Day 22. Hazelton to Gackle, ND

As it turns out, no overnight rain. The only late night disturbances were those of the road work crew that are staying in camping trailers in the park. A slight bit of late night revelry is quieted quickly and I go back to sleep to the buzz of their air-conditioners and generators atop their RV's. Slightly envious, I might add. 

I awake to a morning without rain, but it is imminent. My plan is to break camp quickly so as to not end up with a pile of wet gear that I must deal with later that night. I am the first to ease out of the city park. Jodee is the only other one outside their tent, and she is working on her blog. I found out the previous day that she is an Arsenal fan. I choose to forgive this shortcoming as she will be posting the story and links to AFI in her blog. We bid each other safe travels, and I set off for Gackle. I am looking forward to tonight's stay. It is a cyclist only stopover called the Honey Hub. Jason and his wife are beekeepers and run a business of honey and pollination. It is run on donations only. 

I set off and see the storms building to the SW. I am hoping to make it 24 miles to Napoleon, where I want to find a cafe to hangout in and wait the storm out.  It does not take long to determine that my plan will not work. The thunder and high lightning increase and the visibility decreases and the clouds darken the sun's early morning attempt to breakthrough. It becomes apparent that I best seek some shelter. I have been eyeing the bales of hay near the roadside and decide that they would work. I pull out my emergency tarp and brace it with my bike to the hay roll. I am not sure what the storm will produce, if it will be a gulley washer or not.  Since the hay is in the gulley, I "bale" on that idea and opt for a bit higher ground. There is a large ornamental stone under a sign for a cattle business. I repeat the same process next to the rock. Take off a pannier to sit on, and sit and wait out the storm. By sitting and waiting out the storm, I mean I take a nap.  The rain pelting the tarp has a strong pull on my eye lids and I succumb. Although it was good that I got off the road in that weather, the storm is not that bad and once it eased, I was back on my bike to Napoleon. It is raining the whole time over the 13 miles into the town, but I am pretty dry with my newly purchased rain gear.  

I have been rained on a couple of times, lightly. In Great Falls on the rain day, while spinning about, I determine that the rainsuit I packed was not going to work out.  It is a Frogg Toggs jacket and has worked very well on multiple backpacking trips. However, I determine that while it is lightweight, it is a bit bulky, catches too much wind and is not quite waterproof in the higher winds. So I went to the local hiking store back in Great Falls and inquired about a lightweight, waterproof, cheap rain suit. The owner said that I can have two of those three choices.  Like my friend Kelly Davis says, there is not bad weather, only bad gear. So I opt for lightweight and waterproof. My wife will be glad that I have the protection, but somewhat less enamored when the bill arrives. Nevertheless, it got a full test today and was hugely successful.  

In Napoleon, I decide to eat some breakfast of eggs and two large pancakes and see what the storm does. Another band is imminent and the forecast is calling for 70 to 90 percent for most of the rest of the day. So I decide to just trudge back out in my wet gear and get on with it.   

On the way out of town, I run into Gary. We decide to ride together to Gackle. We are enjoying the beautiful views. The rolling hills are gentle and the buttes and domes are few. The constant color and hue contrast in the crops is incredibly scenic. I thought by now I would be tired of wheat, but I am not. Their golden and amber tops sway with the winds and it is entrancing. What surprises me in this ride is the dozens of lakes and ponds along the route. Some edged in sunflowers, others protected by cat tails, all holding scores of birds. Dozens of varieties of ducks, I am told later that this is the duck capital. Cormorants drying themselves in the trees. Coots, grebes and moorhens paddling alongside the ducks.  Sandpipers on the shore. Even white Pelicans. As if to highlight the colors of the day, I spotted several male Goldenfinch.  

About 5 miles of riding along with Gary, I get a flat. Well, at least it is not raining at this point.   I tell Gary to go on ahead and I will meet him in town. So I change the tire pretty quickly and take off. About a mile later, another flat. I can't figure out what is causing the flats, but at that moment I am very grateful Blake found me a place to get the spare tube the previous day. A huge win. Since I cannot find the cause, I decide it is either the tire worn thin somewhere or the valve hole on the wheel is rubbing the tube. I take a bit of the electricians tape that I had wrapped around pencil and apply it as protection for the valve opening.  I then replace the tire with the Schalbe Marathon tire I have as a spare. After re-assembly, I cautiously start to pedal down the road. I constantly check the tire and all seemed well, and it ultimately holds up fine. 

I catch Gary about 9 miles from our destination and we ride into Gackle. The ride is beautiful and even with the added adventure of the storms and flat tires, it is one of my favorite rides of the tour.  

As we arrive it Gackle, it has amazingly not rained on us since we left Napoleon. However, it starts a downpour one block from our lodging for the night. When we arrive Gordon is there. Gordon is from Edinburgh, Scotland and I met him on the road a couple of days ago. After a refreshing shower, we walk up the street in the light rain for pizza. We have good time embellishing stories for a bit until we retire to our room. The basement room has two beds, so I volunteer to pitch my tent in the backyard under a tree and let my co-advernturist take the relatively comfy beds. The weather is supposed to have passed, so it should be a beautiful night.