Homeland

After suffering in the car with me for 12 hours, Chula finally booted me out. You would, too. No problem, I planned to ride west as she finished the drive to her parents' house. Pastoral gravel roads were leading me pleasantly westward then I encountered this:Water was running all around the bridge with no way to cross other than swimming. No problem, backtrack and take another road. Again a closed road with no sign until you were knee deep in water. I lost count after this happened 5 times as I drank the last of my water and finished my food. The simple 2 hour ride was morphing into a 4+hour adventure, and the sun had set. Dehydrated and bonking, I time-trialed toward my in-laws thinking that it couldn't get worse than arriving very late, covered in mud and sweat. Then a skunk wandered in the road. I remember my dad telling me if I ever thought I was going to wreck, just floor it. So I did (as much as I can on a bike) and the skunk spray passed behind me. If I would of braked, skunked. Thanks, Dad.
Rutland, North Dakota, the former home of the worlds largest hamburger. This honor is passed around like the Olympics or World Cup. Beaming with pride, residents assure you that the hamburger was of superior quality and taste. The logistics of a burger of this magnitude amazes me. Where do you get 3,591 lbs of beef, let alone cook it?I spent my days watching nephews play baseball, visiting family, swimming (while getting tips on how to improve my flips from nephews) and exploring rural roads and fishing spots on my bike. The riding is desolate. In an 6 hour ride with some fishing stops tossed in, only two cars passed. One was an International truck in perfect shape. The fishing was frustrating, I was shut out. While pondering my tackle selection I noticed what appears to be a marlin on the envelope holding my license. I have been fishing for the wrong thing. So I asked this fishing comrade at a little league game what he used for catching marlin. He narrowed his eyes and said "You aren't from around here."

I briefly thought East Coast Brawler had stopped by to go riding on his summer TapOut tour.The other notable event of the trip was that I got the Rutland Plague. I have had almost every stomach aliment but have never vomited (except from ingesting too much poison). Now I have had the pleasure of vomiting and crapping simultaneously. In less than 12 hours my body is completely wrung out, and I have defiled I-29 in what is going to be an epidemiologist's nightmare. Nothing like Missouri's humidity and heat to welcome me home totally dry and 3 kg lighter.