July 12, 2008
Day 61: Long Prairie, MN to Battle Lake, MN
68.08 Miles, 6:50:12 Ride Time, 9.95 Average Speed, 24.64 Maximum Speed, 30+ mph winds out of the West!
Last night I had checked the weather forecast, and learned that the winds today were supposed to be up to 35 mph out of the West. Uh Oh. I slept through the alarm, which I had set to 5:00, and was actually outside at 8:30. It was hot, sunny, and very windy. And I was still in the motel parking lot.
I postponed getting out into the wind by talking to the motel owner's daughter about touring; she was interested in trying it, but had never ridden more than twenty miles on her bike. I told her (truthfully) that four years ago, I could barely ride seven miles without collapsing.
Out on the road, the winds were immediately brutal. The last time I had ridden in anything like this was two years ago in Wyoming. And it was only 9:00 - earlier this morning I had checked the weather again, and saw that the winds would peak in the middle of the afternoon.
After a couple of minor dog incidents (a stern look virtually sends them fleeing back into their yards; riders who complain about Minnesota dogs need to come to Kentucky), I met Toby, an Eastbound rider who was surely enjoying one of his greatest tailwinds ever. To his credit, he modulated his glee in my presence, which I appreciated.
Within an hour or so, I got some relief from the wind briefly when the route took me North for three or four miles, but that didn't seem to last long. I stopped at the little crossroads of Rose City, which appeared to consist of a "creamery", which I didn't investigate, and a restaurant, where I spent valuable time having lunch, while the wind grew stronger.
After lunch I zig-zagged North West for a while, encountering Eastbounders Mike and Bonnie, who, like Toby earlier, were pretty happy with The Greatest Tailwind Ever. In an effort to make me feel better (I suppose), they told me that "we haven't always had tailwinds on this trip!" Thanks.
I finally got to Parker's Prairie (pop. 991) at about 2:00. It had taken me hours to ride just over 30 miles. I called home to get a weather report, and was informed that the wind was currently 31 mph out of the west (which explained why I was averaging 9 mph), and was expected to "decrease" to 27 mph by this evening.
The sane option would have been to call it a day, and camp in Parker's Prairie. Instead, possibly addled by the heat and the wind, and not thrilled by the prospect of doing two back-to-back short days, I decided to press on.
The next fifteen miles really were the hardest ever - the Wind River in Wyoming is no longer the benchmark. Every time I glanced down at the bike computer, I saw that I was going six or seven mph - and this was mostly flat terrain. At some point I met the last Eastbounder I would see today - Dan, who had left this morning from Fargo. I bet he coasted much of the way.
Finally I turned North for about ten miles and rode in what was now a pretty drastic crosswind - The bike and I probably weigh 260 lbs. combined, and I was getting blown all over the road.
By the time I arrived in Clitherall (pop. 118), the sky was looking stormy, it was getting late, and I was ready to stop - anywhere - for the day. I asked the people at the little store if there was any place to stay in town, and, of course, they knew of nothing. (I was hopeful that someone would volunteer "Why, you can camp in our yard! In fact, why don't you just stay in the spare bedroom! And Mother has spent all day baking - We've got plenty to spare!" - This just wasn't a day in which that kind of fantasy would actually happen.)
It rained during the five miles to Battle Lake (pop. 686), but at least the winds died down - a little. My map listed no campgrounds there, but did list numbers for a resort and a motel. I called the "resort" first, and learned that they had a "very nice" two-bedroom cottage available tonight for $140 (!), and they certainly would not allow tent camping.
The motel was inexplicably booked-up, but as it started to rain again, the owner told me I could camp out back for $10. OK. There really was no way I could ride any more today. While he showed me where I could set up my tent, he pointed to a shed where I could stay "if the weather gets inclement." It was already raining, and to me, that is inclement. The shed, where he cleaned fish, really wasn't too bad. No bathroom and no shower, but there was a cot on which I could put my sleeping bag. A nearby bucket labelled "fish guts" was mercifully empty.
After eating one of the "emergency" king-size Snickers bars I had been carrying around, I lay down, still in my sweaty cycling clothes, and fell asleep. Thus ended the hardest day of this trip.
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Today's ride: 68 miles (109 km)
Total: 4,402 miles (7,084 km)
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