41 miles
538 feet ascent
689 feet descent
1,695 calories
As I was riding by more fields today, it dawned on me that the scenery looked sort of similar to the Midwest and Chicago. That was re-enforced when I saw, no, not another oversized roadside animal, but Jake and Elwood!
The Blues Brothers
What surprised me even further was that I came within eighteen miles of Wimbledon. Had I known, I could have brought my racket and shoes and dropped in and hit a few with Roger and Rafael.
Tennis Anyone?
I had to look it up when I got to the hotel, and sure enough, there it was, Wimbledon, North Dakota. I wish it was closer to the route, and I definitely would have detoured to check it out.
Everything is now green and entirely different from western North Dakota. Several times today the road literally split lakes in half. On one of them I saw some of those white pelicans flying over, but couldn't get picture.
Lake Splitting Road
While crossing one of these lakes another of these farming contraptions came down the road that I see almost everyday. They are pretty impressive and somewhat daunting, so I just stop and watch them lumber past.
That contraption is a "Bismark Mark IV Pelican Processing Unit (PPU)". It is designed to traverse shallow ponds inhabited by the North Dakotan Pelican. The armatures house two 5000V bird tasers used to incapacitate entire flocks at a time. The underbelly has a vacuum which sucks the birds inside. The pelicans are transferred by train to the Hormel Company in Austin, MN, for rendering into their famous and most sought-after product, SPAM.
ReplyDeleteJake and Elwood, for sure you have left the West and made it to the MidWest. Amazing amount of distance you have already covered. Hope that you have left the heat for a while now and cruise along in a bit more comfort. Cheers
ReplyDeletewho is this Energius fellow? He is a crack up!
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