Wind and whining

Day 39. 84 mi. A few hundred feet of elevation. Weather painfully windy

When you choose to put yourself on a bicycle and cross a country or a continent, you really can’t, or at least shouldn’t, complain. That’s why this post is late. If I had written it last might have been too much whining . The wind was so strong and in our face that Gumby couldn’t even sit up. And if I stopped pedaling, we went backward. Gumby, of course, kept it cheerful countenance, but my pedaling into the wind for hours on end was a little less cheery..

The weather report the night before worried me and unfortunately it was accurate. The wind was either in my face or just off center of my face for a good 80 km. Knowing the wind was going to get worse, I’d left Minidosa early and fortunately got 50 or 60 km without any problem, and then it hit. It never stopped. I take that back. It would stop briefly if a truck passed me, which actually was a nice thing for once.

There was one harrowing experience with the vehicle pictured above. It was more scary than dangerous. I was on pavement, and the shoulder was huge, so I had comfortably Leaned Forward onto my bars and wasn’t paying attention to anything behind me. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye within Arms Reach was a giant Martian Lander buzzing past me. The farmer apparently had to crowd over into the shoulder because there were vehicles coming in both directions. It wasn’t any real danger, but for a moment, it was terrifying as I swerved off into the grass.

Obviously, I survived. I found a Chinese restaurant that would deliver to where I was staying. After about 15 lb of Chinese food and a shower I was back to my cheerful self. Ready for another day on the road. Hopefully my next post will be a little more interesting.