Cormorant, Minnesota to Fargo, North Dakota: Spare The Rod, Spoil The Biker

June 24, 2017

Heart

Comment

Today was another tester, and originally I was just going to mention that it was windy, that it rained, that there were lots of trucks on the roads, yada, yada, yada .... But Margaret insists that I tell the whole story and sufficiently document exactly what a miserable f***ing day it was. OK. Let's get to it, then we'll finish with something more chipper.

A town mid-route, and the theme of the day

We did have a restful night's sleep, and the forecast warned of more windiness, and a 30% chance for rain. We decided to rise and shine and get out the door by 9:00 AM at the worst, and look at that we were on the road at 8:35 AM! The sun was shining and although the wind was evident it didn't feel overly bad.

Two miles down the road it started to rain. It began with some light spitting, then some serious spitting, then some "loogies," followed by ... well ... rain. The skies turned grey, the wind picked up, and there we were. There was a quick conversation about what to do, but we both pretty much silently agreed to ride it out.

This was par for the course in the first 20 miles.

The rain was steady, the wind was a bastard, for some reason even though it was Saturday there was a plethora of large trucks out and zooming by in both directions, and things were in general "not optimal" as an acquaintance who is a Air National Guard fighter pilot puts it. I was thinking to myself that wasn't quite the rosy picture I had painted about bicycle touring for my amazing wife and was impressed she was toughing it out.

Marg was leading and as we approached a small building on the side of the road she suddenly jabbed her hand and pointed a finger toward it with gusto. I thought, "Uh Oh, she must have a mechanical issue!" Marg pulled off and led us to the leeward side of the Clay County Town Hall and as we dismounted she turned around to face me and burst into tears. "OH GOD THIS IS F**KING AWFUL," she cried. "I AM NOT HAVING ANY FUN AND I'M NOT AS TOUGH AS YOU THINK I AM AND I JUST WANT THIS THING TO BE OVER!" .... and proceeded to start criticizing herself for being such a pansy, for the weather being so SHITTY for two straight days, for how cold and wet and miserable she felt, and then after a few minutes of crying and lodging her grievances about the whole stinking FUBAR of a mess started to laugh maniacally about how F**KING crazy it all sounded and threatened that if it rained tomorrow she was catching a Greyhound bus home and leave me to deal with the bikes.

Yep. That made sense to me. Truly the day sucked, as had the day before. But as always, Margaret reached down, grabbed another piece of fortitude and knitted herself back together. We waited in the lee of the building another 10 minutes and the rain abated (but not the wind. Oh no, not the wind!) and we started grinding away. For most of the rest of the ride the rain left us alone other than a few sprinkles, but that wind was absolutely kicking our ass.

Margaret, post-eruption, shows her disdain for the day behind the Town Hall

When we made a slow motion arrival in Sabin, Mn. we were hankering for some snacks and we knew there was a convenience store there, and a post office for Marg to post some mail, but right next door was a "general store" that looked more promising so we parked the rigs and walked in.

What we thought would be a run-of-the-mill small town store to buy some peanuts and Gatorade

But MY OH MY, in the first "Win" of the day we discovered that Willie Wonka had retired to Sabin, Minnesota (Pop. 588) and opened a soda shop!! THANK GOD for a carrot instead of a stick right then. Check this place out ...

The sight that greeted us upon walking into the Sabin General Store

This is what Margaret said she did by the roadside today - bawled her eyes out.

But then Margeret had a bottle of this soda and got her Mojo back

The youngest of our two daughters is named Avery!

We loaded up on confections and ice cream. While waiting for my vanilla malt it started raining again, but this time we were INSIDE and the bikes were parked under some protecting trees! Things were starting to look up. We inhaled our sugary calories and pronounced ourselves fit for duty again.

It was still a slow slog into Fargo. In fact, just before we crossed the Red River into North Dakota, a huge gust of wind slapped us in the face as if to say, "Nae! Ye Shall Not Pass!" Once we entered Fargo it felt like we had just come off the front lines. We were spent, but pleased.

Once in Fargo we knew right were to go because we'd done a little reconnaissance the night before. Plus, it only added an extra three miles to the day's ride .... See below:

Phew ..... OK, even though this day's journal is already overly long, let's switch gears to see what domestic life is like on the road! Although eagle eyed readers have undoubtedly noticed, everyone is too kind to ask, "Good Lord, are you wearing the same riding cloths every day?!?! You must smell like a locker room!" You are halfway correct gentle readers ... those are the same clothes, but we do wash those things every day! To wit:

Deposit soiled riding clothes into sink. Add a dollop of fragrant shampoo. Gentle agitate by hand.

Squeeze dry, then lay damp clothing on a towel.

Roll damp clothing up within towel and do a polka or an Irish jig on the towel to further dry them

Hang clothing in the most dainty manner possible to air dry

Voila! Fresh as a daisy for another day battling headwinds and rain. What could be better?

OK, time to end this thing! We'll post pictures of Fargo later. It's a really neat place with an amazing downtown. Ahh, what the heck, here are a couple pix of the area and then the last two art cards Marg has produced.

Mike taking a load off in downtown Fargo

The shop is located in the old railroad station

Had enough? Me too. Here are the day's Rose, Thorn and Bud

Rose: Marg - Lying this very instant in this King Bed with clean sheets Mike - that the heavy NW winds blew the spray from passing cars away from us.

Thorn: Marg - The howling wind ... in my face ... the 30 mph wind. The rain. The rain falling on my glasses and map cover. The long, straight, endless road with no town anywhere. The cars and trucks whizzing by at 55 mph. (We agreed that Margaret gets unlimited thorns for today) Mike - Oh that wind.

Bud: Marg - Having the wind at my back would be awesome! Mike - Allegedly there will be a tailwind tomorrow.

Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 299 miles (481 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	3
Comment on this entry	Comment	0