Day 13 - Averaged 14 mph into a headwind

We biked 86 miles into a steady wind of about 10-15 mph.  This does not seem like a lot in a car, but on a bike it’s like have a bungee cord tied to the back of the bike which is providing extra resistance.  Even so I made pretty good time.  Part of the reason is I hooked into a pace line with Chuck, Travis, Gary and Lucy.  Chuck and Travis are very strong, Gary and I are about the same and Lucy is strong, but she probably weighs about 90 pounds at best, so when she was leading the pace line, it was like a hummingbird leading for geese.

I normally do not like pace lines for a number of reasons -- they can be dangerous if riders are not used to riding together and while in a pace line, all you are doing is looking at the tire in front of you and not enjoying the scenery.  Finally, if a pace line is too fast, a rider can burn out pretty easily.  But going into the wind, pace lines can really help once and awhile.  Mostly we rode through open range land on a country road with almost no traffic.  

The first picture is of Gary, Travis and myself at the first rest stop.  Travis is another amazing story on this ride.  He was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2008 and is now in remission.  He is doing the ride as a fund raiser and was featured in yesterday’s local paper.  

The second picture is an overlook of the range land and the Snake River running through it.  The third picture is a group of riders riding through a construction zone.  If this had not been a Saturday of a holiday weekend, we may have had to sag around it, but we were given permission to ride through it.  

The last pictures are of me in my ND Candisc cycle shirt and though some think I am vertically challenged, clearly from the last picture I am not. 

Tomorrow is 65 miles with hopefully a tailwind, but will be very hot.  Good preparation for SD, MN and WI.