, and when I saw that on the map, we were both really happy to just stop here. However, tomorrow rain and 30 mph winds from the north are predicted again. We might take a rest day, or we might just deal with it, even though 30 miles could take us over 6 hours on a bad wind day. We're going to just make the call tomorrow.

When we went to dinner tonight, we were approached by a couple in windbreakers who asked, "So are you crazy cyclists, too?" We are, indeed, as you know. They were west-east cross-country cyclists (Bruce and Dana). In the booth behind us, also in a windbreaker, was Mike, another west-east cyclist. They were all doing Northern Tier, too. They had some great stories, and all gave us their blog addresses, but when I tried to go to their blogs, neither address worked, or else I would post it here. And, for future reference, the giveaway that someone is a bicycle tourist is windbreakers. :)

They helped alleviate our fears about the Rockies, but apparently the Cascades are pretty tough. Most of the Rockies are no worse than a 5% grade, and we did worse than that today at a river break. Fingers crossed that we can cross the Rockies okay.

Aaaanyway, that's about all from today. We're hoping for warm temperatures and still winds tomorrow, despite what the weatherman says. I tried to post yesterday's video again, but got more errors. I think it may just be too large to post. Ok, rest time!