How did this happen so fast?
I still feel the mixed anxiety and excitement that accompanied us to Anacortes. Now I actually believe we'll do it, but I do not believe we are almost half way, and that we are about to fly to Vermont for a wonderful wedding and a chance to spend some time with family.
Today was not so long, but it took care to give us a day we would not forget quickly.
As we headed out, the sky was cloudy. Our hostess waved us on our way after mentioning forecasted thunderstorms. She said she was sure we'd find shelter. We were headed from Flasher to Bismarck, and until you get to Mandan, which is really the start of the Bismarck urban area, there is no town, not a single commercial establishment.
I wasn't worried. It was lovely and cool and the clouds were light. We stopped at the convenience store on our way out of town for bottled water. A guy came up and introduced himself and asked about our trip. He told us he lives in Shanghai now and loves getting around on his bike. Then we really got going. The wind was from the south. We headed east for about 16 miles then turned north for the rest of the trip, so we figured it would be pretty easy pedaling. Maybe we'd arrive in the early afternoon. The big, dark cloud I saw in my mirror - well, it was way behind us and would just be blown north. Wouldn't it?
Just in case, we stopped at the turn to get our waterproof stuff out. It wouldn't be much fun having to scramble through other stuff should it actually be raining hard. Which was not about to happen. So why were we feeling a few drops before we even had everything out? Sigh. We went ahead and put the stuff on. We were very happy to have it almost immediately. We got good and wet. But it was not at all cold, and I had yet to see any...
Wait. What's with that huge cloud ahead???. The one so dark it looks green. And wasn't that lightning?
Yes. It had stopped raining where we were. We were half way up the north-bound stretch of road. Onky an hour or so left to ride, and those tailwinds were great! What to do?
We stopped to watch the movement of the clouds for a bit. They had to be moving north - that south wind was pretty strong. They also appeared to be moving east towards us, but they were well to the north. We sat down in front row seats and watched the show. We'd watched for maybe half an hour when we realized that the tail end of the system might be moving towards us. The rumbling definitely sounded more overhead. Maybe we needed to turn around and ride south to get away from it.
We tried, but it was getting closer and closer.
We saw some buildings a little farther ahead. We decided to go see if there was a shed or barn we could shelter in. As we approached, two dogs charged out, barking loudly. Now what? I just wanted to get away from the lightning! I got off the bike and walked slowly towards them holding out my hand. I quickly saw that their tails were wagging and their expressions were friendly. One came up and licked our hands energetically. By then, the door of the house among the farm buildings opened. We explained our predicament, and the woman said we should come on into the house to wait it out.
We spent almost an hour getting to know her and her son as the storm passed. The lightning did get pretty close, and the lights flickered. We apologized for keeping them from their business for so long, but the son said he would not have gone out in the storm in any case. Too wet to bundle up his hay. It was interesting to hear about their crops, their cows, their family. We also asked if they had favorite places we should see as we pedal east after our week in Vermont. They looked mildly surprised; they had been as far as Fargo. They had actually been all the way to Rochester, Minnesota. But they had been on the interstate. No idea what we'd find southeast of Bismarck.
Eventually the sky lightened. It was still raining, but we didn't mind that. We hopped on the bikes and made a second attempt to get to Mandan. The rain stopped again. I kept telling myself that the dark cloud ahead was not nearly as dark as the other one. So what were those flashes?
We made it to Mandan just as we were beginning to see quite a bit of lightning ahead. This time we didn't have to knock on any doors. We just walked right in to DQ. Seems to be our haven from extreme weather on this expedition. The clouds were very dark, very ominous, very close. We sat smugly inside. Even the bikes were on the dry side of the building under a little awning.
The storm was in no hurry; it turned out that we probably should have made a run for it. But then we wouldn't have met the very pleasant couple who sat next to us. He looked the bikes over before he came in, then he came right to our table and started asking about the trip. He dreams of doing something like it, but may not be able to fit it in. He and his wife live in a motor home. They spend winters in Yuma near their grandchildren, and they spend lots of time exploring. A friend had told him of a summer job for the parks & rec department in Bismarck so they are spending the season here and loving it. Like us, they had never been here before. They gave us their card and took our blog addresses away with them. (Hi again - I warned you you would show up here!)
Eventually we decided we should finish up the day's ride. We hadn't seen a flash for a while. It was raining harder than ever- the drops were causing little splashes in the puddles - but we had all long since finished our treats & we had to do it sooner or later.
Once again the rain was fairly warm, and it actually tapered off quickly. Before we knew it we were on the Memorial Bridge over the Missouri River (it has a bike & pedestrian sidewalk, which made us and many cars very happy). That took us into Bismarck, and with only minor confusion we found our hotel. A Best Western, very nice, very familiar, not at all adventurous. Which is just fine.
We chose to end the day and the first half of the trip with room service.
Miles today: 53
Total so far: 1742
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