July 19, 2010 82 miles Spirit Lake Casino & Resort

I couldn't sleep last night and got off to a slow start this morning. Rain threatened for the first 20 miles but stayed ahead of us. We rode on cool, wet roads but never felt a drop. At the first sag stop I hooked up with my friend Kit whom I've dubbed Cap'n Kit. As a former racer, she's one of the faster riders in the group. Today, she indulged me I'm sure, as I was able to stay with her. We did the 82 miles in 15.8 mph which for that distance was pretty good! It was a lot of fun. Jona and Debbie were also part of the group. There were no photo opps, but I did stop and take pictures of farm equipment for Sarah Catherine and Daniel. Goodness knows, we've seen a lot of that on this trip.


Today's route finally got us off of Rt. 2 and back to the backroads. The roads were good farm roads along absolutely beautiful farmland. We had one or two long hills to pull but nothing significant enough to show on our elevation chart. The last 10 miles were along Spring Lake which is a huge blue spot on the road map! We're on another Indian Reservation which I think is home to the Sioux tribe. My room tonight overlooks a large indoor swimming pool with a very tall water slide which I have no intention of using. I probably couldn't even climb to the top without freaking out! :))

A lot of us have made really good friends and are sad to have the tour coming to an end. But, then, all good things must come to an end. So, we'll enjoy our last three days of cycling in North Dakota, but missing our friend, Barbara, and look forward to next year's adventure which takes us from Fargo to Bar Harbor, ME.