Lightning Strikes

The Bike Trip America team traveled for over 1400 miles before we saw our first lightning, our first thunderheads, and ... our first accident! By the time I took the screenshot above, the temperature was a lot closer to the daily high of 93!

But first, I don't want to keep anybody in suspense for too long. What writer would want to do something like that? We were zooming along in tight formation, just rolling towards the bridge across the Missouri River separating Mandan from Bismarck when our lead rider caught a stone under his tire, his large foot hit a spoke, the front break seized up, and we had a pile of boys on the ground. Thank God no cars were following us too closely. In front, Ryan went down pretty hard, and Jonathan was right behind him and couldn't avoid hitting Ryan's bike. I was third in line, and managed to dance between everyone and pull over to the side safely, and Bryce was able to stop before he got to the pile-up. Ryan had some pretty good road rash, but fortunately, he had worn his long neon green leggings this morning, which minimized the surface damage. He also (hopefully only very slightly) injured his right wrist, which is the one that he had surgery on last winter. Jonathan also had on long leggings, which staved off the road rash. The only damage there, a slight hole in one legging. It definitely wasn't the sarsaparilla that caused the accident!

Here's a before and after pic of us from this morning and from this afternoon. Both pictures show how well the American Legion is taking care of us. In New Salem, they provided us whatever we wanted for our lunch (before lightning struck) and in Bismarck, the Legion provided us wonderful lodging (the Ramkota Hotel), plus a couple of nice donations to Operation Comfort Warriors. Do consider donating if you haven't already. We are nearing the halfway point of our goal of raising $10,000 for the charity by the time we finish our trip in NYC. In the "after" picture,

And here's Ryan, enjoying a sarsaparilla at dinner while we were in Medora!

Happy to say, it looks like Ryan will be able to ride with us tomorrow morning, thanks to the folks at the Broken Spoke bike shop in Bismarck. They worked on his front wheel, fixed his front brake, and did a quick tune-up to make sure he was good to go. Hopefully his scrapes and bruises are minor annoyances, because he's a great addition to the BikeTripAmerica team.

Now it's quiz time. In the photo below, Don is happy because:

a)  He joined the North Dakota National Guard (look closely at the hat, part of a goodie bag from the Legion in Bismarck)
b)  He found the first Starbucks in nearly a thousand miles
c)  Ryan will be able to ride with the team tomorrow

If you answered "b" or "c," you are a winner. The prize: free access to all of the earlier blog posts on donsbike.blogspot.com.

Early tomorrow, we will have to leave behind the creature comforts of the Ramkota Hotel, and will set off from Bismarck to Napolean. I keep looking at the map ... there has to be a Wellington around here, somewhere! Regardless, we are scheduled to cover close to 250 miles over the course of the next three days. Think tailwind, and keep those thunderheads far far away! We do not want lightning to strike twice!