49-Enderlin-Gackle: I made it to Gackle!

74.2 miles/ +1903.0 ft/ Total miles 2348.9

This day is the one day I dreaded the most about the entire trip. I was really intimidated by the lack of food and water along the way, for such a long ride. The weather might have been hot, the headwinds impossible, and maybe I just couldn’t ride 78 miles carrying everything for the day.

So I packed plenty of food, water and Gator-Ade, and got an early start at 5;40. My biggest enemy was my own head, the doubts that I could do it. I told myself that if it was too much, I could stand by the side of the road and wave down vehicles until I got someone to give me a ride to Gackle. 

Once I got going, and made some decent progress in the first few hours, I began to feel better about the possibility of making it. For one thing, the wind was surprisingly light or almost non-existent. I was gaining elevation steadily, sometimes on rollers that picked up a few feet each time. For a while in the middle of the day, the wind picked up and there was a little bit of drizzle. But then the wind died down again.  The temperature was in the 50s at the start and just got to 70 at times when there was a little sun. Overall, not bad at all!

I met cyclists heading to northern Minnesota:

They told me that I had only 27 more miles to go, which didn’t sound too bad. 

In the end, I stayed on the bike, stopped on a regular basis for food and water, paced myself in the headwind, and made it to Gackle about 2:30. Phew! I’m glad this ride is done!

Thanks for all the encouraging words in the comments over the past days. They really do help. Now I feel ready to take on the rest of North Dakota and into Montana. 

North Dakota is not flat – at least not if you are riding a bicycle.