Those thunderstorms have turned up but at Gackle, subject at this very moment to a severe thunderstorm watch. But no tornadoes so that's a relief. I'm waiting for the storm to abate, sitting on a sofa inside the HoneyHub cyclist accommodation having just drunk a cup of Earl Grey tea. The flashes and thunder and blasts of wind are reducing but not quite enough yet. The tent is out in the storm and looks OK though and it is neither flooded nor blown over. We set off from Enderlin at about 9am, visited the Dollar General for food because it's 73 miles before there's much chance of food or water, and the heat is serious enough (perhaps 30 centigrade max with fair humidity). Then off into a green sort of desert. Rather picturesque on the whole - small lakes, big fields mostly of maize, gentle undulations with three bigger dips - particularly pretty at Little Yellowstone.
After perhaps 20 miles or so we saw a sign for the Continental Divide - the watershed between the Pacific and the Atlantic. The road was popular with heavy lorries, trucks, bearing crops to mills and railheads. They are big, travel fast but give us a decent wide berth if they can. Mostly there's a good shoulder to the road which we move onto to let traffic pass. After 6 hours of pedalling at an average speed of 12mph, with a few stops to eat energy bars and drink water (we have two litres altogether but we flooded ourselves with water before leaving Enderlin), but horse flies keep these stops short, we reach Gackle and the HoneyHub. Huzzay! But we miss the closing time at the grocery gas station... We ate fish and salad at Dani's place - a bar with food. Hugo ate with us and told us remarkable stories from his lifetime of cycle living - being robbed in various alarming places, cycling across borders manned by variously corrupt or intimidating officials, how his socks caused an airport terminal to be evacuated (odour is key to this, perhaps sniffer dogs can be overcome by ancient sweaty socks). He has no fixed address, as far as I can see. Belgium is peripheral to his current lifestyle - he's heading towards Asia after crossing the States, so that he's out of the Northern hemispheres' winter. He almost married a girl from Brum when youthful, wild and fruit picking on Canada, wild parties across the border in Buffalo, back in the mid 80s. I say he ought to write a picaresque book of the cyclist's road but he says the age of reading books is over, people just follow web gurus and gimmicks. I disagree but I'm an old bookish sort of dinosaur... And he's that very rare thing - a belgian that does not drink beer (or caffeine for that matter). And he does not keep a blog - too busy living.... Hmm
...Then the storm comes in and we hang around in the HoneyHub. We are about to go to the tent because the storm is easing off... Hugo is trying to sleep and so is Ian, doing the Northern Tier back to home in Brooklyn. Ian is, like me, reading a book - modern western. A book about bees in the USA is being sold here - the owner is a large scale bee keeper (hives go from here to California to pollinate almonds, plums, etc, in Feb - and they go indoors for their time in the Dakotan winter - understandably, it's 20 degrees below plus wind chill). These bee keepers are heroes. Perhaps it must be added to my luggage. The cup of Earl Grey is finished and the tent, still standing, is now the place to be. The lights are still flickering a bit but calm seemd to be approaching, we hope so anyway and the rain radar supports us. Our position tonight is just here