The Last Week

Since the last blog post, well, a lot has happened. I've just spent the last several hours putting some of that info together for myself, in a short hand document on my computer so that I have snippets of each day with some photos... so I can remember this trip when its done. Somehow, details of this week alone had already gone fuzzy and I needed help to piece together details. A lot has happened indeed.

Where to start? The heat. We rode 106 miles in 104 degree heat. Luckily, the next day, when the temperature reached an all time Miles City record of 111, we only rode a little bit in the morning. Instead, we were able to swim and stay cool. What a cooker!

The distance. This week we rode about 500 miles. It was a lot of riding. My butt does not thank me for that. My other muscles... no soreness. Seriously. This week felt really good and other than that butt soreness, I've felt physically great. Mentally, it was a very good week too... until this past Friday when for some reason the 90 mile ride felt more like 150. We all seem to have had at least one day like this during the past while, for me it was that ride into McLaughlin (and Indian reservation).

So, details of where I've been are: Billings to Forsyth MT, this was that 104 degree day.

Miles city was the next day, 111 degrees, but was cut short. We hit gravel roads at 20 miles into the ride (was going to be a "short" 50. But, to backtrack on bikes would have been an additional 30 miles or something crazy, and well, it was 111 degrees... so a huge blessing in disguise that we didn't ride far. The day was relaxing (though scorching hot) and we were able to rest off a little more from the previous days 100+ miles.

After Miles City, we headed to Baker ND. Unfortunately, here another adventure began...
Accidents happen. And unfortunately we had a decent one that required an ambulance ride to the hospital. I'm not going to write all the details, but it was a two person incident caused by a horsefly in the sunglasses. The two girls hit into eachother and tumbled around. It was pretty scary, and I was sweep (the last two riders are called sweep since they stay behind the rest of the group to make sure everyone gets through, and help with flats, etc), so I came up to it before the rest of the group knew what had happened. The one rider does unfortunately have two fractures in her wrist, but the other is back riding. Our group was a little shaken, but we really came together, praying through it as well. Anyhow, it was a scary moment but things are okay now. Pray that Shannon can get back riding soon.

From Baker, we hit South Dakota. Hettinger, McLaughlin, and Ipswich have been the cities here so far. Below are some photos from these rides.

Whoever, and there have been many, has said that North and South Dakota are flat, have been wrong. We've had some really hilly days. That, combined with several days of head winds, has made for a tough week. But a good week. We're all learning a lot about eachother and about God too. We're really learning to rely on him for strength each day. 500 miles will test your spirits! We're staying strong.
If this post is discombobulated, I apologize. It came in a tired state. Thanks for reading!
Much love,
In Christ,
Rob