All throughout the night the rain fell. I woke up a few times to the sound of rain crashing against the window. But after another good night’s sleep I hit the road early. The town was pretty quiet and immediately I was on the small country roads again. Undulating hills and no traffic Was the order of the morning. About an hour another ride I came over the top of the hill and started to descend but saw something on the road. When my eyes focused I realized it was a bull who had gotten out beyond the fence line. He was directly in the middle of the road and there was no clear path around him. As I stopped to contemplate what to do I heard another moo coming from the bushes. I never saw that bull, But I quickly retreated to the top of the hill to reassess. The bull on the road decided to move off to the right but he kept a watchful eye on me. I decided to pedal fast but also had to navigate a turn just past his position. As I flew by the bull began to stomp his feet and I was weary of a possible attack. I was moving very quickly at the time so I just needed to get by. Getting around the corner and checking my rearview mirror there was no one chasing. My heart rate came back to normal and I pedaled on. A little bit later I came upon another herd of cows comfortably sitting behind a fence. This time I took a picture. I saw a few donkeys running in the woods but they hid before I could get a photograph. I saw several alpaca farms but mostly corn and wheat today. The wheat became a reminder of the winds that were growing. Early in the morning they were nonexistent but by the end of the day they were a consistent 20 mile an hour wind from the west. I took a break and a Starbucks coffee, but kept it rather short. I was afraid the winds were going to make it even more difficult than it already had been. Getting to my final destination I sent some more time looking over the next few days and creating options. I will definitely need to start earlier to avoid the winds later in the day. Hopefully I can find some extra miles over the next few days just to move a little bit farther west. The weather outlook is good but I’ll have to check each day.
