Travel Nightmare (July 7, 2010)

No, I am not referring to my travels on the bike.

I am in Williston, ND today, waiting for the arrival of Rich Torkington. Rich had a flight out of Phoenix yesterday at 6:00 A.M., which was to make a connection in Denver. When he arrived in Denver, he found that he had been "bumped" from his flight on to Williston. As of about midnight last night, he was still in the Denver airport. A true travel nightmare.

Several of the others I have been riding with over the past week are taking a rest day here in Williston, so guess I will hangout with them and await Rich's arrival.

We "eastward-bound" riders have benefited from tailwinds over the past three days of riding. The 56 miles to Wolf Point, 60 miles to Culbertson and 49 miles to Williston were all made spectacularly easier by this wonderful atmospheric occurrence. We have shared city-park campgrounds with riders who are heading west (falls under the banner "Travel Nightmare") ... to say that they do not share our enthusiasm with the wind-patterns of the past several days would be an understatement. The adjacent photo is of a gentleman by the name of Don with whom we camped in Culbertson ... I told Don I would caption the photo "That poor son-of-a-bitch who is riding westward into the headwinds". I think we all try to extend some sympathy, but secretly are very thankful that the wind has been with us.

When riding toward Culbertson the other day, I reconnected with Tom. Tom and I rode together between the towns of Concrete, WA and Libby, MT. It is good to see Tom ... seems like we are long-time friends even though we only rode together for about two weeks or so. I am not sure what causes the "bond" with other riders ... maybe it is the mutually-shared discomfort of trying to get up and out of the tents in the morning, or trying to not hear the ever-present train horns throughout the nights. Whatever the reason, a real bond does develop.

So, the plan for the day is rather undecided this morning. The Germany vs. Spain World Cup soccer match is on TV early afternoon, so may try to catch that with some of the others. Maybe a haircut and browsing the only bookstore in town. The day of rest is probably needed, but I feel bad that Rich's adventure is getting off to such a bad start.