Just Slow

(brice again)
So we had a brilliant plan to wake up at 5 this morning so that we could get a couple of hours of biking in before the wind picked up too much. We woke up just fine, but the rainstorm overhead successfully encouraged us to stay inside the tent awhile longer. 3 hours later rain was still falling so we figured we’d better make a run for it while we’d still have enough of the day left to get somewhere else. The rain finally ended around the time we got out on the road, where there were ~20mph headwinds.

Those of you who haven’t spent hours biking into a headwind might think that it’s disliked by cyclists because of the impact on speed. And that’s definitely a large part of it; it took us over 5 hours to go 38 miles today, close to half our normal speed; we spent more than the normal amount of effort to make it even that far that fast. But it’s also much harder to control the bike, and all the highways here have wake-up strips along the shoulders, so moving half a foot sideways can be a jolting experience. It’s also extremely and continuously loud – we had to shout to hear each other even when riding nose to tail.

But on the other hand, we got to ride through awesome scenery under a dramatic sky, and 5 hours of 20-30mph wind really makes one appreciate the power of nature. We got to see some more post flood road signs:

After coming over a rise, we saw a strange mechanical/pachydermic procession on the horizon:

Which turned out to be your standard roadside threshing machine collection:

In addition to dogs, we’ve learned that cows also view bicycles as threats. We passed herds multiple times today that either took off running away from us or else herded their young into the middle of the pack and then mooed at us angrily. So maybe the wind is feeling threatened too.

After the long hard ride today we are taking tomorrow off (more headwinds are forecast for tomorrow; wednesday should be calm). Napoleon features multiple restaurants (all of which will be open tomorrow, one was even open tonight) and working bathrooms, so we’re looking forward to a relaxing day sleeping in, tinkering with the bikes a bit, and packing more calories in. Susan might get a haircut – stay tuned.