Stillwater, MN

Friday September 21st

It rained during the night so I waited until the tent was dry and did some laundry before departing around midday.

I stopped in Bemidji at a health food store for food and a wool clothing store for a pair of socks.

Around 3pm I survived riding and pushing my bike though a mud bath of a road. The rain the previous night must have softened up the road which was being maintained! Okay, I ignored the no through traffic sign and I decided not to take the detour. (New acronym YAD yet another detour.....YADDA YADDA.....)

I stopped at the convenience store in Bena for some refreshments and I did some maintenance on my tail light. Once it was working properly I departed not knowing where I would stay the night.

I arrived at a bridge over the Mississippi River at 8:23pm and I decided to stay there the night. People in cars can't see you if you camp just below the road. I felt safe. Some deer were not happy I was there as I heard them making warning noises in the dark. The meal was good and I had another good sleep.

Saturday September 22nd

There was a heavy dew but I decided to pack up the wet tent and continue. I had a general delivery package to pick up in Grand Rapids.

There was a convenience store in Ball Club and I stopped to get enough water for the ride to Grand Rapids.

There were nice pleasant and quiet roads all the way to Grand Rapids. A farmer stopped to talk while I was munching on some chocolate at a rest stop. He offered some nice water from his well (just a mile up the road.) I decided to continue.

I arrived in Grand Rapids at 11:20am and the package was there! I called and left a message with my friend to confirm my pickup.

I noticed a supermarket on the way into Grand Rapids. I headed to the County Fairgrounds and found the campground. $5 for a tent plus use of the shower. A great price! I spread everything that was wet out on the ground to dry and relaxed in the sunshine. Ahhh...I was happy just to sit and do nothing.

Some time later I put up the tent, packed everything inside headed to the supermarket. On my return to the tent a I guy called Scott rode up on his bike and said he was interested in my bike and my trip. He invited me to come to his parent's house. I agreed to come after I had eaten dinner and I'd bring my computer for a slide show.

The visit to Scott's house was pleasant and I rode back to the tent in the dark to sleep.

Sunday September 23rd

I spent some time writing up the blog on the computer and organizing the photos. Scott visited me again as I was packing everything up. It must be quite mind boggling for Scott to watch as everything packed down and fit in 2 bags plus the tent, mattress, and sleeping bag on the rear carrier. We said our goodbyes and I headed towards Pallisade.

I arrived there at 8:30pm and found the city park after asking for directions at the local gas station. It was $11 a night.

Monday September 24th

I worked on the computer again getting the blog updated and photos reduced.

I departed around 1:40pm and just before 4:30pm I got drenched in a thunderstorm near Aikin.

Tuesday September 25th

Wednesday September 26th

Cambridge, MN

Hi Folks,

I'm now getting used to equipment failures. I now have a new rear derailleur (replaced in Washington), a new rear wheel (replaced in Minot, ND), a new stove (replaced in Whitefish, MT). Yesterday my camelback water bladder started leaking. Luckily I have a spare with me.

Now this morning my laptop has died. It looks like the power supply is a goner. Most of my photos from Minot to here are on the hard drive. I have a dilemma: put the hard drive into an enclosure and forfeit the warranty or just give you text for now and the photos later once the laptop is fixed. I'm leaning towards sending the laptop in for repairs.

Thursday September 13th

It was a cold, gray, and windy day with a forecast high of 49F.

I replaced the old tire with the new one and inflated the tube. The rim started to flare out. This means I would not be able to use rear brake. Bad news. I deflated the tire and bent the rim back to how it should be then inflated the tube again to 65psi. The rim did not flare out at this pressure. I packed up everything and rode back to the bike shop. I asked if the rim could be replaced but the bike mechanic was very busy and would not have enough time to respoke the new rim. Instead he offered a new wheel which I decided to buy. The mechanic said the wheel would be ready in 2 hours as he would have to transfer the rear gear cassette over to the new wheel.

I grabbed the stuff out of my bags to send home and to forward on to a post office ahead of me. I took the laptop with me to work out where I'd be in a few weeks time. I decided to send the ayurvedic herbs to Winona, MN. I met Steve at the post office. He offered to take me to lunch and to drop me back at the bike shop after lunch.

When I returned to the bike store I paid for the wheel, and put it back on the bike. Steve led the way in his truck to show me where to go to get to route 2.

The shoulder between Minot and Granville was between 1 foot and nothing. And I was riding alongside cars traveling 70mph! Scary stuff...

Luckily the wind was at my back and was blustering between 10-25 mph. I glided along to Towner and reached there at 7:15pm.

I had a hot chocolate at the gas station and rode to the city park. I cooked a nice meal and had an uncomfortable sleep as my feet got cold during the night.

Friday September 14th

There was a frost on the ground when I woke up. I met a local guy who said the temperature dipped to 29F. Brrr...

After breakfast I rode into town and bought some groceries. I departed for Minnewaukan at 11:30am.

I reached Rugby (geographical center of the US) around 2pm. I checked emails at the library then had lunch at a park nearby. As I was taking my trash to the rubbish bin I noticed an MP3 player lying on the ground. Since I had no idea who owned it I decided to carry it with me until I could place an ad in the lost & found section of a local newspaper.

I bought some fleece fabric from a store to ensure I would be warm at night.

It was a long days ride and I arrived at Minnewaukan at 10:30pm. I enjoyed leaving on my read tail light and riding with no headlight along the low traffic roads. There was enough light from the moon to see where I was going. If a car came by I'd turn on the headlight to let the driver know I was there.

After a few times asking for directions to the city park I eventually found it. It was not signposted. There was picnic tables and water but no toilets.

I made a quick meal then had a pleasant sleep under my new fleece blanket.

Saturday September 15th

I departed at 11:20am, bought some groceries from the local supermarket. Some guys were interested in the bike so I talked to them for a while. I was heading to Pekin.

It was sunny with a head / side wind which slowed me down a bit.

By 1:18pm the road turned to the east and I had a tail wind again.

There were many sunflower and corn fields along the way. I had lots of views of a lake as well.

I stopped at Fort Totten, part of an Indian reservation, for lunch.

There were a lot of closed roads. Possibly from flooding.

I collected 6 soda bottle tops from discarded bottles alongside the road for a project. There was a lot of trash alongside the road.

I stopped for a quick snack next to a lake at 5:30pm. A couple of weekend army guys stopped for a talk. One of the guys, James, owned a Volae recumbent high racer bicycle and offered for me to stay at his house in Fargo.

I arrived at Pekin at 9:45pm. I got directions to city park from the bartender at the local pub.

I had another nice sleep under my fleece blanket.

Sunday September 16th

Today I was planning on reaching Hope.

I departed around 12 noon after everything dried out from the heavy dew overnight.

I had 26 miles of riding into a headwind. It really slowed me down and I got tired. The only thing keeping me going was my MP3 player playing my favorite music.

After I reached highway 200 at 5pm the road turned to the east and I had a side / tail wind.

I decided to stay at Cooperstown as I was too tired to continue. The city park had a nice shower and good tasting water. However the mosquitos were very hungry and I had to put on my wet weather clothing and my bug headshield to avoid being bitten.

Monday September 17th

I wanted to reach Fargo today which would be 91 miles. I departed at 5:48am for breakfast at Hope. I arrived there at 8:30am and saw Ken and Sue eating in the diner. I joined them for breakfast.

For the rest of the day we rode togetherhaviong lunch in Arthur and reaching Fargo at 5pm. I followed Ken and Sue first to the bike store to fix Sue's front derailleur then to a hotel while Ken and Sue registered. Then we rode to Juano's restaurant for a nice meal. This would possibly be the last time we would ride together as Ken and Sue would be riding staight across Minnesota to visit friends.

After the meal we parted and I rode to James's house to stay the night. I pitched the tent of their rear lawn and was able to take a shower and get some laundry done. James was unfortunately driving a BNSF train and would not be able to meet me. Sue, his wife was a very nice host.

Tuesday September 18th

After cooking breakfast on their kitchen stove and checking my emails I departed around 11am. I rode back to the bike store and asked if they would dispose of my old tire. Then I went to find a pharmacy to get my prescription filled. I have another abscess above a tooth that had recent surgery. Mick prescribed some antibiotics while I was in Williston.

After getting the prescription I rode over a toll bridge into Moorehead, MN. No welcome to Minnesota sign here.

It was a cool and windy day.

On route 26 that I was riding on, I reached a junction that had a sign saying the road was closed 5 miles ahead. I took the detour and had to ride an extra 20 miles! I reached Hitterdal at 6:15pm and decided to stay in the city park that night. It was forecast to rain that night so I put up the tent under the enclosed pavilion.

Wednesday September 19th

I was going to ride 81 miles to Lake Itasca today.

Shortly after departing at 10am I noticed the rear brake was rubbing. I discovered a broken spoke in my new rear wheel. After tightening up the spokes on either side of the broken one, I was able to get the wheel straightened.

I stopped for lunch outside the country store in Richwood, rode through the Tamarac Wildlife Refuge, and I was amazed by the fall colors of the deciduous trees along the way. They seem to be at peak color. I also had a nice ride on a recently sealed route 143.

I reached Lake Itasca State Park at 8:30pm. I found a nice tent site and started to make a meal. I caught a raccoon trying to make off with my burrito wrap bread. I intercepted the robbery and the 'coon scampered up a tree. I walked over to the tree and we were face-to-face about 1 yard away from each other. I told the 'coon that all my food would be locked away in the men's bathroom that night and that I wanted an uninterrupted sleep in my tent. The 'coon obliged.

Thursday September 20th

It was a wet day today.

I rode the bike path at the park down to where the guide boat wharf then back up to the bike shop. Sam at the bike shop made a replacement spoke for me. He asked if I had a cassette removal tool as I would need it to install the spoke. I didn't have the tool. Sam offered to do it for me. As he was working we talked. Sam had been to Australia after he left the military then he purchased the bike and boat rental business form his father a few years before. I offered to pay for Sam's work but he would only accept $2 for the spoke. He said that I had picked the right day to come to get the spoke repaired.

I rode back to the tent, cooked breakfast and packed everything up. Then I headed to the Mississippi headwaters for a photo.

The rest of the day I kept crossing bridges over the Mississippi River.

By dusk I was at Bena and I arrived in Bemidji just before 7pm. I took a photo of Paul Bunyan and the Bull then went looking for a supermarket for food. Found some food at a drug store then rode out of town to an RV Park.

I cooked a nice meal and slept well.

Please see blog from Stillwater, MN for September 21st through September 26th.

Minot, ND

Sunday September 9th

I departed Williston about 2pm after fixing a blowout on my rear tire. I made a tire boot out of duct tape and I was able to ride. I ate some lunch on the east of Williston then continued. The road is very hilly with short steep hills. I reached Lake Sakakawea of Lewis and Clark fame.
I rode past cornfields, hayfields, sunflower fields, oil derricks, and natural gas pipes. In a few places the gas was burning and made quite a scene at dusk. I was wondering where I was going to sleep as I couldn't find any trees to hide my tent in. All the fields were fenced and had posted signs.

I looked at the map and saw that a river was near. I reached the White Earth River and sure enough there was a 'nice' bank beneath the bridge. I left the bike up beside the bridge under my camouflage fabric. I took the panniers, tent, sleeping bag, and mattress down to the bank. There was a lot of grass growing there and when I placed the tent on the bank it seemed flat. I cooked my meal and got ready for bed. When I got onto my mattress it kind of slid towards the river. I found a nice bit of ground where I was stable and went to sleep.

In the morning I opened my eyes and discovered I had a blue roof on my tent. The roof should have been orange! When I got out of the tent I discovered that the tent had rolled down from where it was originally to a place 6 feet below and I was sleeping on the top of the tent and the floor was now the roof. I had no recollection of ever sliding down the hill.

Monday September 10th

The next morning I was cold! I put on my warmest gear and eventually the shivering stopped. In order to have breakfast I had to filter water from the river. The water was murky and I had to clean the filter often. The water tasted strongly of something. At least there were no giardia in the water! I thought 'well I won't die from the bugs but maybe from the minerals in the water'. My rolled oats and hot chocolate tasted okay.

I noticed the rear tire was bulging again. I found a discarded soda bottle and made another tire boot from the plastic. The edges were sharp so I lined the edges with duct tape. The tire now looked okay when pumped up.

The wind was strong and I had a side wind. It was slow going. I stopped for lunch when I detected a few drops of rain. I got into my rain gear and ate some lunch. I had just completed lunch when Ken & Sue ride up.

We rode to New Town and stopped at the supermarket for food. Ken went to a liquor store for a few beer cans. We rode to a restaurant near the turnoff to Van Hook Campground. We ate some food at the restaurant and rode to the campground. It seemed nice. The water in the bathroom smelled bad. I had enough water from the river to cook dinner and breakfast. It was very cold that night and my feet were frozen!

Tuesday September 11th

I woke up at 4:30am when some dogs and cats started screaming. I heard later that a skunk was nearby. I put on my warm gear and slid back into the sleeping bag. I got up at 7:15am, packed the tent, mattress, and sleeping bag, ate breakfast and paid for my tent site at the camp office. I had to borrow $3 from Sue as they didn't accept credit cards. We departed at 9am. It was ccold! We aimed to be in Minot that evening. It was a 70 miles ride. The wind was North Westerly and was a side wind. It slowed us down quite a bit. The hills weren't as steep as the previous day but still required effort to climb. The scenery was interesting with hay fields, sunflower fields (look like they are genetically modified), lakes, and wind generators.

We reached Minot by 5pm and went to Pat's Motel and Campground. It was a bit run down so we went to Swenson's RV Park and asked for a tent site. The host pointed to a vacant RV site with some grass and said it was ours. When we asked for a price he said we could stay for free. We couldn't resist such an offer. The facilities were very nice with bathrooms, showers, dining room with microwave, fridge, and oven, and a laundry.

Sue saw some wild turkeys in the bush behind the RV Park.

We rode back to route 86 to a supermarket and bought some nice food for dinner. I had grapes, vegeburgers, cucumber relish, soft tortilla shells, and chocolate milk. Mmmmmm....great!

I slept better as it was warmer here.

Wednesday September 12th

Today was a day off. I meditated, bought a new tire, thermal underwear, more food, caught up on emails, charged up the batteries for my camera and the cell phone.

Tomorrow we ride to Towner, ND and stay at the city park.

Williston, ND

Monday September 3rd

Here are some photos from my ride from Chester to Chinook.

Tuesday September 4th

And some photos from my ride from Chinook to Malta.

Wednesday September 5th

I spent the morning at the campground repacking the bags and doing some laundry. The library opened at 1pm and I spent a few hours there catching up on emails. Sue came and talked to me while I was in the library. She and Ken were staying in Malta that evening. Around 5pm I departed after having a late lunch and arrived at the Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge just before 6pm. I really enjoyed my 30 minute stay there. It was very peaceful. I saw a cottontail rabbit, a hawk, many birds, and some pronghorn antelope. The road to Saco was very rough and by the time I reached highway 2 again it was almost dusk. I felt a little hesitation about riding to Saco because of the rumors I'd heard the Saco is the mosquito capital of Montana! As I began to ride I saw signs to Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs. Yes! That was where I'd head for the night. I paid for the tent site and a soak in the hot springs. The pool I liked the most was 11o degrees. I felt very relaxed after the soak and quickly made my way to the tent to avoid being eaten by the mosquitos.

Mileage today was 21 miles.

Thursday September 6th

I stopped in Saco at the supermarket and discovered Ken and Sue's bikes parked outside a cafe. I joined them at a table and we talked for a while. I then rode with Ken and Sue until we reached Glasgow where they would be staying the night.

On the outskirts of Glasgow were these sculptures. Kind of interesting to look at but maybe too big for a front yard.

I rode on towards Nashua.

59 miles today.

Friday September 7th

Now I remembered that I had a pickup at the Williston post office and I had to get there by Saturday at noon.

I would need to get to Culbertson tonight. I left just before 9am and rode past Frazer, Oswego, Wolf Point, Poplar, and Brockton. I met Fred, an Indian outside a store in Poplar and Jeff Stump, another Indian, outside his reservation in Brockton. They were both very down-to-earth guys and very friendly. I reached Culbertson at 7:30pm. There was a high school football match going on and it was noisy! I ate dinner at a pizza restaurant. My legs were sore so I drank 2 cups full of electrolyte recovery drink I was carrying with me.

96.9 miles today.

Saturday September 8th

It was cold! I saw the temperature flashing somewhere 49 degrees! My legs felt good! I departed Culbertson at 6:15am and had breakfast at Bainville 15 miles away. I didn't realize that there were so many rolling hills to Williston and I arrived a little late at the post office at 12:15pm. I The official hours ended at noon but I heard voices behind the door that was closed and I kept on knocking. Eventually a lady opened the door and I explained I had ridden 40 miles to pick up a general delivery package. She took a look but my package as not there. She gave me a phone number to call the next day. I checked with my friend back home and the package was sent August 31st. She mentioned that there was some delay in mail going out after Labor day.

So I rode around town, visited the railway station and saw an old train, figured out what the SF in BNSF railroad meant, visited JC Penney looking for warm wool socks (couldn't find any), and started to ride to find a laundromat and the library. As I was riding along a road a guy stopped and got out of his pickup truck. He wanted to talk. His name was Mick O'Brien and he had ridden a similar route across the US on his recumbent bike in 2000. I explained what I was searching for and he suggested I come back to his place. He gave me directions and I followed his truck. I parked the bike in his garage and we went out for lunch which he paid for. We returned to his house and he suggested we go for a visit to Theodore Roosevelt National Park which was a mere hour and a quarter drive away (more like a day's bike ride for me!)

We saw amazing badland scenery along the Little Missouri River which Teddy Roosevelt ranched here. We also saw Prickly Pear Cactus, Buffalo, Mule and Whitetail deer, Prairie Dogs (about an hours walk to the Prairie Dog City), a Cottontail Rabbit, Quails, and Ring Necked Pheasants.

Williston is sitting on an active oil field. I learned on the drive back that landowners own the mineral rights so it is up to the farmers to remove the disused oil rigs.

Back in Williston Mick treated me to some burritos from Taco Johns and we watched some university football. I laundered my clothes, dried my tent, showed Mick my photos on the laptop and he showed me his trip photos. I read his log of the trip which he incorporated into a book about his life. Very interesting reading...thank you Mick for your generous hospitality!

I couldn't get to sleep probably because of the one hour difference between Mountain time and Central Time which I was now on since crossing the border into North Dakota.

Sunday September 9th

Now that I'm fully refreshed I've decided to camp along Lake Sakakawea on the western side of New Town tonight and ride to Minot on Monday.