Wel, I’m still rollin’. I’ve been riding the last few days with these three guys I met the other day at the city pool. Tim and Dave are from Grand Rapids, MI, and Mark is from San Diego – they (like most people I’ve met) are doing the entire Northern Tier route coast to coast, ending in Bar Harbor, Maine.
Yesterday, we had a great ride together – another killer tailwind which enabled us to ride an average of 22 miles per hour – we did 70 miles in just over three hours! We decided to end the day early at this great campground that had a pool, hot springs, cafe, and bar – the people who ran it were really nice. If you’re ever near Saco, MT, check out Sleeping Buffalo Campground. The one drawback is that the area is plagued with probably the worst mosquitos yet – still not quite as bad as what I expericenced in Wisdom, MT on the Trans-Am tour two years ago, but pretty nasty. I got off my bike the other night, felt something brush against my leg, and turned around to find about 9 mosquitoes on the back of my calf!
Unfortunately, we awoke this morning to find that the wind had shifted nearly 180 degrees, resulting in a long ride into a stong, hot, and dry headwind. When we were in the mountains, it was the terrain that was our fickle friend, aiding or hindering our journey with climbs and descents. Now, it is the prarie wind which has become master of our fate. Personally, I would gladly take one of the passes we climbed in Washington over a day of riding into the wind like today.
The good news is that Mark’s former roommate’s grandparents, Tom and Flora, live here in Glasgow, and they’re putting us up for the night. We had a delicious dinner, and now are pretty much just sitting around talking and enjoying not having to constantly be swatting at any exposed skin we have. The weather report has the wind shifting back to the west tomorrow, so here’s hoping for some more easy riding!