Culbertson, MT to Williston, ND
Hi All—
A new month and a new state. Presently I am in Williston, ND, in a Super 8. Hang on, because this has been some day.
First, last night my plans changed. Rick, Bill, and I plan to split from the group and ride through ND and MN etc. on Adventure Cycling’s Northern Tier Route. We will then meet Kevin, Tim, Sylvia, and Diane in Burlington, IA, after they cycle south on the Lewis & Clark Trail and participate in RAGBRAI.
[It was not as amiable a split as I described in the e-mail above. Kevin, as usual, was into his drink. He said he didn’t care if we split, but this was HIS ride. He’d worked hard all his life and now was his time to play and enjoy himself. He was not going to let me ruin it. Sylvia would be more fun to ride with anyway, etc. I almost asked him at this juncture if he’d like a little cheese to go with his whine, but fortunately refrained. Why was he directing his anger at me? There were two other riders who wanted to split also. In fact Bill was the first to propose the idea. When Kevin rounded on me like this, it was the last straw. I confessed that I was leaving the ride to get away from him—which I was, as well as for the reasons below. Maybe when we rejoin in IA, we’ll have worked through this constant animosity.]
I’ve never had the desire to go to RAGBRAI, nor the desire to head south through the Dakotas. I’ve ridden a lot of that route several times when I staffed for America by Bicycle. Bill wants a gentler ride. He is my age and we are pretty evenly matched. All three of us like to camp, and we will have shorter days and more flexibility. Rick plans to leave the two of us in Minneapolis and catch a ride to RAGBRAI with a friend. Our ghost rider, Kim, may meet us in Burlington, IA, too.
Now, about our day. For breakfast, we went back to the same restaurant in Culbertson where we’d had lunch yesterday. Then we all set out for a short 58-mile ride to Williston, ND. About 10 miles out of Culbertson we ran into road construction. Not too bad and the pilot car let us go through eastbound while the westbound traffic was moving. We gathered at a little CS in the midst of the construction and then pushed on to find massive construction, potential blasting, and about three quarters of a mile of detour through mud (it had rained hard in the night) on an unsurfaced portion of road. All this up and downhill with giant machinery churning alongside us.
Finally we got past the construction at the top of a hill. There was a lone casino at the top of the hill, and while we were cooling off outside of it, a group of three westbound touring cyclists rode up. Two 18-year-old boys from Boston, and Elizabeth, a girl in her twenties from D.C. While we were talking to them, several storms developed on the horizon and the wind changed in our favor to a tailwind. Yess!
Across the road was the “Welcome to North Dakota” sign. We all posed before it.
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| Entering our third state; I think this and all of the previous photos were taken by Bill or with his camera |
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| Since we had seen no Welcome to Montana sign coming out of Idaho, I took this photo looking west from the convenience store |
On a hill entering Williston, I was SWARMED by mosquitoes. My legs looked furry with them, and they were biting through my bike shorts. Finally in near panic I managed to get my raincoat and hood on and coat my legs with repellent. Nasty! After a shower, I assessed the damage: My right flank looks as though I have the measles, hands bitten where gloves didn’t cover them, legs and ankles red with bites. Yeech! I am not starting out without an application of repellent in this state!
When we got in, we went to a Taco John's for lunch and then to the hotel. I got out my tent and set it up in the parking lot to dry. Washed my riding clothes by hand as the motel has no guest laundry.
Bill had his 7th flat today and Diane flatted also because of glass. (Whisper: I have had no flats on my bike so far. Shh!) The bike store in town is more of an automotive place than bike shop. I am disappointed, as I am down to one pair of good shorts (I gave one pair to Diane and the chamois in the third pair is coming unstitched) and wanted to buy a pair at the next bike shop. Also, the sports store does not sell camping type air mattresses or Thermarests and mine deflates two or three times a night. The joys of life on the road.
Guys are just back from Walmart. Dinner on the horizon. More on next rest day.
Diane and I went to a Chinese restaurant and the others went to a Mexican restaurant where they could also have a beer. I am tiring of Mexican, BBQ, and Convenience Store food—all of the guys’ favorites.
When we got in, we went to a Taco John's for lunch and then to the hotel. I got out my tent and set it up in the parking lot to dry. Washed my riding clothes by hand as the motel has no guest laundry.
Bill had his 7th flat today and Diane flatted also because of glass. (Whisper: I have had no flats on my bike so far. Shh!) The bike store in town is more of an automotive place than bike shop. I am disappointed, as I am down to one pair of good shorts (I gave one pair to Diane and the chamois in the third pair is coming unstitched) and wanted to buy a pair at the next bike shop. Also, the sports store does not sell camping type air mattresses or Thermarests and mine deflates two or three times a night. The joys of life on the road.
Guys are just back from Walmart. Dinner on the horizon. More on next rest day.
Diane and I went to a Chinese restaurant and the others went to a Mexican restaurant where they could also have a beer. I am tiring of Mexican, BBQ, and Convenience Store food—all of the guys’ favorites.
