Friday at a glance
Miles	80.4
Mph	14.7
Max Speed	26.8
Route	Rugby to Butte via Anamoose, Drake, Balfour.
Wind	Officially 10 mph from the east-southeast, but all over the place and gusty during storms.
Temperature	60s to lower 80s, depending on morning rain and clouds, and late afternoon sunshine.
Elapsed Time	5:26:29
Clock Time	7:30 - 5:45

We had our longest ride of the week today, at about 80 miles. The wind was forecast to be out of the east at 15-20, so a side and tail wind. The sun was also supposed to shine so I threw the yet-to-be-used-this-week sunscreen into the pannier. And we got up a bit early and hit the road at 6:30 instead of our usual 7.

But we didn't get very far. We were going to initially head south, and there was no sunshine in that direction--just dark clouds and lightning. That didn't feel like a great way to start out the day so we headed to the elementary school where breakfast was being served to "see if anyone knew anything." Everyone we talked to "hadn't heard anything about severe weather!" Many took off and many of us stayed. And then it started to rain so we headed inside the school. That's when I got the brainstorm to call a friend back home who'd be at work and have access to the latest forecast and weather radar. He said it didn't look pretty, but if we waited until 7:30, we could hit a gap, as more appeared to be brewing to the southwest. We waited, as patiently as we could, and hit the road right at 7:30.

The road was wet and there were a few sprinkles, but the rain was gone, along with the lightning. We weren't minding the sloppy conditions so much. But the "east" wind was more southeast, so we bucked that to the first rest stop, 22 miles south.

The stop was at a bison ranch, maybe a quarter of a mile down a gravel road into a little valley. There was a spectacular house there that I overheard had been moved in from elsewhere and was being rennovated. A tent canopy had been set up over picnic tables, and a couple of grills were busy frying up bison burgers, brats, and hot dogs. It was only about 9 and while not sounding so great yet, we still grabbed a couple of bison dogs and chips and banana as we had a lot of miles ahead of us. We ate and swapped stories with Melissa Messerly, wife of organizer Dick. It was a relaxing stop, and the sun even came out briefly. But it was dark to the south and west. And north.

We'd ridden the tandem down the hill but walked back up to the highway. The sun soon disappeared, and we soon turned west, with a nice tail wind. That lasted all of three or four miles before it switched on us and became a side and head wind. A couple miles later it began to rain, not a hard rain, but the accompanying lightning was a bit unnerving. We had a line of power poles running parallel with the road, along with periodic stands of trees, so we were hoping we were less of a target than we felt!

We slogged on through the varying intensities of rain. It had let up by the time we hit the next stop, at an intersection ten miles north of Anamoose. We didn't stay long and headed south, into a wind of course, on wet roads, but no rain. The sky was pretty interesting on this stretch, with various layers and compositions of clouds. At one point a couple of dark masses on the horizon looked like mountains in the distance. We sort of ignored the possible significance and enjoyed the "new North Dakota mountain scenery."

We finally made it to Anamoose against that wind, 50 miles into the 80 mile day. Dad was interested in checking out the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, as it had an unusual A-frame type roof. We bypassed the cafe on Main that was the designated stop, and had some lunch (our own) at the church. Shortly after noon, we took off again. We didn't make it to the edge of town. Riders were coming back, saying the lightning down the road was horrendous and they were chickening out. That sounded all right to us so we did a U-turn with the tandem on Main and followed them back into town. We were cheered on by the storm siren, reinforcing that we made the right decision!

In short, they opened up the firehall for us, so between that and the cafe, CANDISC had its official refuges. I wasn't shy and as others were bringing their bikes into the firehall, I grabbed the tandem and Dad and I carried it up the stairs into safety. Probably the question on everyone's mind was, "Now what??"

We waited inside, and it poured outside. It hailed outside and the winds blew. Two years ago many of us got caught in a severe storm outside of Mott, and I was quite relieved to be indoors. Cyclists kept coming in a few at a time. Some from the cafe, which was packed. Some with horror stories of getting caught out in the storm. Another group with a story of taking refuge in a barn, and when discovered, had their clothes dried for them, given hot pizza, and a ride into town. Several tried getting some shelter around large hay bales, having to circle around them as the winds shifted. Others said they were so glad they had their bike helmets, as they were pelted with golfball-sized hail. Another fellow felt his feet getting "really wet" and looked down to see water up to his ankles. One group was huddled in the ditch and a farmer swung by with his pickup, hollering "Leave your bikes and get in!"

Somewhere during the waiting, I got a hold of Warren again to "get some real weather news." He looked at the radar and said, "You aren't going anywhere!" Once this line of storms passed, another was on its way, getting bigger by the minute. Great. Again, "Now what??" Dick Messerly answered that a bit later when he stopped in: "The riding's over for the day. We're going to sag everyone to Butte." He rounded up a school bus to supplement the official CANDISC sag wagons, and the firehall almost cleared out when it came. But little by little it filled up again as more riders made it into town.

So we waited. We weren't sure when or how we'd get to Butte, as they were disassembling bikes to get them on the bus. Even with its wheels off, the tandem was still not going to fit well on the bus. Our best bet was one of the sag wagon trailers, but the way tandems had to be tied on, several slots for singles were eliminated. We even gave Mom a call to have her come pick us up and call it a CANDISC. But she wasn't home so Dad left a message that we'd call her back. We waited.

Around 3:15, the bus came back from Butte. The report was that Butte was getting hammered by storms too. But, the sun was out in Anamoose! And there was clear sky in every direction except the east, where the storms were heading. A couple of riders decided they might as well bike the 30 miles to Butte, and that thought became infectious. It solved our "how do we get the tandem transported" problem, and we took off again at 3:30, but not without a complication!. Something happened during our start and the red Cannondale started going down. My foot came unclipped from the pedal and the top tube sliding down my leg slowed the bike's fall. Dad wasn't as lucky and rode it down. It was an awful feeling to look back and see him on the pavement. He came through with just a couple of scratches though. We were both wanting to see an instant replay of what had actually happened. Probably fortunately, no one was taking a video of our departure!

We had the strong east wind at our backs that had been forecast the day before. Hwy 52 heading west was wet but drying quickly. More of an annoyance was a continuous set of rumble strips between the driving lane and shoulder. Fortunately the shoulder was smooth pavement, and we didn't have much bicycle traffic to contend with, so all I had to do was make sure my daydreaming didn't totally get away with me. Drake was seven miles down the road, and another official rest stop at the Cenex Station. About 150 riders had been stranded there during the storm, with the overflow in a shed behind the main building. There were a few stragglers still wandering around outside but it looked like the majority had already taken off. Our data sheet for the day said, "Don't drink the Drake water!" and we didn't, sailing on past without stopping.

We had another jaunt heading south, and at that intersection was a CANDISC porta-potty. We briefly stopped, along with a couple of other cyclists, and took off again. As we passed a rider, I mentioned that he needed to oil his chain. "You don't suppose it sitting in water had anything to do with that, do you?" I smiled and after a few wonderings about how much maintenance Rory was going to have in Butte, we pulled away. There was another rest stop along this stretch where many riders waited out the storm, but we bypassed it too. We were out for a 30 mile afternoon ride and wanted to get to Butte!

Somewhere on that stretch, Dad commented that when we pedalled with a faster cadence, he felt like he was bouncing a bit. I shifted up and that seemed to take care of the problem. Just before we were going to go around the grand curve and head west, with the wind for the final eight miles into Butte, we came upon some water on each side of the road (pond, pot holes, whatever). There was a line of seagulls sitting in the oncoming lane of traffic (not that there was any traffic), and I couldn't resist the urge to cross the centerline and rouse them up a bit. Whoa. The tandem didn't handle that quick maneuver well at all! (But the birds scattered. ) I asked Dad if the rear tire was all right, and he exclaimed, "No!" We had to stop to deal with it, even though we were anxious to get into Butte. It was a "Michelin flat"--a steel shard from a shredding steel belted radial. I threw a new tube in after extricating the wire, and we took off again around the curve and picked up our tailwind for the rest of the ride.

We got to Butte about 5:45. For as long as the day had been, it felt like there should have been a cheering squad as we rolled into town. But it'd been quite a day for everyone and they were busy getting camp set up, showering, eating, etc. Our bags were indoors in a maintenance building. That was good! And Dad procured us an indoor spot for the night at the Lutheran church. Rumor had it that 80 mph winds were in eastern Montana and would be hitting overnight, preceding more storms. Indoors sounded excellent to us. As a bonus, a fellow threw our bags into the back of his pickup, and had Dad ride with him. I followed on the tandem, my second ever solo ride on the great red Cannondale. But it was just three blocks or so. And on gravel streets. It felt like the little town of Alexander I grew up in--quite comfortable after an adventurous day out on the prairie.

We passed the school on the way, which had closed maybe in 2000. The gym was being used by a honey producer for extracting and processing the honey. But there was enough space left in the building for more indoor sleepers; the outside walls were lined with bicycles. And there on the (other) edge of town was the traditional prairie church. A very few bicycles were there, along with a few pair of shoes and socks drying on the front steps. We claimed our territory in the nursery, and then tried to figure out a strategy. I felt like taking a nap and skipping the shower. But, I knew I'd feel better after a shower and something to eat. We decided to head for the showers first to check out the line, and if that seemed unreasonable, we'd go eat. We ended up eating right away, a nice chicken meal with a home-made desserts buffet.

There were two options for showers: the Great North Dakota Watershed, or the showers at the school. The boiler hadn't been on in years, but it still functioned and was working. But there were only two showers in one room, so the men and women were alternating, two at a time. The Watershed's private stalls sounded more appealing at the moment. We joined the line, and got to swap stories with several acquaintances about the day. It turns out we fared quite well for the day! Alan had left Rugby at 6 and got caught in rain on the way to the first rest stop. He also left Anamoose shortly before our attempt, and toughed it through the storm to Drake, being one of the many taking shelter at the Cenex station. I met Bill Abeling after my shower, and he and his daughter had gotten caught out in the storm near Anamoose. They sagged to Butte on the first bus..er..sag wagon out of Anamoose and arrived in Butte about 3:30 during yet another fierce storm. That was about the time we were leaving Anamoose in sunshine and a tail wind.

That about wraps up the day as there wasn't much left of it when we got back to the church. I did want to top off the tandem's rear tire with a better pump, so I wheeled it downtown to Rory's wrenching station to take care of that. I took a few pictures on the way (just missing the sun as those clouds from Montana were rolling in from the west), and also ended up talking to Mark (with the triple seater) for a bit. They'd suffered three flats outside of Anamoose and got caught in the storm as a result. I'd remembered seeing them show up at the Fire Hall, pretty soaking and a little disgruntled!

I got the tires pumped up and took in a little bit of the Bicycle Olympics. A couple of people wondered which events I was going to partake in with the tandem. I had nooo intentions of even finding out what the various events were! Kids were rolling old tires down the street at the time, and that was fine with me!

The final memory of the day was a couple coming into the church about 10pm. They'd decided they'd sleep better indoors, so they struck their tent and headed to the church. I rolled over and went back to sleep.