Recumbents

Day 20: Madison-Evanston

This morning I woke up with the thought of the hotel in the back of my mind which really helped getting over setting up the tent in dark and and the wet stuff. When we left we first took a short ride through a nature area. Then we got on the big road which had a lot of traffic which came from the highway directly into Madison. There were literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of cars coming towards us all in a slow moving line. We were moving in the opposite direction and only 10 to 20 cars overtook us. No wonder people are stuck in traffic.

Day 19: West Salem-Madison

Yesterday and today it was quite foggy for the first hour and a half, but it soon cleared up. The route we took today went by a old railroad track for 55 kilometers. It meant less climbing and there were even three tunnels to cut off the peaks. The route started in Sparta (maybe after the Dutch bike brand) and ended for us in Elroy. It was a very pretty and well paved path made out of crushed lime stone. It kind of reminded me of our province Drenthe back home. The trees next to the trail provided shade and kept us cool.

Day 18: Hastings-West Salem

This morning I noticed that I could not get up to speed, I was tired. I ate a Clif Gel and a Clif Bar (Chocolate Brownie) against my will (together with a cola) and that did the trick. The only problem I have is getting warmed up in the morning. Maybe I'll try to eat a gel when I start tomorrow morning.

Day 17: Maple Plane-Hastings

The 'camp ground' from yesterday was not very good. Breakfast was nothing more than a can of soda and a little sweet roll. But some 50 kilometers down the road was our stop at the Freewheel Bike on the Greenway though Minneapolis. There I ate and drank something until the rest arrived (I got there first). The Greenway is a kind of bike highway going straight though town. It used to be a old rail track and that's why there are almost no stop signs on the entire route (except for a few places).

Day 16: Benson-Maple Plane

Yesterday I wanted to get up and I felt quite fit, but not today. Didn't want to get out of bed and still very tired. Today was only going to be a 174 kilometer ride, so not such a long day. Because I demanded to much of my body yesterday I had some mild knee trouble today. During cycling it's not that bad. Just keep in mind to make nice circles with your feet. Tomorrow will be a short day with only 91 kilometers.

When I left Benson this morning I saw this sign at the liquor store.

Day 15: Aberdeen-Benson

This morning there was something typical Dutch at breakfast. Mary, one of the local people from Minneapolis, had brought chocolate sprinkles. Not that it was very helpful beating the tiredness from this morning, because the first two hours I could not get warmed up. I want to go back to sleep! To few hours in the night. My heart rate monitor also agreed I was kind of dead, because it stopped functioning. But after eating a Clif Gel, a bar and a gum I started to feel a bit better.

Day 14: Mobridge-Aberdeen

The past three days I've been riding with my iPod on. That way time passes more quickly when your riding on those long stretched roads. I want to look for some new earbuds because these are not very comfortable and they don't keep the sound out very well. One of the German riders has some kind of ear muffs to lower the wind noise.

Day 13: Bowman-Mobridge

Last night was cold and moist. When I woke up this morning the inside of the tent was all wet. On arrival at the camp site in Mobridge it will probably have a cause to dry. Seeing it was a bit nippy (around 13 degrees in the bike) I put on my jacket and put on the foam cover.

Day 12: Miles City-Bowman

On the previous camp site it was the mice who were stealing the snacks, but in Miles City it were the squirrels. Rob wanted to get some food for the day when he spotted now trying to open a Clif Bar. Fortunately there is enough for everyone.

We had a few short climbed today, but the route was mainly going downhill. The climbs are getting tough when you see the Chain Up Area signs. At the Chain Removal Area sign you can relax a bit more (also good to know).

Day 11: Miles City

Today was a rest day and after we had a great breakfast with egg, ham and a cup of tea I started to wash my cloths. Well… I threw it in with Marcel, Johann and Rob's clothes in the washing machine. After that I found some shade and read up on my messages on Google Reader. Some people were Skyping with the people back home. I IM'ed with my parents a few days back and chatted with a colleague (who will start working after two weeks holiday) and asked him if he could say hi to my colleagues monday morning.