Day Fifty-one: 7/14/08

*Please note i drafted this last night. I still have a relatively proper sense of time...

After a three day stop in Minneapolis PeterB and I have finished our second day in hilly and humid Wisconsin. We rode a little under 90 miles today, but it felt more like 120 miles. We haven't ridden such constantly rolling terrain since California, but the temperature and humidity in Wisconsin is far more severe. We're riding toward the Michigan Upper Peninsula, but are then breaking to the southwest to the western shore of Lake Michigan near Green Bay, where we're taking a ferry across the lake over to Michigan. The route we're taking isn't very direct, but we're pretty much at the mercy of the route maps that me have. We have, however, forged our own shortcuts from time to time, they have typically been for relatively short distances. There's nothing worse than concocting a shortcut, and having the road chosen be a terrible one – bad shoulder, lots of traffic, unnecessary climbing, etc.

The last 10 days or so have been kind of bizarre. We spent our Fourth of July holiday camped on the grounds of the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation Casino. The irony that was present on Independence Day on a reservation need not be further expounded upon, but it was weird nonetheless. PeterB and I attacked the casino buffet with a vengeance. I think we each went four rounds at the buffet. I almost vomited, yet I was hungry 30 minutes later. We missed the fireworks show though. We fell asleep before the show started.

The remainder of North Dakota was a bit trying. There were a few days of bad wind. That, coupled with my deteriorating mental state, (e.g. my rising level of meandering thought processes), made for some long days in saddle.

We made it to Fargo, North Dakota on a particularly hot afternoon. We rode into town parallel to some train tracks. Just as we were getting close to town we were chased down by a train and given a good number of horn shots. Unbeknownst to me, PeterB filmed the exchange. Check it out:


We made good time to Minneapolis, as all you loyal readers already know. We spent three days and four nights in the Cities. I spent that time doing mostly what I typically do with any down time these days: I ate. I slept. I also spent as much time as possible visiting friends. As a result I didn't do much else that would be a good idea such as clean and tune up my bike. I installed a new chain, but the bike remains really dirty – not that most people would think the lesser of me because I ride a dirty bike.

It was strange being back in the Cities. It felt like I still lived there and I acted accordingly, yet nothing could be further from the truth. I don't know when I'll be back there again. I guess it was best to act as though the visit was nothing out of the ordinary.

We're over 3100 miles into the ride, and we have less than 2000 miles to NYC. I start school in five weeks. It's a race to the East Coast at this point.....