63: In the matter of the tandem v. the storm

In the State of Montana Courts: Case 33930H - The Tandem v. the Storm

After battling fierce headwinds for nearly 60 miles, Tandem was taking a break and refueling. While stopped, said Tandem noticed clouds bursting with rain, flashes of lightning and rolling thunder off on the horizon.

The next destination lay some 30 miles east. Storm appeared to be coming from the north.

Donning protective gear, Tandem decided to take advantage of the shift in wind direction and attempt to outrun Storm.

With speeds up to 30 mph, Tandem flew furiously toward the only spot of blue on the horizon. Meanwhile Storm continued to build and move south toward Tandem on a collision course.

After some period, blue skies ahead appeared to indicate that Tandem had indeed outrun Storm. Then Storm created a diversion with strong crossing tailwinds, and moved up on Tandem's left flank. Quickly assembling auxiliary clouds directly before Tandem, Storm then brought on driving rain.

Having removed protective gear some miles before, Tandem was now forced to stop and reapply rain jackets.

Rain soon abated, and clear skies met Tandem as it arrived at destination. But the damage was done.

Having considered the evidence, we hold for Storm. Tandem will be made to cover court costs.

Storm, just before the altercation

All kidding aside, having the storm behind us (and probably the milkshakes inside us) did make for a lickety-split final 30 miles. We had anticipated continued headwinds, and were averaging about 10.4 mph. That last segment had me thinking this would be a nine-hour day. Instead, we got in just over seven hours for the 91 miles.

So despite the drama, all was well. And we arrived early at our Warm Showers host, Patti and Dave, who treated us to a great spaghetti dinner. Awesome!

The day's report:  White Sulphur Springs to Ryegate, 91 miles/3040 to date