Day 16: Gackle to Kindred

The early morning sunrise had us up earlier than expected. Wes slept outside in the tent, in fear his allergies may act up in the stuffy room. I took a bed as did Will and Alex slept in a bed in the basement. The main guest room had a donation box and plenty of snacks and energy bars to purchase. Will's tire had unexpectedly run flat overnight, the spare tubes came in handy. The slightly delayed 7:15 did not deter Will or Wes as they headed out followed closely by Alex.  

A few minutes later Alex returned shaking his head. His front rack had busted, making it unrideable with cargo in the front. Quite happily, I loaded his stuff into the car and he took off.

Meanwhile, I decided to nap for an hour before heading off to meet with the bikers. After about 30 mins, I was awoken by an door slam. An older gentleman saw me and assured me that everything was alright. He was the father of the house owner. He had come to check in and ask a favor of me. A large box came in the post yesterday and he needed help carrying it. Apparently, it was a new trampoline and it was supposed to be a surprise for his grandchildren. Much like myself, Jim is (or was) a runner. 3 months ago he dropped something on his leg an broke it while simultaneously tearing a lower back muscle. Sympathetically, I unloaded it from his truck as we had a nice chat about our adventure so far. Since the energy boom in the north part of the state, the northern tier route had been redirected to Gackle. He gave me his card and told me about his friend who lives about 100 miles away who would be willing to house us for the night.

After thanking Jim, I headed out along the route to catch up with Will and Wes. A strong cross wind blew across the plains. In the distance I saw the two fluorescent yellow vests swerving and fighting the pesky cross wind. A town ahead I stopped and gave them relief, but noticed i had about two gallons of gas left and the closest station 30 miles behind me. After the checkpoint, I zoomed up to the interstate and grabbed gas before meeting them at the next point.

I pulled off at Little Yellowstone Park expecting to find plenty of trails to run on. While I didn't find trails, the park happened to by next to an American Byway, which was a dirt road. I did a quick out and back on it before returning to the park and pounding out some core and stretches. I took a picture of myself to let you know that I'm alive and well.

Once again I drove up to meet the duo for the next checkpoint. We stopped at a gas station to get out of the sweltering sun. During the break, Wes hooked us up with a sweet hotel deal using some sort of reward points. Although the ride would end short of Fargo, I would merely pick up the bikers and drive into town to stay there.

I picked up the biker crew at a cemetery in Kindred. Excited to get to the hotel, Will happily loaded his bike and hopped in the car. Not 30 minutes later, we checked into our room. I must say, it was quite a treat to get a nice shower once and a while.  

It dawned on me however that I still had Alex's stuff in the car. He sent me a text where he was staying and I drove over to deliver his stuff soon after. His ride had gone well despite the broken front rack. Tomorrow he was going to head into town to get the part, but for now we would definitively part ways.

Dinner was in Fargo. The downtown area was quite cute. The old theatre was kept in pristine condition and served as the centerpiece for the town. We ate at a sushi and noodles place. Wes really challenged himself with his dinner and added lots of Wasabi. Will and I had quite the time watching him get past the intense spice. Tears were shed, but after the 16th century in a row, a little wasabi was nothing to Wes.