The Red River is Flooding

Day 127, August 6, 2011, The Red River is Flooding

Route from Detroit Lakes, MN to Brewer Lake Campground, Erie, ND

99.3 miles, averaging 14.1 mph

Worst Moment – It’s a toss-up between the rain in the morning, the headwinds, the detour that took me on the interstate, the cold rain in the afternoon, or the muddy road that I had to take to get to the campground.  It wasn’t a good day.

Best Moment – Actually finding the campground in Erie, ND was a good thing.  The rain was really coming down and it was a cold hard rain after slogging through the muddy road for about 2 miles, I saw Ruby in the campground.  I was glad to be home.

After some amazing blueberry coffee cake that Kathy made for breakfast, I reluctantly left Detroit Lakes.  I knew that thundershowers were forecast for western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota.  I thought that I might be able to avoid the worst of them, with a little luck.  And the first few hours of the ride were amazing.  I was on wonderful county roads seeing more of Minnesota’s beautiful lakes and farms.

Just as I was coming into Moorhead, the morning rain started.  I took cover under an abandoned business’s awning to calculate my route to Erie.  The road that I was on was going to turn into a busy freeway through Moorhead and Fargo and I didn’t want to travel those kinds of roads. I got routed on 75 North that not only avoided the freeways, but also avoided Fargo. 

As I crossed into North Dakota, over the flooded Red River, the rain stopped and it looked like it might be an okay rest of the day.  That is when the headwinds started and my average mph plummeted from about 17 (it was pretty flat) to 9 (and it was a struggle to get that.)

I was riding on a road that was parallel to I-29 and supposed to cross the interstate on county road 4.  I started down CR 4 and saw the detour signs.  CR was closed.  The detour put me on the interstate for about 6 or 7 miles.  Fortunately, it wasn’t super busy and there was a huge shoulder.  I was really glad to get off, but I’m not sure where Erie was – I’d gone a couple of miles further than I was supposed to because of the detour. 

By checking the address, I could see that I’ll be on a road that was parallel to CR4 and it will get me to my destination – the best thing was that the headwind is more of a tailwind.  As I got closer to Erie, the sky was getting progressively blacker and just south of town, the clouds opened up soaking me again. 

 Typical North Dakota farm scene - the clouds got even darker before they dumped.

The view out the front window

When I arrived at camp, the bike was making all kinds of weird noises.  After the showers cleared up, I looked at the bike to see if there is anything I can fix.  I don’t know what to do – I’m not sure what’s wrong.  The mud and rain probably haven’t helped anything.  Guess I’ll be riding the Cannondale tomorrow and try to get things fixed in Rugby in two days.  (It’s probably a good idea since tomorrow looks like a long day.)

If you would like to donate to my ride, my link for the Lance Armstrong Foundation is http://grassroots2011.livestrong.org/billsbigride197.  I really appreciate your support.