Saturday 3 July 2010

Day 45 Silver Lake to Willmar

Saturday 3rd July
Daily mileage 57miles Average Speed 11mph Ride Time 5hr13min
Total Mileage 1615

We managed to have breakfast and get on the road by 9.30am and as we were leaving our waitress at breakfast Denise gave us $50 to treat ourselves to another night in a motel as she was sorry she could not have shown us hospitality by putting us up at hers last night. Thank you so much Denise, you are extremely kind.

Today was 95% humidity, 92degrees Fahrenheit, extremely sunny and very, very windy from the South. We ultimately want to be heading SW for the next week but it is simply impossible to go south in the strength of this wind. So we headed west on highway 7 but the gusts of wind on our side was making the ride pretty dangerous as this road is fairly busy. It was not so bad when we had a hard shoulder but when that disappeared as well we were forced to head north on county road 2 in order to find safer roads.

We had a short stop after 10 miles in Hutchinson for a supermarket sweep then a quick pit stop 8 miles later on the curb side in Cedar Mills that had a population of 53! We made a further 10 miles to Cosmos which were extremely difficult and as we arrived we collapsed on the grass under a tree and slept for an hour exhausted.

The county roads were nicer to ride as we did not have to worry about getting hit by traffic as we wobbled all over the road. It was so tough just to stay upright on the bike and we were so sweaty we could hardly grip the handle bars. With the wind we even had to time when we could sip some water as it was dangerous to let go of the handle bars.


As the wind pushed us north it was bliss as we sailed along without barely pedalling. Kris even held his t shirt out to create more of a sail, not sure if that’s cheating! It was good going north because of the wind assistance but with the wind on our back there was nothing cooling us down and the temperature was breathtaking. After leaving Cosmos we kept taking county roads north and west until we reached Willmar 25miles later. We checked into a super 8 cheap motel at a reduced price and ate dinner in bed from Walmart. Today was hard and I wanted to be at home. If someone happened to drive past and offer me a lift to Seattle I think I would have taken it.


3 comments:

  1. Would love to send you some cool weather. This morning we started out at 53 degrees,wind from the west , we road along the Columbia River for 20 miles and didn't break a sweat. However, any day on the bike is better than working. You are leading charmed lives nevertheless. Keep having fun. Jane and Paul

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  2. Happy 4th of July Pedal Plodders! I know it's not really a Brit. thing, but you will probably enjoy some fireworks and watermelon today like every American does on Independence Day. I wish you guys wind at your back and a nice 75 degree slightly cloudy day! Hello from Florida, Helen

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  3. YES !!! i hope you get to see some fireworks in your travels :o) wind, hills and all, i wish i was there with y'all...just like jane and paul said..." any day on the bike is better than working...

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