Thursday 8 July 2010

Where are we now?

…well not far to go until we reach Fargo, right on the border of North Dakota and Minnesota. Tomorrow we’ll cycle approximately 60 miles into Fargo and then have a rest day. We will have completed just over 9,500 miles and will hopefully hit the 10,000-mile mark by the time we reach Minneapolis. Reminiscing about our journey so far brings tears of joy and pain to mind. It’s hard for us to believe that we’re actually cycling around the perimeter of the USA, pushing the boundaries of our relationship, physical well-being, mental strength, tireless commitment and of course our ability to eat fried food. But the truth is that for all our efforts we’re rewarded with a new experience every day that ultimately makes us feel happy and fortunate.

Today was another mini adventure! Faced with an option to take the Interstate or a little known County Highway out of Jamestown and into Valley City, we decided to take the CoHwy for some well-needed respite from 80mph 18-wheelers. The CoHwy route was only 40 miles and for the first 30 miles everything was perfect. Even with the gravel road surface and the occasional ‘ROAD CLOSED – NO ACCESS’ signs we joyfully cycled on, ignoring the road closed signs believing that we knew better and roads were not allowed to be closed; because we were ‘Ant & Kat the Intrepid Explorers’. Like we said, for the first 30 miles this level of egotistical belief served us well as we cycled along our private ‘closed’ roads taking a few choice pictures and being free from the annoyance of motorized vehikkle’s.

10 miles left to go before we reached Valley City and we spotted another ‘ROAD CLOSED – NO ACCESS’ sign. Without a care in the world we cruised passed the sign and soon after the road began to steeply descend toward what we could only describe as a mirage-like image. Getting closer to the mirage it soon became clear that this ‘ROAD CLOSED – NO ACCESS’ sign meant business (check out the photo). After a 5-minute discussion to determine if we could manage to ride the road, we concluded that it was time to do a Worzle Gummidge and take off our ‘Care Free’ heads and put on our ‘Sensible’ ones. Taking a slight detour, we were back on the Interstate, but only for 10 miles, arriving less that an hour later at our hotel.

Dinner tonight was great! We managed to have fresh fish and vegetables and had great chat with our waitress, Jane.

Us x

1 comment:

  1. It was great chatting with you two as well! Safe travels, let me know if you need anything!
    Your Waitress,
    Jane

    ReplyDelete