As The Wind Blows

As nights go, last night was kind of a long one. I went to sleep around 10:30 PM and when I awoke after what felt like a great night’s sleep I discovered it was only 11:13 PM. I hate when that happens. I don’t think I slept for more than a couple hours at a time throughout the night. I woke once to the sound of light rain falling on my tent. That rain became somewhat heavy rain which was then accompanied by a pretty intense lightning show. Despite all the lightning I never heard any thunder. I soon fell asleep to the sound of the rain against my tent.

When morning came the lightning was gone, the rain had stopped, and the sun had returned. And the winds were clearly coming from the north. Not at all a bad thing since I knew my direction of travel for at least some of the day would be southerly. My exact destination was still unknown but I was leaning towards heading to Bowman, ND. The distance was reasonable (100 km) and it would get me to a highway which I could take to South Dakota. Plus, there would be an opportunity for a post-ride Frosty at Wendy’s. Not essential but certainly a bonus. However, the overall location of Bowman was a bit less than ideal. I’d have to spend the last 40 km or so going northwest – last I checked, the Grand Canyon was still to the southwest. Alternatively, I could make it a short day and stop in Reeder, ND … a mere 70 km ride. Since Reeder is en route to Bowman, I decided to postpone the Bowman decision and make Reeder my first goal of the day.

The lack of washrooms at the campground led to hitting the road early. I didn’t feel like pedalling the few blocks to the public washrooms and then having to come back to the campground to pack up. Even though it was only a few blocks, I still don’t particularly care for backtracking. Instead, I just packed up right away and started my day.

That start ended up feeling a bit sluggish. Not sure if was me, all the starting and stopping yesterday, the wind, the hills … or maybe a bit of everything but my legs really didn’t seem to be enjoying the first 20 km and those kilometres seemed to take forever to pass by. My sluggishness was confirmed by my average speed of under 20 km/h. I know, I know … it’s not a race. That said, things changed dramatically when I reached my first turn. The crosswind that had been nagging me over the first hour or so was about to change to a tailwind. A serious tailwind. Definitely the best tailwind of the trip – yes, better than the one during the final leg of my 263 km day.

The next 50 km were in no way sluggish. So much so that when I arrived in Reeder it just didn’t seem to make sense to go northwest and against the wind to go to Bowman. The wind clearly wanted me to continue heading south. Who was I to argue? I mean, it’s no secret how rare it is that I (or seemingly ANY cyclists) get a tailwind of this magnitude. The decision was made.

In making that decision, a new milestone was reached in the form of state number nine (aka. South Dakota). Despite this being my ninth state of this trip, it was the first NEW state for me. Up until South Dakota, I had travelled in the other eight states on this trip by car at one time or another. However, this was my first time on South Dakota soil (or pavement as the case may be). And there was even a sign to welcome me. How nice.

By continuing south from Reeder, I set a new goal of reaching Reva, SD and the wind continued to help me the entire way. But when I reached Reva and the Google lady announced, “You have arrived!”, my accommodation arrangements were still very much not arranged. An online search of the area revealed the best (and perhaps only) contender came in the form of the state run Reva Gap Campground. Unlike last night’s campground there would be no electricity (hardly crucial) but there were some form of toilets (somewhat crucial). The website also said there was potable water but given its somewhat remote location I didn’t particularly believe that. As such, for the first time on this trip I filled up my three litre Platypus reservoir at the Reva Store. You know, just in case. Oh, and as an added bonus, the Reva Gap Campground was free.

The biggest downside to Reva Gap (other than potentially not having any potable water) was its location. It was about 6 km beyond the turn I would need to make to continue south tomorrow. Translation: I would have to backtrack about 6 km in the morning. How unfortunate.

I arrived at the campground and it was a little unclear where I was supposed to go. There were no maps. No attendants. Pretty much no indication at all as to where I should go. So, I just ended up pedalling the gravel road circuit to explore the area. Officially, that area featured eight campsites. And as far as I could tell, there were no water taps to be found. I’m not saying there WEREN’T any water taps, I’m just saying I didn’t see any.

There were only a couple of unfilled sites for the taking but none of those had a picnic table. However, there was a picnic area just as one enters the campground. I decided it would be okay if I camped there. Aiding that decision was the fact that someone else had already set up a tent and trailer in that same area.

The rest of the afternoon was spent drying out my tent and enjoying the bliss offered by a covered picnic table. It really is the simple things. And yes, simple would again describe my pasta dinner cooked on my alcohol stove. But again, simple in a good way.

Despite the tailwind, I found myself pretty tired as the evening passed. I attempted to get caught up on my writing but that was only mildly successful – laptop battery life contributed to that, too. The tailwind which encouraged me all day was beautiful but there was still a fair bit of climbing today (roughly 3,300′ feet of climb versus about 2600′ of descent). I can only imagine how I’d feel if the wind wasn’t helping me. Well, I suspect if the wind was working against me I wouldn’t have gone as far today.

Tomorrow looks to be another day where I really don’t know how far I’ll be going. Once again, I may just let the wind decide.

Oh, not surprisingly, as I sat in my tent typing blog entries, one thing became very obvious. Nothing makes one thirstier than a limited water supply. I’m SO glad I had that extra three litres of water with me. But I could’ve finished it hours ago!

Today’s totals:
Distance: 147.27 km
Ride time: 6:19:28
Average speed: 23.28 km/h (at one point it was as high as 24.5 km/h)
Maximum speed: 53.93 km/h