County Highway 52 with foreboding clouds in the distance.

Distance traveled today: 97.7 km (60.7 mi)
Average speed: 17.1 km/h (10.6 mph)
Elapsed Time: 8.06.48 (hh.mm.ss)
Max speed: 37 km/h (23 mph)
Staying at: Day's Inn, Fergus Falls, MN [tel. 218-739-3311 Rm 104]

Distance traveled so far: 2587 km (1608 mi)

Last Modified on 9/23/97 at 17:51:48

Day's Narrative: This was to be a half day's ride because of possible afternoon thunderstorms. Also, I expected to have some headwinds. It was a cold morning -- about 50 F (10 C), but not as cold as yesterday. Still, I dressed in arm and leg warmers because of the anticipated headwind.

Leaving Fargo, ND, I found the Fry 'n Pan restaurant on US 10 in Moorhead, MN, and had my usual eggs and bacon breakfast.

County road 52 parallels interstate 94 from Fargo, ND to Fergus Falls, MN. The signs near the interstate say no bicycles, but they do so in New Mexico too, and bicycles are allowed. That's ok. I planned to take county road 52 the entire 60 miles or so (100 km) to Fergus Falls.

I stopped at Barnesville about 10 am after riding about 20 miles (33 km) and had a submarine sandwich which really tasted good. When I left Barnesville the wind was now full in my face at about 20 mph (33 km/h).

My speed slowed to 10 mph or less. With this head wind I hunkered down over the handlebars with my head down and hands on the hoods. (That's bicyclese for putting your hands forward on top of the brakes where there is a sort of shelf for them). There was no relief from this wind. It was open country and had no trees to break up the flow across the fields. Winds like this are very depressing. The only way I could convince myself that I would get there before dark was to repeatedly calculate the time of arrival. When you have a tailwind the gods are with you. When you have a headwind you are all alone.

Finally about 12:30 I got to the the next town of Rothsay. There's an interstate interchange there, and I found a restaurant. As I walked in the door I could tell I was on hallowed ground. It was warm, I could smell food, and there were people there. I ate a toasted ham and cheese sandwich with milk.

The sky was getting darker by the minute out where I had to go. It was 17 miles (27 km) to Fergus Falls from here and the wind was even stronger. I was estimating two hours riding time with no stops, and assuming it didn't rain, which didn't look like a good assumption right then. Clearly, before I left the safety of the restaurant, I should at least call Connie and tell her where I was.

Connie was at the Days Inn in Fergus Falls, and we got an excellent cell phone connection. After giving her my location, I mounted up and started into the headwind bent down over the handlebars, traveling at the speed of a fast jog. This was going to be the worse 17 miles of my life.

But then, coming up from behind I saw a farm tractor pulling a big, fat, grain wagon. The tractor caught up, passed me, and I fell in behind -- drafting at 16 mph (26 km/h)! This was great! This showed that all those years of clean living had finally paid off. I kept up with the tractor and wagon for six miles (10 km) at this speed. On hills I had to pump hard to keep it from pulling away, but I managed to stay about 6 feet (2 m) behind it the entire time.

We passed a county road worker fixing some potholes, and the tractor driver waved. As the wagon passed by him I waved too. He grinned widely and waved back. When the tractor turned off the main road it left me again at the mercy of the headwind, but there were some trees to break the wind up a bit, so I came into Fergus Falls about 2:30, ahead of my estimate. It never did rain.

Connie greeted me with a smile of relief.

[Connie] I had told the lady at the reception desk that my husband was coming in on a bicycle into the headwind. She said she'd tell him that room 104 (our room number) was the emergency room -- as in hospital emergency room. Ray didn't look as bad as I had expected.

I hate headwinds and start whining in the face of a head-breeze. Ray used to tell Rob and Jonathan, when hiking up a rough stretch of trail, to think like a mule and just keep plodding on. It ain't fun, but it works. Even while driving here, the headwind was noticeable in the truck and it started to sprinkle. This may be August, but it's cold enough for a jacket outside. We had worried about mosquitoes -- they say they're the state bird in Minnesota. No problem here now.