Day 19

Miles: 66

Mileage from start: 1,613

When we looked out the window, the trees were bending west. Not a good sign. Weather apps confirmed it: the wind was out of the east, and blowing fast.

All day we pushed east against 20 mph headwinds. The town we planned on stopping at for lunch ended up being as far as we could get.

We put in 8 hours of work and got only 66 miles. Oof. And Richard got his first flat tire.

It didn’t rain until the end of the day. We were able to duck into an Arby’s right as the worst of it hit, so we swallowed down milkshakes while the sky opened.

We biked through Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which was beautiful as much as I could see of it. Much of the day was spent gripping my handlebars, gritting my teeth and pedaling, pedaling, pedaling.

Richard said I also groaned a lot. 

Some of the route put us on Interstate 94 again. With the headwind and all the traffic going 80, eventually something snapped. I got mad at the situation and found some speed buried deep inside me.

As I passed Richard he thought, only one thing makes her go that fast; something pissed her off.

It’s true. Anger gives me speed. It doesn’t last long but nothing works better while biking, hiking, running, whatever. 

And that was all the speed I had all day. The rest of the time the wind kept me in check. 

I really hope the wind changes tomorrow. Please. Please.