A comfortable night on the floor at Joan's house had us well rested for the day today. We saved our gas and she kindly let us use her hob for breakfast. She donated us some vegetables and cherries for the road and we were off.
We were apprehensive about the prospect of cycling on the interstate today which the Adventure Cycling maps go along. It turned out to be excellent though. It was more of a quiet dual carriageway than a motorway which we imagined, and the shoulder was a full lanes width. We felt quite safe. The gradients were shallow mostly and progress was fast and steady all day. Combined with interesting scenery and a steady supply of cherries in the morning, we had our first truly pleasant day of riding since coming out of the Rockies.
The headwind of the last two days was initially still there but weaker, but soon it changed to a tailwind and strengthened considerably. Hills which would have been 7mph hills yesterday were a casual 12-14mph today! Our initial destination aim of Midora was reached by 1230, 65 miles in.
At Midora we stopped at the Dacota Cyclery shop to buy more Chamois Cream, learn how to properly calibrate the brakes and to check my bikes fit to try and alleviate the knee issues I have been having of late. It seems I rode the first 1000 miles with my seat an inch too low which is the source of a lot of my problems. With it raised, cycling became somewhat more comfortable.
We found an all-you-can-eat buffet in town, and as it was 5 minutes before closing we were told we could only have one go through. Seeing this as more of a challenge than a problem, we each stocked trays high with plates of food and dessert. We suffered for it after though and couldn't move for the next hour!
Once we felt functional again we set out, though not before contacting a host in Dickinson on the off chance of a place to stay. Soon after leaving it was a long and steep hill over a broken sandstone plateau. We found an excellent viewpoint overlooking Painted Canyon; a vast landscape of sandstone towers and deep valleys between them. We imagined what it must look like at sunset in awe.
It was rolling hills from hereon to Dickinson but the tailwind made light work of them. We made Dickinson for 6pm, and resupplied at the supermarket. Having not heard from our potential host we made for the nearest campsite on the Heart River. After descending to the river we found the office shut with a large "No Tent Camping" sign outside. A little dismayed I set about finding another site, but saw an email notification. Dan had replied and we had a place to stay! It was trickier than we anticipated to find his apartment block, and by the time we found him after he came out on his bike to meet us we had accumulated 8 bonus miles for the day!
A light dinner of cake and tea (we are still feeling a bit too full from the buffet) and a chat about his cycling experience and work and we are off to bed. Fingers crossed for similar winds tomorrow.
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