76 miles

After camping at a very primitive campsite, we headed out early since we knew it would be a long day.  We had been fighting winds from the south and expected the same.

After 3 hours we had ridden only 18 miles.  Ouch.

Our road was headed in a southwest direction so the winds from the south were really affecting us.  I just kept thinking that I wanted for the boys to learn perseverance and patience and this would help in teaching that.  I just had to laugh because I sure didn't want to be learning that lesson.  We pressed on.

60 miles into our day we stopped for some ice cream at a gas station, exhausted and ready to drop.  A kind man mentioned that the winds had been blowing at about 30 mph all day.  We felt relieved that our slowness had a reason and triumphant in what we had already done.  The road was turning to the north and we would have tailwinds for the last chunk of our ride.

Another woman stopped to chat and when I asked her about the road ahead, she mentioned that the direction of the wind always changes there.  What?  We had been waiting for this all day.

It turns out that the entire 16 mile stretch was downhill and we covered it in about 45 minutes.  That was surely a gift from God.