Day 21: Retreat

So as weather.com predicted there were incredibly strong winds out of the south, south east at a sustained 20mph with gusts up to 40 mph. We had a late start at 11:30 because we were only planning on going 50 miles to the town of Waupton. We headed out and as expected it was grueling, averaging 6 mph. I was contemplating getting off the bike and walking my bike next to John. We were going that slow. We were trading off "pulls" drafting behind one another every 2 miles. It seemed to be a game of who was going to crack first. Twelve miles into the ride, which was two hours after our departure we looked at each other and both stopped. We acknowledged that we had to discuss our situation. The options were, continue on to Waupton for another 8 hours or retreat back to Moorhead/Fargo. Neither of us seemed to have an answer to the situation and neither one of us seemed to want to retreat back. So we pulled out a quarter. Heads charge on tails retreat, the quarter landed heads so we looked at each other clipped back into our pedals and continued on. A mile down the road there was a little gas station. I called for a bathroom break so we stopped there. When I came out John said, you know a good friend of mine, who is also a biker posted on my blog site, "ride smarter not harder." I thought that was good advice. wWe can charge on for 8 hours or retreat and wait for better conditions and do this mileage in 2- 3 hours tomorrow or the next day when the weather clears. So at that point we turned around 2 hours into the trip. As soon as we turned around with one pedal stroke to get the bike moving the wind alone with no pedaling pushed us at 8-9 mph, faster than we could pedal into the wind. It took us 25 minutes to make it back to our starting point averaging 25 mph. We stopped at a gas station that was across the street from the Super 8 we stayed at. It was there that I discovered that I had left my cell phone at the hotel, so I guess everything happens for a reason. Tomorrow the winds will be blowing the same until about 12 then the wind looks like it will shift to the west, then later in the afternoon to the north west at 25-35mph giving us a good tailwind. Knock on wood. It looks like we can make it to Des Moines by the 11th, which I am hoping for. My birthday is on the 12th and the best birthday present I could ask for would be my own bed, a rest day and a nice cocktail. So hopefully the weather will hold out. Thanks to everyone who has donated to Big City Mountaineers and/or my travel expenses. If you could continue to spread the word and tell people about this blog site and what I am doing I would greatly appreciate it. I want to raise as much money as possible for Big City Mountaineers. Thanks again! Until next time!

Adam

Miles bike Today: 30 (actually ended up being negative 5 from where we started this morning)