Sometime around 4 or 5 am it started to get really windy and started to rain. We were worried the storm would get worse and were worried that it could start hailing, but luckily all it did was rain. By the time we woke up in the morning, it was nice and sunny again, even though it was still pretty windy. It took us a long time to get moving this morning. We just laid there and laid there watching the mosquitoes on our tent. My chest pain has been slowly getting better. When we finally got everything packed up inside our tent, we decided that we would heat up our water and eat our breakfast in our tent (even though we never do that because we don't want our tent to smell like food because of the bears). We had heard that other cyclists had eaten in their tent before and never had a problem, but we still try to take every precaution possible. But, it was just not worth it to try to eat outside. We sat in our tent for another half hour or so after we were done eating because we just didn't want to go outside. Since we couldn't sit in our tent all day, we got our bug nets on, cleaned the dishes and packed everything us as fast as we possibly could. Yesterday Joey made a makeshift bike stand with a stick, so that was really helpful to try to get everything put away since there weren't any tees nearby to lean our bikes against. Unfortunately as we were packing, we noticed that the wind was going to be against us today. We were already in kind of a bad mood from the bugs, so this didn't make it any better. The only good thing was that because it was so windy, there were no horse flies as we were riding. We had a lot of big rolling hills today, so the ride started off really slow. I was beginning to wonder if we were actually going to make it to our goal location today. For a few miles, the road went from a somewhat bumpy asphalt to a really bumpy gravel asphalt that was worse than what we were riding on hwy 37. Luckily that wasn't the way the road was all day. Around the 10 mile mark, we saw a black bear, and then as we were standing there watching him, we saw another black bear (this one was more brown and was a lot bigger). It was funny to watch them because the smaller bear chased the other bear away and before we knew it they were both running off into the woods. They just plowed through the bushes and trees, so you could see the path they were running through. A short while later we stopped for a cookie break and since I had put the extra bananas in the same grocery bag as the bag of cookies, somehow our chocolate cookies had a banana taste to them. There seem to be more rest areas so far on the Alcan than on the Cassiar. We only had about 16 miles done before we stopped and had more cookies and a banana at a rest area. Neither of us really felt like riding anymore because of the wind. Riding has become more of a job than for enjoyment lately. For the first time ever, I heard Joey say that he "didn't want to ride anymore." I couldn't believe my ears. As horrible as it was to ride in that wind, I knew that it would get better at some point, maybe not today, or tomorrow, but at some point it will get better. The wind continued for the rest of the day, we never seemed to be able to get a break. We met a guy from Denmark who is riding the opposite direction. After talking for a while we asked him if he had seen the guys on the recumbents we met in Watson Lake. Surprisingly, he said they were only about 5 miles down the road ahead of us. He also said he saw the walkers there too. We have been hearing about this couple who are walking for quite a while, although we weren't positive where they started or were ending their trip. With hope that we might see them later today we were able to keep riding. My knees were really starting to hurt from the constant pressure of trying to push through the wind. I was really frustrated with this because they have been feeling so good for the past few days. We counted down the km posts as we passed them until we reached our destination, Rancheria. There was a pull off about 10 miles before our destination so I took a little break and ate the last banana. Although it seemed like we would never get there, the last few miles started to go a little quicker. A couple of the other cyclists who we met the last few days told us that the hotel/cafe in Rancheria was very cyclist friendly and that we would probably be able to get a room for $20, which we were so hoping for because we wanted to be inside so bad. When we pulled into the parking lot, we saw 2 recumbent bikes outside! We had caught up to the grandson/ grandfather team! The grandson came out to greet us and was so excited that we caught up to them. His grandfather and him were enjoying relaxing inside and talking with the two hikers! So the six of us had a great time relaxing and visiting. It turns out the grandfather/grandson team were both named Michael and they are originally from Texas. The couple who are walking are from France and are both named Camille (kind of like Sam and Sam). They started walking 8 months ago in NM near the Mexican border and followed the continental divide trail for quite a while. They had to take a couple months off from walking near CO because of the snow and took some time working on some farms during that time. The went through Banff and Jasper and followed the length of the Alcan. Their final destination is in Dawson Creek. We thought that it was so amazing to have walked all that way, especially since they do about 18-25 miles a day. While we were at the cafe, we all enjoyed a huge, warm cinnamon roll and it sure was amazing! We found out that there is indeed an amazing deal for cyclists-$20 for a room (normally it is $90!!!!). Linda, the owner of the establishment offered for us to stay, have a hot shower and get a nice meal. We gladly took up the offer and so did the hikers. Michael and Michael had already planned on riding around 11 or 12 more miles today and really wanted to get those done, so they decided to keep riding. We said our goodbyes and figured that we would probably catch up with them tomorrow or the next day and continue on riding with them until we get to Whitehorse. Linda showed us to our rooms and they were wonderful! A comfy bed, tv, hot shower and even wifi! We coulnd't be happier, it was like being in a paradise. After our wonderful showers, we went back to the cafe with Camille and Camille for dinner. We all got huge cheeseburgers (with bacon and mushrooms!) and french fries. Linda didn't think I was going to be able to eat all of mine (because it was a double), but I ate every last bit of it. When Joey went up to the counter to pay, she didn't want any of our money and said the meal was on her. Joey almost forgot to say thank you because I guess he was in shock that she said that. We left a tip for the waitress and then all went to talk to Linda and thank her for everything. After such a long frustrating day, we had such a wonderful evening and were pretty much in heaven. We get to sleep in a bed tonight and we don't have to hear the bugs buzzing outside, what could be better!! We rode 39.92 miles today, and its a pretty good thing that we decided to cut our miles down because between the wind and the bumpy road, I don't think we would have been able to go much farther anyway. Hopefully the wind will be better tomorrow.
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