Overcast and a brisk 53° at 7:00 this morning, felt more like freezing with the wind chill.  Though the wind was only 10 mph, progress was slow, at best, with the wind in our face; it was going to be a long day.

So let’s have a story.

These here parts is antelope country, you know?! If that’s the case, why have we not seen any?  Well (a two-syllable word), we had a tough winter some time back and it killed most of ’em. Surprising, are they not native to this land (climate)?  Long story short, the snow was so bad (over 4 feet high) and the only clear spot was the railroad tracks, so the antelope gravitated there in search for food.  Not a pretty picture!

In the meantime, the sun was painting the clouds and fields with beautiful colors.  The forecast predicted the wind to pick up at ten, it did with a serious punch to the face…..the day was getting brutal.

We biked through beautiful countryside, but with heads down and doing our best to progress in the whipping wind, it was difficult to look around.The long straight rolling hill road offered little respite from the wind, but the overcast skies kept the temperatures at bay.  It sprinkled on us twice, the third time giving way to rain, but the wind was so strong it dried our shirts before the dampness set in.  We stopped at noon (at the only place to stop) for a reload….only 42 miles down and we were beat, but there was no place to stay here OR for the next 30 miles.  After our noon break and reload with sugar and caffeine we encountered trees for the first time all day. We hoped they would protect us from the constant onslaught of wind, but they did not last.  An hour later, we took a break from the wind and to try to encourage our bodies to continue.

Had it not been for the wind, we would have thoroughly enjoyed the scenery.We did our best to try to look at the silver lining of horsesand colorful vistas, kept green from the unusually wet spring they were having.

It was a beautiful day, but we were just struggling to move forward, so we didn’t have the energy to fully appreciate it.  We did manage a few more pictures we’ve posted below.  Made it into town about 4:30, but stopped at MacDonalds for a milkshake before dragging ourselves to the hotel, two miles Up the road.  Luckily, our hotel had a restaurant attached; 72 miles and over eight hours in the saddle, we didn’t even want to walk any more steps than necessary.

Fortunately,

At breakfast we listened to the farmers talking about “heying” as we watched the wind bending the trees….. Alrighty then!

As we pushed off at seven, into the wind in a cloudless 62° sky, we noticed the stormy clouds we were leaving behind. With the strong winds out of the east there was no chance of the western sky ever effecting us.  We settled into the saddle knowing we could not go any faster than one pedal stroke at a time.  Once again the rolling hills and pastures were beautiful and we were almost accepting the wind in our face as part of the ride (no choice, really).  Every now and then we would steal a glance back and then began taking pictures over the shoulder to keep tabs on the clouds that began to build and darken.  The morning was not without it’s whimsical moments, however, even as we battled the wind.  By 8:30 the storm at our backs had obscured the sun in front of us. Our pedaling took on a new sense of urgency as the storm behind us came closer and we prayed our shelter from the storm would show up soon.  Five miles sooner than the map showed, our cover (Nashua) appeared.  We had enough time to take a picture then dash inside.  Little did we know, this was a Great place to stop, even without a storm chasing us inside.  Meet Larry of Bergie’s. We enjoyed stories and locally grown and milled whole wheat toast (The Best) as we waited out the storm.  So Jerry asks, “How do you put up with the winters, here?”  Without a second’s thought, Larry responds, Oh, it’s not this hot in the winter!! , it was 66° outside.  As the thunder and lightening stopped and the clouds moved away, we regrettably pushed away from the comfort and smiling faces.  Though the storm moved ahead of us and washed the sky blueit gave new strength to the wind, that we continued to battle while dealing with the rolling hills.  Had an opportunity to take a country road, off the busy highway and jumped at the chance for some quiet and a chance to relax a bit. Unfortunately, these roads took “rolling” hills to a whole new height and in the now full strength of the sun it was taking it’s toll.Out of water and dried out, we cut back to the highway and luckily found a tiny gas station to rehydrate.  The rest of the day was a struggle just to make it to town without suffering heat stroke in the 100° temps; we were so ready to jump in with these cows to cool off. We hit the first/only gas station and downed a liter of water in two seconds.  Checked in and showered after our tough 54 mile day, we watched as the weather channel warned of a tornado just to our north.  Later that evening, someone checking into our hotel, showed us video of the double funnel tornado she had seen 15 miles north….Yikes!

Awoke to the sound of rain on the window, rolled over when we heard thunder.  Ten minutes later the sun was streaming through the window; we got up.

Sixty degrees felt cool this morning morning with the slight breeze out of the north.  We watched as the storm made it’s way east and we, thankfully, turned south, leaving the rain and railroad behind.

We rode a quite country road that we occasionally shared with a semi or double-wide.  The non-stop rolling hills were a gradual grade, the climbs long, but so were the drops.  It was the first time in days we could actually coast down a hill.Finally saw the Missouri Riverthat once dominated this part of the country.  Climbing up from the river, we looked back and noticed the storm had not quite gone away. To our west the ridge that looked like mountains was growing rapidly and heading our way.  We’ve decided Montana’s slogan needs to be “Big Stormy Sky Country”. For the third day in a row, the forecast was for a 10% chance of rain and it was the third time we were about to get rained on.  Would not want to be here for 50% chance of precipitation; it might snow!  But this storm was getting ugly fast.  Thoughts of yesterday’s tornado was very fresh in our minds (look at the top clouds).We wanted out of here, but all we had was our bikes, tired legs and now a decent wind at our backs.  Praise the Lord and that’s no joke, Amen.  The hills became a blur as we raced to try to put distance between behind us and the growing and thundering storm.We pedaled hard and focused on the clear sky ahead.And then it passed….. for good.Finally, we could sit back and enjoy the countryside that continued to yield miles and miles of farmland.Saw our fourth live Diamond Back Rattlesnake, this one by far the smallest.

We stopped for a refreshment break and possible dance, but they were closed.

The sun and clouds danced on the unplowed fields, changing every second; fabulous show, but tough to record with pictures.  With less than five hours of pedaling, we had completed our 55 mile ride; pedaled too hard.  Nothing like a good shot of whiskey, to ease the pain (we did wait until dinner).

Tomorrow we have 20 mph winds in our face (yes, they said in your face).  Time to rest.

Gas Stations…our go-to breakfast stop!

And if there is a table available, it is generously shared by the locals.  We learn about this year’s crop, the threat of the Great White Combine (hail) and the road between here and there.  Oh, you’ve got Rolling Hills until you get over the divide and then it flattens out. Wait… divide?  Never did get the local’s definition of divide, but sure it involves climbing.  Even with this wealth of information, we still started pedaling at 6:40 a.m. into a cloudy, cool (62°) morning.

We needed an early start; experience had taught us the winds usually don’t pick up until mid-morning.  They found us an hour later and were full blown by eight.  It took us over a half an hour to climb our first hill and this went on for 18 miles.  Gone was the coasting down; pedaling was required in this wind.  But the farmer was right, the road did level after the “divide”.

The day remained overcast, so the fields did not shine in the many colors of green we saw yesterday, but we relished the cooler temperatures.  We followed an old rail line, probably declined when the Hi-Line RR just to the north, became popular.  Scary to think that the trains could actually go over bridges with supports that looked like shipping pallets.Even though our road had flatten, there remained a ridge to our south that was too close for comfort.Stopped to chat with Tom from Wyoming, doing a month bike tour.  As we approached the west side of town, we saw acres of supplies for the gas and oil mining taking place in North Dakota.  It is also putting a squeeze on motels, even a hundred miles away, fortunately, we had a reservation.  As we stopped for a quick lunch the sun was starting to peek through the clouds, by the time we reached our hotel at two, the temps were starting to reach 80°, time to check-in.  Over 52 miles again today and we need time to recover.  Doing a short day tomorrow in lieu of a day off, so hopefully that will help.

Checked out of the hotel in the same temperatures we checked into yesterday, though the 78° seemed much warmer in the sun, must have been the warm smiles. A 20 mph west wind was predicted, but nothing was blowing as we pulled away at 9:00. Fine with us, as that meant the wind wasn’t in our face, either.

The first part of our ride was on the interstate, not nearly as bad as we had imagined.  We had a wide shoulder with little traffic and those that did pass were very courteous. After ten miles, our course directed us to the frontage road. The gradual rolling hills we had on the interstate became much more dramatic  as did the peaceful scenery. The sun had gotten hot, even our sweat was sweating as we climbed the country roads. Not exactly a relaxing day off, but we were enjoying the ever present farms and the changing topographyespecially knowing we didn’t have to pump out 50 miles.  Two hours later the breeze picked us up on an uphill climb.  Though it had not built to it’s full strength, it was an always appreciated tailwind.  Our last stretch was on the interstate for a six mile coast into town.  Too early to check in, so went for lunch; tried this restaurant for sentimental reasons……nice find with a half pound mushroom cheeseburger and a small side of potato salad….. and this is only lunch!  As we waddled away, had to stop for lemonade.

Meet Rooster Cogburn.

This is where you scroll down if you don’t like long, happy ending stories about dogs.  Rooster was one of twelve born in Santa Cruz, CA, to two hitchhikers.  Before he was six months old, he, his siblings and his (irresponsible) parents had walked over the mountains to Vegas.  Fortunately, he and his family were picked up by a young lady that drove them to Colorado.  As a gift for driver’s generosity, Rooster was given to her and now had a real home.  Later, when the college student volunteered to go to Africa on a mission, she interviewed applicants (required to write an essay) to adopt this puppy.  We were luckily enough to stay at the motel of Rooster’s mom, who adopted him on sight…..how could you not?!

We are staying in Wibaux (Wee-baa) for one of two reason; to take a short day and most importantly because of a brewery that people for the last 100 miles have  been telling us about.  What a great find this place is, even if we did have to bike three quarters of a mile from our hotel to get here.Great beer (from what I’m told), fabulous wine, incredible staff,fabulous foodand top notch live music on Friday and Saturday nights.  If we didn’t already have reservations in the next town, we would probably stay another night…..at least we had tonight!!

Out at 6:30; even though this is a short day, we wanted to beat the heat.  Not a lot to tell about our ride along the interstate. Vast fields of endless green morphed into a strange topography of green bumps;the green bumps growing rocks.Even on the interstate, we had nice low grade rolling hills. The vistas were very interesting and shockingly different than what we’ve seen the last monthother than the roadside flowers and shrubs.

Somewhere in our 37 miles, we crossed the North Dakota state line.Our reprieve from the interstate did not come until we headed into our destination. Medora is a quaint, albeit hooky, cowboy town. Actually they have done a great job to restore old buildings and construct new ones with a definite old west town feel.

Pulled into our bed for the night; a bit disconcerting to check-in to a hotel called Bad Lands, must be because of all the Harley Davidson riders that are staying here this weekend….we will look for Justin and David at dinner.

It was a one mile climb out of the valley that nestled our little cowboy town.  And so it goes for our ride today, non-stop rolling hills.  Clouds remained from the overnight thunder/rain storm, the dampness and overcast keeping it cool at 58°.  We had a mild wind in our face that we hoped would not become a problem.  In less than an hour, the sun started to clear the sky and light the land. Still amazed with the contrast in the Bad Lands; hills that look like every ounce of liquid has been drained out of them, topped with lush pines. Oh, how we miss the pine filled forest and smells of the mountains.  But the Painted Canyon below our road and these hills were fascinating.  Almost immediately as we dropped from the crest of our 2800 foot hill, the fields flattened outnot our roads, however.

Half way through our ride we stopped for breakfast, pancakes bursting with blueberries and thick sliced bacon (Montana and North Dakota do good bacon).  As we walked out of the restaurant a cold wind almost knocked us over.  Our nice break over cakes and coffee gave the wind time to build to the forecasted 20 mph in our face.

Rolling hills and a stiff headwind were a tough combination.  Just as the topography changed, so did our sky.  To our south and in front of us, the sky was a beautiful blue, but to the north, the storm that had kept it’s distance, started moving in.A beautiful combination but we were in no condition to try to outrun a storm.  We tried to not worry about the dark clouds and take in the sights.Fortunately, the front of the storm appeared to move ahead and pass us, thankfully unscathed.

As we reached the edge of town, stopping to check what direction to go for our hotel, we met Dave (originally from Wisconsin, but now in Dickinson). We chatted for a long time about our common interests, biking and volleyball; shame we didn’t meet him over a beer, it would have been a longer conversation.  Another quick stop at the grocery store and Jerry discusses farming and politics with another local.He informed us we had just missed a gully washer; guess we really lucked out on that storm.  By the time we checked into our hotel around two, the temperature had not reached seventy.  Heading in for a hot shower and a rest from our long, hard, uphill, wind-your-face 40 mile day.