Blooming cold last night. Got all my layers on just now. Will warm up when the sun gets up. I’m told it’s at least 10° colder than the norm for this time of year.
Not had chance to blog much lately – not enough time or not being in the right place at the right time but I’m still here and pedalling away and thought I’d tell you about my wee adventure last night – hopefully later I’ll tell you about the other stuff I’ve done / the folks I’ve met, etc.
Fab days cycling yesterday from Lansing in Michigan to Toledo in Ohio – about 100 miles of lovely gentle cycling mostly through farmland. Got a flat towards end of day but didn’t take long to fix – I must be getting better – bike need a good clean though – any volunteers out there.
I was aiming for the Miakondo Campground I’d found on Google maps but it turns out to be a Boy Scout private campground and all security fenced off – getting late now and no other campground nearby so a wee bit of stealth camping required – the nearby Rest Home had a nice area of grass tucked away but that seemed a bit inappropriate but I could hide behind the abandoned greenhouses next door – not ideal from a noise point of view – busy road on one side and noisy motorway on the other but got off to sleep……..until the 1am (ish) wake up call from the police – he was doing the rounds and always checks on the greenhouses and had spotted my bike and then my tent – I explained the situation and apologised and he was cool (quite cute as well once he stopped blinding me with his torch) and left me to go back to sleep – very glad he didn’t ask me to move on.
So on the road again – campground I’m aiming for tonight is definitely open and hopefully I’ll not get any wake up calls in the middle of the night.
Well the title sounds good – don’t you think? I’ll drop the athlete bit thought – that gives an indication of speed which I definitely don’t do – I’ll leave that to the Mark Beaumont’s of this world (who is in North Dakota as I type this).
Can’t speak for anyone else but in my case the legs are turning, the wheels are spinning but I’m not necessarily thinking about anything, just enjoying the scenery I’m passing through. Of course when you are tired there is that mental conversation between brain and legs – “yes you can get to the top of that hill” / “yes you can do another 10 miles to get to the campsite tonight” / etc. And then every now and again my brain goes into over drive – yesterday was a perfect example (possibly fuelled by a large can of high energy drink). Sane brain and not so sane brain kicked in and I couldn’t shut them up and it went something like this – you’ll figure out which is sane brain and which is not so sane brain.
I think I’ll go to Australia next.
Why?
Cycle round the coast – do you think they have any lighthouses?
You’re 1/2 away across America and you’re tired and you want to go Australia!
I’m planning ahead.
How would you get the time of work?
I could retire!
What would your parents say?
Etc, etc
(And then it got really random)
I could learn to surf.
You can barely swim and have no coordination (I have to agree with this).
I could take more lessons
Both brains are now thinking of a much younger (much more alive in fact) toned and rugged Patrick Swayze in Point Break.
And so sane brain and not so sane brain carried on for a couple of hours.
you can’t get into your tent because you have put on the outer with the door to the opposite side from the inner!
Finally got WIFI that works, so sitting in my tent typing away – not the most comfortable but the mosquitoes have come out to play so it is safer in the tent.
If you look back I’ve added some photos of Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore and The Badlands.
So why am I feeling nervous – 2 reasons – (1) I’m very aware of the time disappearing by and that I have a date with the Statue of Liberty and Dad in New York City – (2) I’ve been incredibly lucky with the weather so far and that could well change and in turn affect how long it takes me to get to New York City. The area that I’ve been cycling through for the last couple of days had been hit by a 3 inch deluge of rain a few days before I got there – Nick, who I met last night, had to decamp and move to a motel for the night – the motel then got a power cut due to the rain fall.
So in spite of above I took things easy yesterday and had a short day on the bike to Pipestone and visited Pipestone National Monument – this is where the Native Americans, for generations, have quarried the red pipestone; carved it into pipes and to finish it off, heat it and rub bees wax into it to give it a beautiful finish. Really interesting museum and information centre and I got to see some of the work in process. The short walk to the quarries themselves (where only the Native Americans can dig) was really pretty with lots of wild flowers.
So good progress made today from Pipestone to St James and took a wee bit of time out to look round the End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum in Currie.
I’ve been told that the good weather is going to continue for the next week (unlike the poor folks in Texas) so I’m going to keep making progress and heading East towards La Cross, where Bertie is going to have a wee check up and I’m going to get a new memory card for the camera – current one seems to have packed in and I’m having to rely on my phone for taking pictures.
Night all and love to everyone back home and everyone I’ve met while on the road.