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!