Day 3: Tuesday

Distance: 28 mi.
Max: 600.4 mph!
Wind: Strong from East

Last night was miserable. I got very little sleep. My sleeping bag and pillow managed to absorb all the water seeping through the tent walls. Eventually, I climbed out of my bag to lay atop it, but I quickly became cold. The rain kept on all night and continued through much of today.

The short mileage today called for sleeping in late, eating breakfast, and riding leisurely to the casino. Weather dictated otherwise. Jesse and I were both wide awake, cold, and wet when five a.m. rolled around.

We headed for breakfast, and we were not let down. The town served hot pancakes, hash browns, orange juice, and muffins. In every way Minnewaukan could, they exceeded expectations. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate.

After our early breakfast, we had little to do, so we dismantled our tent during a pause in the downpour and rode off toward Devils Lake. The wind was strong and the rain poured down for most of the ride. Notice the whitecaps alongside the road, in the picture above. Jesse is the one on the left.

The two of us rode together for the first few miles, as Jesse wasn't in a hurry to get to the casino. I had the luxury of drafting behind my friend (the much faster biker) for a few minutes until he got bored and pulled away.

Eventually, I pulled up to the casino and was immediately lost. No signs to direct me and complete chaos was the rule among hotel staff. The camping spot for those with tents is a mud pit littered with broken bottles .

Fortunate for us, Jesse's parents had reservations in the casino's hotel and were coming to visit us and celebrate Jesse's birthday (happy 25th, Jesse!). The typical family birthday photo:

Reluctantly, the casino opened the ballrooms for bikers to camp and, after some advice from tour director Dick Messerly the hotel arranged showers for us. Eventually everyone was happy. But for the first few hours, everything was up in the air as bikers gathered in the hotel lobby with nowhere to go. To add to the annoyance, check in time is 4 p.m., so we couldn't get into our room until much later. I get the impression that the staff of the Spirit Lake Casino was simply unprepared to handle the event.

While lounging in the casino ballroom, Justin and his girlfriend Nichole dropped by to see how our bike tour was going. I rode with Justin on the GRABAAWR tour last year. It was nice to see them, but they didn't stay long. The two of them were on their way home to Wisconsin and were just passing through.

Once we managed some showers and dry clothes, we all went out for a delicious meal at Mr. J's and Mrs. J's restaurant in Devils Lake, dried our gear at the laundromat, and enjoyed the (finally) sunny weather .

The day ended with an absolutely amazing sunset. Bikers all lined up outside, cameras in hand, to document it .