7 am. No more rain. Sounds windy. Time to get up. Swirling grey clouds above. Guess I should have seen that coming. Oh well, time to move.
Packed quick, a drop here and there. Waved goodbye to the other cyclists just getting out of their tents.
Warm air, but storms on thier way. Though without the sun it was much cooler. Saw a menacing cloud on the horizon as I pulled out of Napoleon and threw on the rain jacket, only to realize that that was much too hot, and that the rain cloud ahead was probably more than 30 miles away.
These plains have a way of eroding all my conceptions of time and space. I suppose the best way to describe the feeling is being constantly reminded of how small you actually are on Earth; physically and temporarily. A blip on the geologic time scale, and the blade of grass on the infinite flatness of the prarie.
Arrived in Hazelton before long. The sun was beginning to burn off the clouds that had sheltered me for the morning. Pulled into the city park for a break. Nibbling on a carrot, another cyclist pulled in and I waved with familiarity. Nice fella named Terry on his way home to Madison Wisconsin. He had done some touring in Europe which I found very interesting- especially the in the Balkans. Said there was good food and it was pretty cheap. Sounds great to me. He was feeling beat and was thinking about camping there. Said the wind had been pretty harsh. And if he was going the other way, that meant the wind was on my side. And if I've learned anything about bike touring, it's that if you've got a tail wind, it doesn't matter what plans you had, it's time to go dog go.
So I skipped on outta there and rode the 14 miles to Moffit. Nothing in that town but a post office. No place for water. Luckily, I've started carrying an emergency stash of water for exactly this situation.
Biking this much can sometimes feel like a chore. Have to remind myself I'm doing this for fun. And it is, for the very same reasons it was when I was 9 years old. Total freedom, then going fast down hills...
Busted out the last 20 miles towards Bismarck. Noticed the sign saying I'm on the Lewis and Clark trail. Came to the rim of a river valley, and realized it must be the Missouri.
Out of water again, so I pulled up to what looked like a university. Sign said University of Mary. Christian University? Walked into the nearest building with my water bottle. Lady inside asked me how she could help, I asked for water and she showwd me the way. Turns out I had walked in to the Annunciation monastery. Sister Isabella was her name, and she spoke to me in a calm quiet voice. She asked me about my journey and after I had finished filling up asked if I would like to stay for dinner. I was tempted, but the thought of being the center of attention to 40 nuns didn't sound like the evening I had in mind. I said thanks but no thanks, and she gave me a prayer card of Saint Scholastica and asked me to keep them in my prayers. I would, and I rode down the hill towards Bismarck.
But the day wasn't out of surprises yet. As I rounded the corner onto 48th Avenue, another biker passed from the opposite direction, and crossed the lanes to talk to me. Says do you mind if I ride with you for a while and ask you about your travels? I says fine and we rode together into the park where I was planning on camping. Within a minute or two we had gotten onto the subject of God and soon we were talking about Thich Nhat Hanh, and the Benedictines, and all kinds of other stuff. His name was Jim and was from Bismarck, and he was full of questions. Good thing I was full of answers. I found a camping spot and he asked if he could stick around while I set up. I was fine with it it was happy to have the company. He shared with me some watermelon from his bag. A little bit later his mother called wondering where he was. She was 94, and taking care of her was his full-time job. She wanted him home so he had to go, but he left me his number in case I was interested in a date and mango smoothie on my way out of town tomorrow. He said he had wanted to do some touring himself, so I hope I inspired him some.
Dinner was cheese and pasta with a dash of Curry. Hammock feels good. Might make it to Hebron tomorrow. Don't know for sure. Think I may have passed 2000 miles today.
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