We left the motel after a wonderful zero day. We had a light westerly wind of 5 to 8 and a hot clear sky. The temperature rose to 101’ as we rode up the clay hills through Little Missouri National Grass Land and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Right outside the town of Beach, just after entering North Dakota Matt got his third flat tire. We had each been carrying two spare tubes, but given the last week, now we were down to one. We have not passed any bike shops to buy new tubes, but hopefully our last tube will last us until we can get new ones. Around midday, we were passed by Dan and Lees (SFS) heading east towards Medora, as well as several other couples biking west. We crossed over the Missouri River and saw kayakers paddling underneath the bridge we were riding over. The river was thin and milky as it snaked its way north. We passed the Medora campsite where SFS crew was staying and continued on since it was only 2:30pm. We picked up some elk burgers for lunch and headed on toward Dickinson, about 40 miles east. I had been looking at Adventure Cycling Association’s Map #3 for the last 544 miles and I was ready to move onto Map #4 at Dickenson. However, by mile 75, I was crawling up the endless ups and downs of the hills along Highway 94 and on Old Highway 10. Known from the hiking community, these hills are described as PUDs, pointless ups and downs. I could barely make my legs move, and the wind had clocked around to the east. I called it quits around 6:00pm as we climbed up into the town of Belfied, ND. We pulled in to Trapper Kettles RV park and as I approached the check in desk, I noticed the walls were mounted with stuffed animal heads. I told the lady I would need a single tent site for the night and she said they weren’t allowing tents due to the severe summer storms. I told her I was following the ACA route and it showed camping at this place, and that all we would need is a patch of grass. She then asked her boss and she said that they were accepting tents for the next few weeks. I was so tired and so glad to hear we could stay. I set up the tent, took a shower in the bath house, checked the weather and crawled into bed. Matt went to the gas station to buy a dinner consisting of a sandwich, reeces pieces and V8. I was still full from the burger at lunch and skipped dinner and fell sound asleep.
At around 11:30pm I heard the first raindrops hit the tent. I quickly woke up, and as I unzipped the door to close the rainfly flap, I saw the sky light up to the west. All of a sudden the wind picked up full force, the rain came in horizontal and the lightning and thunder filled the air. Matt quickly looked up the weather and there was a severe thunderstorm warning for Belfield for the next two hours with 80 mile an hour wind moving through at 30 miles an hour, golf ball sized hail and possible tornados. My nerves were on alert as the tent snapped and whipped back and forth with the wind. I started thinking of shelters that we could run into if we needed. The bath house was about 30 yards away and there was a free standing cabin only a few meters away from us with a covered porch facing the east. As the rain came down and the wind blew through the trees, the electricity in the air caused me to start shaking uncontrollably. I suggested we make a run for the bath house, but Matt said we should head to the porch first. We put our clothes and shoes on and made a run for the porch. It was pitch black, but the lightening allowed us to glimpse the intensity of the storm. We huddled on the porch getting sprayed from all sides, but it was enough of a wind break. I was really scared, but Matt reminded me that we are Floridians and we know severe storms. It has been a while since I was actually out in a storm this severe and intense. It was kind of ironic because just a few hours earlier in the day, while biking, I was listening to Snap Judgement, a podcast that told a story about a class 5 tornado that whipped through a town with little to no warning. A group of people ran into a walk-in beer cooler in a convenience store and survived, but the rest of the store was ripped to pieces, as well as all of the trees and houses in town. As I held Matt close, seeing the trees bend in front of us and the thunder rattle all of the aluminum campers in the park, I quickly was reminded of how powerful mother nature is. We sat under the porch for about 30 minutes and waited until the storm front passed. When it appeared to be safe and the worse part of the front had passed, we quickly ran back into the tent, took off our soaked clothes and curled up in our sleeping bags. The wind continued to blow hard outside as the rain continued to fall. Exhausted from the miles and heat from earlier that day, and the aching adrenaline that now slowed through my veins I quickly was overcome by sleep.