July 2 AM

July 2nd, I woke up today and was ready to say good-bye to Donna and the folks at Dream of Wild Health farm in Hugo, Minnesota. I packed my bags, joined the group in a prayer of intention for the day, offered tobacco and thank everyone for offering up a place for me to stay and hear stories. I sat down on my bike, started it up… started it up… started it up again… nothing. Day two of the trip and my bike wasn’t interested in getting on the road. Pedro, one of the staff at Dream of Wild Health and a great guy, explored the possible reasons why my bike wouldn’t start. We charged the battery, tried to jump the bike and nothing. Rich, my friend from the cities, called at this exact time to ask how I was doing. He suggested hitting the starter with a wrench to see if we couldn’t start the bike that way. We did. The sound changed a bit, but still no luck. We decided that if I could get the bike started, I would drive it back to Rich’s, drop it off and take his 1500cc Intruder to finish the trip. The only way this was going to happen is if Pedro and I could get the bike going fast enough to pop it into 2nd gear. I rolled down the driveway, popped it and was off… at least until the end of the drive way where is stalled out. Pedro and I pushed the bike up a hill on the highway in the scorching heat, while horse flies entertained themselves by biting our back, arms, necks and legs. We got to the top. I coasted down. Popped the bike in 2nd. Revved the engine as much as I could before a stop sign about to come up. I made a rolling stop, looked quickly and didn’t dare stop the bike. I was off. All I had to do was make it to Highway 35 and my engine would be warm enough to make it all the way. One horse fly had decided to come along for the ride under my jacket. Biting me, biting me, biting me. I swatted at it. It bit me harder. Swatted it again. He bit me again. I carefully tested if I could pull over and keep the bike going. I did. Released the fly. And drove to switch bikes. After repacking, I got on Highway 61 and head towards Duluth.