Waiting in line at the US Border The 7:00 AM wake up signaled the start of something big. Normally we sleep later, but today's ride was going to be a long one, without the benefit of the tailwind that had assisted us on our 182 km day in Saskatchewan. The West wind that blew us to Morris the day before was still blowing, meaning we would be dealing with a cross-wind as we headed south to Grand Forks.
We started off under blue skies, and before long the temperature began rising, and our pace was consistently under 20 km/hr, an indication that the 167 km ride was going to make for a long day. Cam was excited to have been contacted the prior day by his cousin - Kirsten Langness - who lives in Moorehead, MN and was hoping to meet us in Grand Forks for dinner with her family. We had given a wide range of arrival times from 4PM to 9 PM depending on how the weather treated us and the cross-wind made it clear that it would be later in that range....
We started off under blue skies, and before long the temperature began rising, and our pace was consistently under 20 km/hr, an indication that the 167 km ride was going to make for a long day. Cam was excited to have been contacted the prior day by his cousin - Kirsten Langness - who lives in Moorehead, MN and was hoping to meet us in Grand Forks for dinner with her family. We had given a wide range of arrival times from 4PM to 9 PM depending on how the weather treated us and the cross-wind made it clear that it would be later in that range....
Arriving....in the USA! We made pretty good time to the US Border, about one-quarter of the way to Grand Forks, and Cam texted Kirsten that we were estimating an arrival time of 7PM.
The border crossing was uneventful, but by 12:45 we were still some distance from our planned lunch stop in Drayton, ND, and the heat was beginning to take it's toll.
The border crossing was uneventful, but by 12:45 we were still some distance from our planned lunch stop in Drayton, ND, and the heat was beginning to take it's toll.
Sheila, our Hero of the Day! It was at that point that our Hero of the Day appeared out of nowhere, slowing down beside us and calling from her truck "Would you like some ice cold Gatorade!" (To which Ken's internal reaction was "Is the Pope Catholic?") Sheila and her husband were returning to North Carolina after picking up an antique car in Winnipeg. After we enthusiastically responded in the affirmative, they pulled over and Sheila produced two large bottles of chilled Gatorade along with a bag of apples, some cookies and a whole box of snack crackers urging us to take as many as we could carry! Ken asked this kind stranger "are you an angel?" It truly is amazing to us to see this kind of random act of kindness and we really hope that Sheila checks out our blog (we gave her our card with all the details) so that we can tell her once again how much we appreciated this. Thank you so much Sheila!
The Lounge Restaurant (???) We finally arrived in the town of Drayton around 2:30, and after picking up some supplies in the local grocery store (prices are cheap here!), grabbed some lunch at the "sketchy" looking Lounge Restaurant. The "menu" we were shown included the microwave minutes each item required!
By 3:30PM we were back on the road with 75 kms to go and Cam had updated his cousin with an estimated arrival time to 8:00 to 8:30PM. The temperature had reached 29 degrees, and it, together with the cross-wind made for an incredibly difficult afternoon/evening. We made good use of the many overpasses located along the I-29 highway, stopping for "shade breaks" on several occasions. Ken drew inspiration from something Cam had said earlier in the day, "if this was easy, everyone would be doing it".
By 3:30PM we were back on the road with 75 kms to go and Cam had updated his cousin with an estimated arrival time to 8:00 to 8:30PM. The temperature had reached 29 degrees, and it, together with the cross-wind made for an incredibly difficult afternoon/evening. We made good use of the many overpasses located along the I-29 highway, stopping for "shade breaks" on several occasions. Ken drew inspiration from something Cam had said earlier in the day, "if this was easy, everyone would be doing it".
A shade break stop.
Our Welcoming Party - Olson, Kirsten, Jeff, and Kaelen Langness! We managed to grind out the final miles of the day with the help of frequent shade breaks and constant "rear-end" breaks and took the exit ramp to the Grand Forks restaurant where we had agreed to meet Kirsten and her family. As we neared the top of the ramp, we saw a USA welcoming party - the whole Langness family!!! It totally surprised us and blew us away that they would drive an hour and a half to meet with us, and greet us in this way - what an awesome family!
After Jeff supplied multiple bottles of ice-cold water from the cooler in their van (we each consumed two complete bottles on the spot!), they then treated us to dinner at the most excellent Speedway Steakhouse (where Kirsten and Cam learned that they share the Olson taste for spicy and each ordered the "Nacho Mama Burger"). To top the whole evening off, Kirsten produced a plate of amazing chocolate chip cookies for our late night hotel dessert and snacks for tomorrow! After devouring several of the cookies, we can understand why Olson and Kaelen told us their favorite place to eat is "Mama's Kitchen" - and listed off a number of dishes that Kirsten makes that they said were amazing! It was truly a treat for us to spend the evening with you guys, and we are so thankful! You are our official Angels of the Day!
After Jeff supplied multiple bottles of ice-cold water from the cooler in their van (we each consumed two complete bottles on the spot!), they then treated us to dinner at the most excellent Speedway Steakhouse (where Kirsten and Cam learned that they share the Olson taste for spicy and each ordered the "Nacho Mama Burger"). To top the whole evening off, Kirsten produced a plate of amazing chocolate chip cookies for our late night hotel dessert and snacks for tomorrow! After devouring several of the cookies, we can understand why Olson and Kaelen told us their favorite place to eat is "Mama's Kitchen" - and listed off a number of dishes that Kirsten makes that they said were amazing! It was truly a treat for us to spend the evening with you guys, and we are so thankful! You are our official Angels of the Day!
Our Angels of the Day - Jeff, Kirsten, Kaelen and Olson Langness! Thank you!
Ride Details:
- Distance: 168.0 kms
- Riding time: 9 hours, 13 minutes (our longest ever!)
- Average speed: 18.2 kms
- Wind: West South West (moderate)
- Cumulative: 2,674 kms
Tomorrow's Destination: Fosston, MN - 118 kms.
For more ride details see Strava and for more ride photos see our Photo Gallery.
- Distance: 168.0 kms
- Riding time: 9 hours, 13 minutes (our longest ever!)
- Average speed: 18.2 kms
- Wind: West South West (moderate)
- Cumulative: 2,674 kms
Tomorrow's Destination: Fosston, MN - 118 kms.
For more ride details see Strava and for more ride photos see our Photo Gallery.