Riding Day 29 -- Headwinds!

The wind was against us from the moment we rode eastward out of Watford City, ND this morning at 6:45. After about 20 miles we turned south, almost directly into the wind. Headwinds are very tough on cyclists, both physically and psychologically. They have pretty much the same physical efect as hills, but hills are a known quantity, and they end at a defined point. Wind is something you can't see, and it can go on seemingly forever. It just doesn't seem fair!

Because of the wind, we decided to end our ride in Killdeer, after "only" 63 miles, rather than riding the full 84 miles to Halliday. By the time we reached Killdeer the headwind was 21 mph, with gusts up to 31. We'll have to make up the distance somewhere in ND, or we'll fall another day behind. That wouldn't be a tragedy, but we'd like to keep as close to our schedule as we can. I was very grateful today for Rich as well as for Kathy and Cindy. Rich and I traded the lead every mile, as we often do, with the second rider following very closely behind in order to take advantage of the draft. The wind was so strong today that the second rider still felt it, but nowhere near as strongly. Kathy and Cindy checked on us periodically, and they secured a campsite in Killdeer so that we have a place to rest our weary bones tonight. As always, they also fed us a delicious and nutritious dinner.

Something else that made the day tough was pretty heavy traffic, a great deal of it being very large trucks. The traffic keeps us on our toes, and it also prevents us from taking the most advantageous drafting position, usually slightly to one side or the other of the lead rider. The traffic is apparently largely due to the booming oil exploration in western ND. Oil wells and drilling derricks are frequently visible. We talked to the leader of a westbound cycling expedition, and he said tht before the oil boom, these were pretty sleepy roads.

The terrain today was pretty typical of the last several days: rolling prairie, some in crops and some in cattle. There was on plunge of a couple of miles down to the Little Missouri River, followed by a very steep climb back out again. Everything contiues very green.

More winds are predicted for tomorrow, but staring to taper off. Wish us luck!