Hot Dogs-
Sean likes hot dogs; they're easy to fix; and they're available in convenience store that don't carry real food. Those things combined to give us hot dog meal after hot dog meal in Eastern Montana. We even had two lunches of left over hot dogs! I was raised not to complain about the food that was set before me, but I'm not sure the meat by-products in hot dogs make them food. Eventually, I complained, and the hot dog spree ended- thanks- I should have said something earlier.
18 Jun 2016 Day 15
St Mary Campsite Glacier NP to Browning, MT
50.0 miles, riding time 5:28 2,410 elevation gain
Going solo for a few days reminded me how much easier it is to meet people both fellow cyclists or just friendly sympathetic people. When alone, I think we're more approachable. I didn't like leaving Chris and the hikers in Glacier, and the Great Plains aren't the part of the trip I'm most looking forward to. Views back toward the Rockies were good though.
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| looking back at Glacier National Park |
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| Moving farther away from the scenery of Glacier and into the plains |
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| Heading down to Browning, MT - a View I expect to see much of in the next few weeks |
I met Dave, Judy, Joann and their 2 friends at the eastern visitor's center. They were looking forward to strong tailwinds as they headed North into Canada and warned me that I'd have strong headwinds. They were right. I'd find the day tiring, but tomorrow would be my rest day. The Rockies seemed to be spawning small storms that moved east in narrow north/south bands away from the mountains. I got caught by a couple of them- no downpour, but enough I wanted out of them. Just as I arrived on the edge of Browning, a colder and stronger storm that lasted longer arrived, and I sought shelter in a huge convenience store on the North entry to town. Then into Browning where a couple people told me the Sleeping Wolf Campground had closed. The cheapest motel was $116, so I thought I'd push myself on to Cutbank and try to let my separated friends know. I decided to eat a PB&J sandwich on the side of Glacier Family Foods, a large grocery store. One of the employees came out and told me that the entity that owns the grocery store had recently bought the campground and reopened it! I wasn't wanting to ride to Cutbank at 1500 hours anyway. Sleeping Wolf Campground is clean and well maintained if old. Plus Glacier Family Foods has a deli with excellent public WIFI (a rarity I'm finding) where I spent the evening and plan to spend much of my layover day. Winds were from the south all day and grew that evening becoming so loud they interrupted my sleep- something that's hard to do.
Day 16 19 May 2016
Layover Day Browning, Montana
9.9 miles 1:17 riding time running between campground, church, and grocery store
Ah, my first layover day since the Bacon Bike Hostel. Glacier Family Foods opened at 0800 hours, so I was there working on the blog until 1030 when I headed off to church which ran a little long with too many guest speakers. As I arrived back at Glacier Family Foods to finish catching up the blog, Sean, Carol, & Christy arrived enjoying the strong tail winds. The winds had switched from the South to the WSW, and the winds were blowing them east at an unexpected speed, so they didn't want to camp here as planned. Sean used group funds to buy everyone a meat snack, and they went on. I guess I'm set up for a century into Chester tomorrow, ugh!, but I will catch up on the blog and maybe even Facebook. FB gets a slightly lower priority except when time or poor WIFI allows only the post of a photo there. I've found really poor WIFI will only do email without attachments!
I enjoyed the rest of my stay in Browning. The campground was nice, Glacier Family Foods had great snacks available whenever desired (only bicycle tourists will understand how often that is), and WIFI was as good as at the Bacon Bike Hostel, the only two places with decent WIFI since I left Lewiston.
Day 17 - 20 June 2016
Browning Montana to Chester, Montana
102.9 miles, 9:52 riding time 1,373 elevation gain
I was unenthused about a century today, but the day started off with mild tailwinds. SW winds were forecast to last through the morning, but with about 5 miles of riding they switched to SE winds, giving me mild headwinds to fight all day.
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| Grain elevators are about the only thing to see in the extreme western edge of East Montana. It seems odd since almost all the ground appears uncultivated, maybe CRP? |
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| Farther east towns start appearing beside the warehouses, and here 3 warehouses are together- I'd guess as the quality of land improves |
As we moved east, the prairie lands seem to be farmed. The warehouses tend still to exist every 7 or 8 miles, but small towns started appearing beside them.
Cutbank was a real disappoint to me. I'd looked forward to seeing this town I've heard of most of my life and never seen, but the entry was full of truck parts, and main street was closed for re-construction diverting us to a truck route where all I saw was the back of buildings, old tires, and junk. I got on Main Street for the one block that wasn't closed, and found it brown, dreary, and without a single potted plant or anything green. Maybe it looks better in the years without construction? The other three had to get off route here for the RV park, and had a better opinion of Cut Bank than did I.
At mile 70 I took a small break and promised myself snacks at mile 85 which divided my remaining miles for the day in half hoping I'd be in camp at about mile 104 if the road signs were right. Chester, MT turned out to be a nice town with a great little city park where bicycle tourists are allowed to camp, but it has no showers, so I turned the cold water faucet on myself while everyone else settled for baby wipes.
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| Steve showering under the cold water faucet |
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| Christy doing the evening dishes- Steve's job, but she's kind to her fellow rider who'd done a century! |
Day 18 - 21 June 2016
Chester, MT to Havre, MT
69.1 miles, 5:03 riding time 810 elevation gain
Apparently all hadn't gone well for the other three on my century day. Sean and Carol were both sun-burnt and there was tension in the air when I arrived yesterday afternoon Today, Sean took all of Carol's panniers. I'm sure his 32 spoke wheels were not built to carry a double tourist's load, but he assures me they're over-engineered! Time will tell.
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| Sean on his over-loaded bike outside Kremlin, MT |
We saw two loaded bikes outside a rural bar, so we stopped and met Chris and Erica, as they were coming out. They were also headed to Havre today and also planned to stay at the fairground's campground. Our intro conversations were cut short by a storm to our west that seemed to be headed our way, so we returned to riding the bikes. The clouds kept getting blacker and the ever switching winds became pretty strong tail winds as we left behind this couple. Then, just at the bottom of a significant hill that leads into Havre, the dust storm caught us. The filthy wind blew us up the hill and across the flats at 25MPH or so which wasn't fast enough to catch the even faster blowing debris! Christy and I don't care much for wind storms that severe with gusting side-winds occasionally hitting us though the main storms was directly behind us and pushing us which Sean seemed to thoroughly enjoy. Carol offered no opinion. We got to the Fairgrounds camp just as drizzle started in this hard wind. One of the employees offered to immediately take us to a nearby mall where we hid from the storm for about 2 hours. As we started walking back to the camp, we realized no one wanted to cook, eat, or wash dishes in the wind, so we ate at that mall's Chinese buffet which was good with plentiful food.
Day 19 - 22 June 2016
Havre, MT to Dodson, MT
77.4 miles 6:22 riding time 2,238 elevation gain
We were up before dawn, had breakfast, and were on the road with a pleasant but reasonable tail wind by 0700. We had camped on the east side of town and rode through its downtown this morning. It was too early to do anything like stop at the bike shop. The group dropped me as they were enjoying the speed the tailwind could give them. In Chinook they stopped at a road side convenience store and waited for me. They had no interest in going 2 blocks out of the way to see this interesting small town, so we separated for the day. I got stamps, a couple of post cards, met several very friendly locals interested in the trip, and went to the smallest grocery store I've ever seen with it's own inhouse bakery. I should have known what a treat it would be when I interrupted the very friendly baker hand kneading bread to ask which pastries were made today. "All of them, but I'm just about to take the cinnamon rolls out of the cooling pans if you care to wait". I didn't mind that wait at all. "Would you like caramel sauce or cream cheese frosting with that?" Linda Vrieze, that cinnamon roll is comparable to yours! The cream cheese frosting was just like the best home made.
Free to mess around small towns, I popped into Harlem for my PB&J lunch in the city park. Eastern Montana especially here on the Milk River is plagued with mosquitoes, so they chased me out of the park, and I decided to catch up the blog in the middle of the day at the local library enjoying the air conditioning, decent WIFI, and protection from mosquitoes! Locals say today's high should be about 85°, but these "two bar stools down rumours" about weather have been anything but accurate. They also say last night's storm brought a tornado to a town about 100 miles east of here. With the blog up-to-date again, I have about 20 miles to ride at 1415 hours.
As I left Harlem I thought my bottom bracket became a bit noisy and soon my chain was trying to jump off the chain ring. In just a few miles the chain succeed in jumping off the chain ring twice. I discovered if I kept a very even pressure on the peddles, the chain was less jumpy, but it was getting worse by the mile. Was the problem in my rear derailer which was jumping around on its own or the wheel?
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| I took the BIA back road which was little travelled by motorized traffic |
Chris, my friend who rode the Lewis-Clark route with me in 2003 would be passing me probably tomorrow looking for us with all his bike tools (he was just the mechanic on "Ride the Gorge", and I was hoping my bike would make it until he arrived! Shortly after getting back on US 2, he and Collette turned on emergency flashers and pulled over in front of me! Chris did a quick inspection and guessed my problem was the wheel- most likely the bearings, but maybe the freewheel which he could replace. Of course, I want to ride every mile of the route, which Chris understood without my saying (he knows me!), so he and Collette headed off to the Stage Road Inn B&B in Dobson where the others already were.
I rode into camp concerned only about my wheel, getting Chris' opinion, and getting the repair underway! Others were eating dinner (more hot dogs), but the first thing to greet my ears was, "hurry, get your dirty clothes together as our hostess is allowing us to use her washer!" Although getting clean clothes when on tour is always a priority, it wasn't mine tonight! "Go ahead without me" was my reply as I noticed the available dinner diminishing which moved eating up my priority list! Also, I like my delicate cycling clothes washed separately from velco and big zippers which the others don't seem to even understand. Still, I wanted Chris to examine the wheel, but I refrained from bugging him until he was done with dinner. Of course, no mechanic will examine any part of a bicycle without it being on a stand, so I unloaded the bike, we took the wheel off, and Chris went to work! The group had already revised the plan to have tomorrow be a half day's ride and then spend an afternoon and night at Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs, and if all went well for me tomorrow that might work out well to catch up with them again. If feels like I've been hurrying and chasing them ever since they diverted from the planned "Going to the Sun" highway for an easy short-cut and took their double layover day.
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| Chris examining my faulty wheel |
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| Chris and Sean adjust Sean's bar end shifters |
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| Christy & Collette at the breakfast table |
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| Hostess Sandy serving Colette and Carol at breakfast |
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| The group heads out without me on their well functioning bikes: Christy, Sandy (our hostess), Steve, Carol, Sean, and Chris |
Of course I was preoccupied with my bike problems thru the evening and breakfast. We did take a few photos, and we give our highest recommendations to "Stage Road Inn" where bicyclists may put up their tent, shower, and have breakfast for a very reasonable price. Sandy had no notice, had personal company, and still did a great job as hostess!
Chris isn't familiar with White hubs, so he couldn't take it apart, but he did isolate the problem to the hub. A trip back to Havre (nearly 77 miles) would be required to buy an $85 double walled but only 32 spoke wheel which may get me to Maine! It may not. For sure it's not a touring wheel!
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| Chris showing my wheel problem to the owner of the Havre bike shop |
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| Thanking Chris and saying our good-byes |
Day 20 23 June 2016
Dobson, MT to Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs
39.9 miles 4:56 riding time 1,033 elevation gain
With a 1400 hours start the milder temps and winds of the morning had grown to their strong point, and with strong headwinds from the SE today, going was very slow. I briefly talked to Gary and Alan as I passed them (originally met on Sherman Pass). In Malta, I caught Zig and Ed as their bikes were parked at a restaurant, so I stopped to talk to them for 1/2 hour or so (mostly complaining about the head wind). I hated leaving Ed and Zig to return to riding in the head wind. I had a late lunch in Malta's city park before heading out. I stuck to the original plan and rode the A/C's alternate route through Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge though my companions, who seem to be always after the shortest, fastest, and easiest route, had changed their route to US 2. I was glad to get off US 2 and onto this quiet highway, but about 1/2 way through it, it turned to gravel, then some fairly steep rollers with that unabating headwind. I got to camp about 1930 hours just as my fellow travellers were leaving the indoor swimming pool! I got in a quick dip before dinner and dish washing. Although they'd travelled much earlier in the day avoiding the heat and more severe headwind, they'd decided that tomorrow should be a layover day here. I'm tired of chasing them, so I agreed before I knew how truly horrible the mosquitoes were here! I'll still want to ride through the small towns instead of around them, and I like to stop at real local stores instead of road side convenience stores!
Day 21 24 June 2016
Layover Day Buffalo Hot Springs, MT
With my late arrival last night, I put up my tent at twilight- probably the worst time for mosquitoes, and I was swarmed by them- killing 5 to 10 with each swat but still losing the war! Despite the mosquito misery the tent was eventually erected, and afterward it provided protection from them as well as the thrunderstorm, hail, and rain. I was up at dawn, and the mosquitoes were out in full force too! Christy was soon up, but couldn't take the mosquito attack, so she retreated to her tent. I discovered that cement walkway in front of the swimming pool has a plug in, WIFI access, and that in a corner of the building out of the grass, I was away from most of the mosquitoes which could attack only from my front! Sounds unpleasant, but it's so much better than the grass around the tents!. Sometime after 1000 hours, the "resort" should open, and I'll be inside- mosquito free! I think the others actually ate a breakfast in the grass surrounded by mosquitoes, but I see Sean and Carol have now retreated to the cement near me! Once the resort is finally opened, it may turn out to be a pleasant remainder of a layover day! The sad part is there is almost no wind today, and what there is would be a tail wind, but we'll take the layover day!
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| Carol, Sean, & Christy enjoying resting on the layover day at Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs |
After the resort opened, we spent most of the day protected from mosquitoes, swimming, lounging, doing an hour's worth of yoga (thanks guys for going along with this), and of course eating. Quite a storm arrived, but strong windstorms seem the norm here in Eastern Montana! My tent nearly blew away, but Sean caught it, but found the wind so strong he could do nothing with it until I arrived with another set of hands!
Day 22 25 Jun 2016
Buffalo Hot Springs, MT to Glasgow, MT
56.6 miles, 4:33 riding time 2,238 elevation gain
Wind and rain continued thru the night, and this morning we took off with strong tail winds- finally. It was a cold morning, but I believe it was the wind that had the mosquitoes in hiding in great contrast to yesterday morning. My legs, head, and arms are covered with bites. Today, we made excellent time with the tailwind. Winds are reducing and the forecast shows mild tailwinds for tomorrow. Last time I mentioned Christy's riding pace, she was faster than I in the morning and slower in the afternoons. Now, she's faster than I all day. Carol's passing her load to Sean seems to be permanent, so I'm bringing up the rear most of the time.
Day 23 26 Jun 2016
Glasgow, MT to Steamboat Dry Goods, 5.3 miles E of Wolfe Point, MT
62.3 miles, 4:25 riding time 810 ft elevation gain
We were up before 0500. Winds were still strong and from the WSW as we headed East, so it was another quick day without a lot of effort. Being tired of chasing the group, I was the first one out of camp and held the lead for 2.5 miles before Christy caught me though I'm never wanting to turn a tour into a race or skip things to do or see along the way! We arrived in Wolfe Point, MT by 1030 hours, so had we had a plan we might have made it to church after the day's ride! The city park was listed as allowing cyclists, but the bathrooms were padlocked! We'd passed an expensive RV park on the way into town, and didn't want to turn around and fight the headwind to go back to it. Finishing so early, we could have added more miles, but there aren't any real towns until Circle which is tomorrow night's goal, and that may be a bit too much to add to today's ride! Adventure Cyclist's addendums showed Steamboat Dry Goods accepts cyclists and is on route but about 5 miles East of town, so we called. A Great place. We have the run of the house, a big yard, and access to the gas BBQ! So what do modern day cyclists do when they arrive early? catch up blogs, e-mail, and get back to the virtual life which they've partly come out here to avoid!
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| Sean catching up on the virtual life |
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| Carol's also catching up on the virtual life! |
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| Christy's never far behind on the virtual life, but still has something to do there! |
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| Carolyn, our hostess at Steamboat Dry Goods who welcomed us into her home |
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| Steamboat Dry Goods near Wolfe Point, Montana |
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| Carolyn, Ed, Sean, Carol, Muff, Zig, Steve, and Christy |
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| Muff, Zig, and Ed joined us for a dinner party at Steamboat Dry Goods Carol, Sean, Muff, Ed, Carolyn, Steve, and Zig - photo by Christy |
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| tasty salads- Christy and Carol |
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| evening storm behind our tents at Steamboat Dry Goods |
Steamboat Dry Goods 5 Mi E of Wolf Point, Montana to Circle, Montana
85.0 miles 7:48 riding time 2,238 ft elevation gain
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| Christy and Sean preparing to photograph an old bridge over the Missouri just after leaving Steamboat Dry Goods |
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| old bridge over the Missouri near Steamboat Dry Goods |
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| lots of miles looked like this today - up and down |
Dave and Judy caught up with us today carrying a pair of Sean's shoes he had left in Chester 8 days ago or about 400 miles ago. Thanks, Dave and Judy (on a tandem). I'd have sent them to general delivery somewhere, but we appreciate your dedication!
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| Carol, Sean, Christy, Dave, Ed, Judy, Erica, Chris, Zig, Muff, Natalie, JoAnn, Steve at Circle City Park |
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| Christy and Carol enjoy the cool water in Circle's City Swimming Pool |
Day 25 28 June 2016
Circle Montana to Glendive, Montana
57.0 miles 5:35 riding time 1,033 ft elevation gain
Erica and Chis had reserved a large site at Maroshira State Park, but the day was hot and dry, so they decided on a motel and called giving us their prepaid reservation number. The park is above the city with a climb, and it was one of the few hot days since the Cascades. When we checked in, there were no problems identified, but when we arrived at camp, we found we had one of the few sites with no shade. We had a late lunch feeling a bit sorry for ourselves in the heat even though we ate in a then vacate site adjacent to ours with a small shelter. I decided to check out the spigot to see if I could tolerate another cold water "shower". A small sign said "water available at the visitor's center" some 2 miles down the hill! Cycle tourists don't do well dry camping, so it was an easy decision to leave. Muf showed up just as we were leaving and suggested an RV camp in town.
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| Sean at Maroshira State Park- it looks like a great place to hike and explore on a cooler day |
We met our first West bound riders of the Northern Tier at this campground: a middle aged couple that seemed a bit too busy for the usual tourist get together, but we'll be meeting West bounders regularly from now on
At the camp in town, we all had to try Ed's trike which everyone found fun.
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| Muff on Ed's trike |
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| Ed on his trike |
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| Steve on Ed's Trike - photo by Carol |
Day 26 29 June 2016
Glendive, Montana to Medora, North Dakota
69.4 miles 6:39 riding time 1,962 elevation gain
The day was great going from interesting old highways back to the freeway. Most of the larger group was together at various times.
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| Taking a break after getting off a section of freeway Sean, Zig, Carol, & Christy (Ed in the white shirt behind Christy) |
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| enjoying the great back roads into North Dakota, Christy, Ed, Sean (who appears to be signaling a stop), & Zig |
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Christy and Carol reenter the freeway |
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| Sean fixes the flat on Chis' trailer |
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| Muff delivering pastries to all stopped at Erica & Chris' flat. She delivered them in her classy style - serving tray in hand |
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| We hit the North Dakota line where scenery suddenly changed |
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| Olson's Service Station in Sentinal Butte, ND where we were well fed |
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| Steve, Ed, Carol with the helmet in case of restaurant wreck, Sean, and Zig in Olson's Service Station |
Medora is a tourist trap on the edge of Teddy Roosevelt National Park. Our campsite was dusty, crowded, and not particularly desirable. We did have a final meal with Ed, Zig, and Muff before parting as they will take a layover here tomorrow before following the Lewis-Clark Trail down to RAGBRAI 2016.
Day 27 30 June 2016
Medora, ND to Richardton, ND
62.8 miles 6:53 riding time 2,238 ft elevation gain
We said our good-byes to Erica & Chis as well as Muf, Zig, and Ed knowing we'd really miss them.
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| Erica and Chris whom we met as the storm blew us into Havre |
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| Left: My bike awaiting the installation of a chain. Right: Sean's bike right hoping for a new wheel. |
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| Sean's "over-engineered" 32 spoke wheel - dead |
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| Steve and Christy arrive at Assumption Abby |
Day 28 1 July 2016
Richardton, ND to Bismark, ND
86.6 miles 10:46 riding time 788 ft elevation gain
Headwinds were again strong as Christy and I headed out. Christy's approach to them is different than mine- she tucks in and rides hard- probably going anaerobic while fighting them. I'm careful to stay in the aerobic zone and might push myself less than on a pleasant day. Temptation reared its ugly head at her even as we left the abby. Christy was apparently having thoughts about the Ellis' seated in comfortable seats, eating snacks, and maybe sampling the abbey's wine as they were comfortably transported to Bismark instead of fighting the headwind as we were. About 5 miles from the abbey she announced, "I'm quitting and getting in that van with the Ellis', but I will ride along until they catch us." She dropped me there, and when we got to the outskirts of Hebron (10 miles from the abbey) I headed into town thinking she'd be there and maybe discuss the options (shortening the day by ending at New Salem, not making Gackle's 4th of July celebration, or any other change we'd need to make sure we all rode entirely across the continent! We still have some extra days in the schedule too, so there were many options. I'd briefly mentioned these options when she made her announcement. She wasn't in Hebron though! Apparently, she didn't go into town, and while I was in Hebron, the van picked her up for her transport into Bismark.
The day was long and the headwinds remained severe. By New Salem it was 1700 hours and I knew I should stay there, but I'd missed their small downtown and thought I could make Mandan on the west side of Bismark. I did that just fine, but Mandan is long, and I found no place to stay. I stopped at a local fire station but was denied sleeping there; fire stations sometimes provide a place for traveling cyclists but not in Mandan. Peddling on toward Bismark as the sun was sinking into the western sky, I rode by the place Chris, David, and I stayed back in 2003 but found they no longer take tents. They said it was 5 miles to General Sibley Park on the other side of the river, so I headed there thinking I might make it. Getting oriented on the Bismark side took a few minutes, and finally I found a sign "General Sibley Park 5 miles". The sun was down, I hadn't eaten, and I was sure there was no food near the park. I was about as tired as I get and thought about stealth camping in various empty lots, but didn't want to be arrested for vagrancy. So, I got a room at the Hampton Inn and e-mailed my fellow cyclists who had been comfortably transported around this difficult 86 mile 10:46 riding day. It was so late I settled for McDonalds which was across the parking lot. I blogged a day's travel, and went to bed. At least my expensive motel came with good WIFI and a nice breakfast buffet the next morning which I thoroughly enjoyed and then blogged another day's travel before heading out hoping to meet my companions.
Day 29 2 July 2016
Bismark, ND to Hazelton, ND
49.5 miles 5:48 riding time 1,467 ft elevation gain
After a leisurely breakfast I headed out toward the General Sibley Park which yesterday seemed to remain "5 miles away" no matter how many miles I had cycled. There's a great bike path leading out of the city, and then on to pleasant roads. Head winds (from the East) were still substantial, but since I'd pushed myself so hard yesterday, this day would be just under 50 miles. At the end of the day I met my transported companions in the Hazelton City Park which was a bit below my cleanliness standards and a bit over priced at $12 per tent. The "grocery store" there is large and fairly new, but it's supplied like a convenience store, so we ended up with another meal of hot-dogs - a frequent occurrence.
Day 30 3 July 2016
Hazelton, ND to Honey Hut Bicycle Respite Gackle, ND
65.5 miles 6:30 riding time 1,713 ft elevation gain
Winds finally switched; they were from the South today letting us finally make some decent time. The side wind throws us off balance every once in a while, but we can almost make normal speed. We had lunch in a convenience store in Napoleon. For 8 sweet miles we turned and went north enjoying the 15 to 20 MPH speed we could maintain there. Still the wind is tiring mentally and physically, and we're looking forward to a layover day tomorrow in Gackle and enjoying their small town 4th of July celebration.
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| Carol and Christy on their beds for two nights at the Honey Hut in Gackle |
Layover day Gackle, ND 0 miles
There were beds for 3, so I took the floor. Actually, after our four bodies and the dryer heated up the place too much, I was happy to move my sleeping bag outside to a flat spot, but rain soon started, and I hadn't put up my tent. The Honey Hut was hot enough my companions had opened the door after I'd moved outside, and the place was reasonably cool when I moved back in to sleep on the floor. Layover days have been Yoga days, but participation was down to just me today.
The 4th of July celebration added to the layover day, but really Winchester Days is much better done. All the businesses in Gackle closed, so odd as it may seem, food was hard to come by. Some local organization sold a sloppy joe for lunch, and for dinner there was the community hot dog dinner, as if I'm not getting enough of those! However, we were there at 1810 for a meal that started at 1800 and found they were "out of" the promised cake, ice cream, and baked beans, with those in line just after us getting no chips. So we got 2 hot dogs each, 6 chips, and a pop for $5. After I went to bed part of the group discovered the bar was opened and enjoyed ice cream which I missed.
Dave, Judi, and JoAnn had scheduled a century to catch up with us today, but the promised winds from the West didn't happen, so they're still behind us. Ellen and Alexander did join us for the evening and we'll be seeing them again.
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| Layover Yoga participation is down to one (Steve in "prayer twist while in a lunge"), but maybe those younger bodies don't need to build flexible muscles to support their main cycling muscles? |
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| Children's 4th of July parade, Gackle, North Dakota |
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| Ellen and Alexander |
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| Sean, Carol, Christy, & Steve departing the Honey Hut |
Gackle, ND to Yellowstone Campground about 15 miles E of Enderline, ND
57.9 miles 5:05 riding time 676 ft elevation gain
Yesterday's West winds never developed. Today was nearly windless and reached about 85° which is as hot as we've seen since the Cascade Mountains. Today we were happy with winds from the North that buffeted us a bit, but let us average decent time for the first time in several days. Yellowstone Campground is a county campground in a draw- where a grove of trees grows- which shows we're getting close to the end of the plains. Good neighbors gave us cold soda pop and some snacks, and offered firewood as they ended their prolonged 4th of July celebration.
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| Bicycles lines up as their owners have a 2nd breakfast in Enderline (with Ellen and Alexander) |
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| Lunch along the road: Christy, Sean, and Carol |
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| "Yellowstone" campground - a nice place |
Yellowstone Campground about 15 miles E of Enderline, ND to Fargo, ND
80.8 6:52 riding time
Sidewinds predominated again allowing for decent speed as we began to see more corn in the fields indicating more rain. "The plan" had called for camping in the city park at Fargo, but Carol was suddenly strongly opposed to that. We discussed splitting up for the night, but when we got to the park, she was happy with it. We decided to seek out a nice restaurant, and found one- steak dinner a real treat! Rain fell on us that night, and the horrible forecasts of this region showed more rain due.
Day 34 7 July 2016
Frago, ND to Pelican Rapids, MN
58 miles 5:30 riding time 1,171 ft elevation gain
More rain was predicted for all day today, so Ellen and Alexander took a layover day in Fargo. We found the morning riding conditions pretty nice and stopped for a roadside lunch. Sean was counseling speed to beat an approaching storm, but I wanted this photo:
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| Lutheran chapel outside Cormorant, MN |
As I left the Pelican Rapids City Library where I'd finished this initial post, the skies opened again like we only rarely see in the West. Since it had been warm and sunny for the walk to the library, I had walked down in a cotton shirt and pants which were soaked on the walk back to the city park where the tents were. I found Christy sitting on the cement floor of the pavilion using her body as a wind shield for the jet-boil she was cooking over and Carol and Sean dressed in winter coats! Sean offered me his rain coat which I gladly took. Rain that was so hard we wouldn't even dash to our nearby tents, and it lasted for another hour. Carol and Sean had washed clothes this evening and arrived just before the storm did, kindly taking my clothes off the line just as the storm hit, but they were still a little damp. We all have good tents that stayed dry inside, but anything outside had been soaked. The rain was too heavy for anyone to venture out of the pavilion to go get a camera, coat, or anything else. It was after 11:00 when we could finally leave the pavilion to go to bed, but fortunately the tents were up and dry on the inside.
Continued as Phase III
Happy cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation!
Steve
