7-4-10 Day 29: Crookston, Minnesota to Larimore, ND: 57miles in 5:10 hours. Rt 2 west the whole day (actually got on wrong west trending road in Grand Fork for about 8 miles and then back to Rt 2).
What a difference from yesterday – at least with respect to the heat and humidity. I was just completely spent from yesterday, and opted to get more of a leisurely start today by grabbing another hour of sleep this morning. Still managed to get up at 6 AM to ready for today. Now my gameplan was to go for a mellow ride to Grand Fork, ND, but the more I thought about the more I kind of wanted to go further. So I decided that if the wind was bad, I’d just go for Larimore, at either the camping area at the dam, or at an efficiency if one existed; or if it the wind was not too bad, then I’d shoot for Lakota which is about an 85 mile ride from Crookston.
Snagged a couple of doughnuts and a coffee and was on the road at 7:30 AM. The morning was overcast and looked like rain what with a cold front that had come through last night, bringing with it just a bit of rain. Just didn’t want to sit there and wait to see what happened so I went out on the bike and hoped that the forecast would come to fruition with a good day ahead.
Right from the get-go this was going to be tough. Today, just wind, and wind from the northwest at up to 20 mph. No 14 mph today, no 13, no 12. Nope, this is what the plains is known for – a nasty westerly. Yup, it was just blowing and gusting up a storm. Temp – great at about 62 with low humidity. Yesterday in contrast, the day ended at 92 degrees with 74% humidity. No wonder I was just toast!
Today the goal was to just get used to dealing with the wind on an all day basis. It will likely be my constant companion for nearly 500-700 miles to the west. Just cannot fight this kind of a wind. I put it in a comfortable gear and just spun, at 9-11 mph. And with that kind of headwind and cross headwind, there’s just no use in mashing through it for hours on end. It’s impossible to do that. You have to pace yourself with this, and I thought it important to kind of take breaks every couple of hours to break up the monotony of headwind riding.
Now I still had these grandioise visions of making Lakota if I could endure the wind for ………7-8 hours. But anyway, the day was beautiful and I just enjoyed the fact that I could ride without crumbling in the heat for a second day. Just had to get the right mindset and ride into the wind. I had noticed something way back in Ohio while riding through the farmland, and that was when I was riding into a headwind or cross headwind with tree cover on the sides of the road, it was about 25-40% easier. But take away those trees and it’s totally GAME ON with the wind. Well, today was GAME ON with the wind. Hardly anywhere where I could get a break. I was so noticeable that just going past a farm lined with trees, I could see my speed increase about 1.5 mph. Then get back out into the open – WHAM, blasted again by the wind.
This is such a mental challenge that I had to just shake my head at times as the wind buffeted me on the berm. And speaking of berm, well, the awesome berm in Minnesota went to hell here in ND. It’s wide all right, but the condition is pretty gnarly in spots. Not smooth, and riddled with cracks and loose gravel, it’s a challenge to loose even more speed what with a crappy road surface. Thanks God I have 35 C tires or I’d be freaking a bit with crap berm and gravel. At times, when the road really got crap, I just went out on the side of the lane and rode – here it’s double lane which is separated on both sides. I made East Grand Fork, MN, and then crossed the Red River and rode into ND, and Grand Fork. Made it in just over 2 hours. This is a great, beautiful city, and I really kind of wanted to just bag it there, but it was about 9:30 AM, and I just couldn’t see stopping with a mere two hrs in, so I decided to keep rolling west. And at times I was thinking Lakota, and others…….forget it, I’m done in Larimore. Well, after about 3 hrs of fighting the headwind I just had to take a break and eat and drink some coke. The heat had climbed up to about 80-degree and the wind just parched the hell out of me, so in the town of Elmerado I saw a sign for Subway. DONE.
Pulled in and did about 64 oz of coke and then another 64 of water, in addition to a footlong cold cut combo. Felt much better, and asked the lady how far to Larimore and Lakota. Answer was 16 to Larimore and 44 to Lakota and she said there was camping and motels at each place, BUT nothing between the two. So it was another one of those “lay up or go for the green” days. Wow, I just didn’t know if I wanted to put in another ass-kicking day and go for Lakota. So I pretty much decided then and there that Larimore was in my future, and my home for the 4th of July 2010. Was in and out of the saddle for countless times riding into the wind. Had to use the middle cookie and just spin at 9-11 mph. It’s amazing when you’re riding that slow. It’s like time is standing still. Distance is skewed to the point to where riding 10 miles feels like riding 30. You do the math in your head and it’s just staggering how slow you’re going and how much time it takes to get from point A to point B.
Tell you what, riding east to west across the plains is HARDER than riding across a mountain range. I guarantee it! It’s flat, it’s never-ending, and it’s punishing. Got two more weeks of this!! I’ll totally feel like I accomplished something when I get done with this kind of riding.
So I just kept it rolling, in my tanktop, in the sun, into a cross headwind - sans the bulldogs who are way back in the forests of Northern Minnesota. Great day to begin the Great Plains. Finally, came to a rest stop and a sign designating Larimore down the road by 2 miles. Stopped in at the rest stop and downed several water bottles full of water. Then rode towards the Larimore turn-off, and a sign up ahead read: Lakota 34 miles. At my 10.9 mph average, that was to be over three more hours away. Now I had 5 hours in already, and the thought of doing another 3 into the headwind and the increasing heat, well, just wasn’t into that today. Nope, time to take an easy day and recharge for the push to Bismarck.
So I rode down to Larimore and down to the Larimore Dam where there’s camping for 20 bucks. Thought about it for a moment and then decided to check out the motel in town – the ONE motel in town. Got to the place and there was a note on the door to call one of two numbers for a reservation. Now this little place is like a hole in the wall, not bad mind you, but just so out of the way from anything that I’m surprised it exists. So I went next door at a convenience store and asked the lady if I could dial the number and find out a price. She was totally cool and dialed the number for me. Got like a caretaker and was told price is 30 bucks. YUP. I’m there – with AC, cable a shower and a bed for 10 more bucks. I’m in the weenie mode this year, and if these efficiencies are this way all the way across, I’ll be in the weenie mode the rest of the way. This is just so different than the prices we experienced in Canada last year. Hell, for a dive up there we generally paid at least 50 bucks. And sometimes we had to pay 20 bucks apiece just to pitch our tents and camp in the same site.
So the caretaker said she meet me in 10 min. In the meantime I chatted with the lady at the store, and she filled me in on where to eat and buy beer. Got in my room and this is a nice little abode for 30 dollars! Watched a rerun of the 1st stage of the tour with a sixer I got up the road at a pub. Then I decided to sit in the hot sun on my chair outside the room and enjoy the sunshine with a cold beer. Felt great to relax. This is such a quiet place. It’s like every once in a while a car drives by into the convenience store for something, but that’s about it.
Even with temps in the 80’s, it’s bloody hot! And I think I’m going to really focus on getting on the road at 6:30 AM on this Plains crossing so I can be done before the heat really gets major, which is at about 2 PM to about 7 PM. Need to get 6-7 hrs in each day and hope like hell I can continue to average 10 mph. Anything less and it’s a S.L.O.W. go west!
Well, that’s it for today. Tomorrow I hope to make Devil’s Lake, which is about 63 miles away. Again, I have to plan accordingly due to the long distances between towns with amenities. Some days I’ll have to lay up, and other hopefully I’ll be able to have some wind with me instead of against me. In cases like that I’ll shoot for long days and long miles.
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