East. Day 52.

July 30, 2016

Gackle to Enderlin, North Dakota

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I left Gackle with Robin and Loren, and Steve and his two charges. Traveling companions! But soon, downhills pulled me ahead and I found myself riding alone.

Strong south winds (sorry guys) sent Robin and Loren north for relief. I never saw them again. The other three took a short detour looking for lunch. (The 70 miles between Gackle and Enderlin had no services.) Steve said the two miles south to Marion for pizza was tough, but the tailwind push back to the ACA route was "awesome sauce."

I was pleasantly surprised when they showed up in Enderlin at the end of the day.

The highlight for me that day? My original Facebook post:

Postcard from the road. July 30, 2016 Enderlin, ND.

The plastic grocery bag containing two sandwiches and three small bags of Cheez-its that I picked up on the shoulder of Rt 46 (the longest straight road in the USA, according to a fellow cyclist) fell off my bike, too, about 10 miles west of my day's destination. As I rolled my Tour Easy back to retrieve it, I heard a horse galloping in the field to my right.

A muscular and lean bay was heading straight toward me; I thought she might charge right through the fence.

She stopped. Bobbed her head and stared at me. After a moment she galloped away along the fence line, turned, and returned. A few more head nods to me and she was off again in the other direction, running hard, circling the overgrown field.

Inbetween runs she stood at the fence and looked intently at me. "What are you trying to tell me?" I asked.

She shook her mane and was off again. At the end of the field, she leaped with all four hooves in the air, bucked, and raced back to the fence to face me.

By this time I had extracted my camera from its waterproof bag. I walked the 50 feet or so to the fence to take some photos. She stretched her head over the wire to greet me. She sniffed and snorted my extended hand; she let me stroke her face.

Close now, I could see she was inundated by flies. I chased a few away. Was she asking for relief? Was that why she was running and rearing?

I lingered for quite a while. Even as I turned to go, she stood watching. I don't profess to know much of anything about equine behavior, but this gal seemed intent on engaging me.

I never found the biker (I presume) who lost the bag but rescuing it created a chance meeting.

Thunder to the fence.

Checking me out.

She gave quite a show. Why didn't I video?

Hey sweetheart!

I wanted to take her home.