Dearest Ramona:
I've been out on the Great Plains for 6 days, now and have reached the Town of Buelah in west-central North Dakota. This is a very different Region from the areas of the West and Northwest that I am familiar with. First, the Plains are NOT flat. Its true that elevation does not vary dramaticaly like it does in the mountainous areas. But to my astonishment, it has actually been more difficult getting in a full day's ride on the Great Plains for two reasons. One problem is the constant rolling terrain. In eastern Montana, for instance, I would hit one to two sizeable hills each mile! A three-mile stretch might be something like this:
Down 200 feet;
Up 100 feet;
Down 75 feet;
Up 300 feet;
Down 100 feet;
Up 100 feet;
Down 50 feet;
Up 200 feet; etc, etc, etc.
The @#$%@# highway does not follow the terrain. Instead is goes arrow-straight over any bluff, hill or other obstacle. It was obviously not designed for bicyclists and probably came into existance after horse teams were a thing of the past.
The second problem is the wind. I had assumed that the prevailing West Winds would power me across the prairie. The only West Winds I have had were 6 days ago, as I exited the Rockies and had a long, wonderful tail-wind blow me into Great Falls. Every day since the winds have come out of the southeast, generally AGAINST me. On one day they blew very hard (15-20 mph with gusts over 35 mph) and perpendicular, across the road, tending to blow me out into the middle of the highway. I only made 59 miles that day, the worst daily total of the trip. To adapt to this unfortunate turn of events, I have been leaving camp about an hour before dawn each morning. The winds do not tend to start until about 11:00 am and I can generally get well over half my day's ride in by that hour. That then leaves 3-5 hours (depending upon my goal for the day) of riding against the wind. Luckily, the wind has generally been below about 15 mph. I can make progress against it, although the penalty is at least one gear lower and 5-7 mph slower. Still, I am making decent progress, averaging 90 to 100+ miles per (10-hour) day.
The Plains of eastern Montana are higher, frequently forested and have numerous, dramatic bluffs. Much of this territory looks almost untouched since the days of Lewis and Clark. The Bicentennial of their great expedition starts in a year or two and is a dominant topic in this whole Region, probably due to the tourist potential. In contrast, the prairie of western North Dakota has a much more settled, farmed look to it. The terrain is not at all dramatic and some (perhaps most) would find it dull. There are considerably more towns in North Dakata. While riding through eastern Montana it was imperative for me to frequently inquire whether the next town had services such as a convenience store (or even water). Some of the towns on my map did not even exist! I found this out to my woe one 95-degree day and ended up pedaling nearly 50 miles before being able to refill my nearly empty water bottles. In North Dakota, I can generally count on no more than 15 miles between towns.
In any event, I crossed the one-third point of my Journey several days ago at Circle, MT. I am within three days of my halfway point, which will be in western Minnesota. I am on-schedule and beginning to think that I will actually pull this thing off. My bicycle continues to perform without a hitch.
Missing you.
Love, Pete
