{"id":10077,"date":"2013-07-25T21:00:56","date_gmt":"2013-07-26T01:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=10077"},"modified":"2013-07-28T08:36:01","modified_gmt":"2013-07-28T12:36:01","slug":"day-35-thursday-july-25-gackle-to-enderlin-north-dakota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=10077","title":{"rendered":"Day 35. Thursday, July 25 – Gackle to Enderlin, North Dakota"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our early start for our long ride this morning was put on hold with the crackle of thunder and the rain pelting on the window. \u00a0So we had a cup of cappuccino and blueberry muffin and slowly packed our bags. \u00a0When we finally walked out of the door at seven, we were surprised how warm the humid 60\u00b0 felt. \u00a0The storm, \"\"<\/a>still very present but no lightening\/thunder, was pushing a lot of wind. \"\"<\/a> We enjoyed riding it’s coattails as we sailed down the road. \u00a0The recent storm and overcast skies seemed to bring out the animals. \u00a0We watched ducks skipping on the ponds, deer enjoying the cornfields and chipmunks scurrying for cover as we passed. \u00a0And the storm presented an ever changing IMax show,\"\"<\/a> with special effects, like rain! \"\"<\/a> We knew it was going to hit us, we just didn’t know for how long or just how bad. \u00a0\"\"<\/a>Even the ten minute downpour that finally caught us was tolerable; amazing what a 15 mph tailwind will do to your perspective; \"\"<\/a>wind AND the flattest roads \"\"<\/a>we’ve seen in 35 days. \u00a0It was a glorious day to ride.\"\"<\/a>Besides the sky show, we had our regular set of characters like pretty barns,\"\"<\/a> reflective ponds \"\"<\/a>and endless fields.\"\"<\/a>We crossed the James River today,\"\"<\/a> and since we knew no one would believe us, we had to take a picture of the sign.\"\"<\/a>Sometime mid-morning we met Mike,\"\"<\/a> Georgie (his wife and sag-wagon driver)\"\"<\/a> and Quincy (guide dog in-training)\"\"<\/a>from Asheville, NC riding for several causes<\/a>. \u00a0The “boys” were excited to find two 70 year OLD men biking across country. \u00a0It was a shame the three of them were heading in the other direction as it would have been fun to share more time together. \u00a0Before noon, our skies became crystal clear \"\"<\/a>accented by the billowy white clouds.\"\"<\/a>Fifteen miles before town we had a wonderful fly-down into Little Yellowstone Park,\"\"<\/a> but of course, had to climb back out. \u00a0But that hill (1500 foot elevation) and the two hills first thing in the morning was all we had to tackle today. \u00a0Even with our later start, we managed to check in by 2:30, five and a half hours in the saddle and 77.5 miles, which includes our mile and a half roundtrip to dinner. \u00a0Justin, you would be proud, we had three plates of Thai food….yum, yum!\n\t\t