August 13, 2023
Day 91 - ending at Powers Lake, ND
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I woke up at 4:42am. It was raining and would be for quite a while so I went back to sleep until 6:50am. The rain finally ended at 9:45pm. In the meantime I was able to get yesterday's report posted. I packed up all my stuff - everything had stayed dry under the pavilion. I was ready to go at 11:00am, just as the sun was coming out. The road next to the campground is under construction and was a muddy mess. Even with choosing the best path, the bike picked up quite a bit of mud.
My ending destination for today was Lake Park Campground at Powers Lake, North Dakota. My first destination was Side Street Diner here in Tioga.
The diner was too busy for the number of waitresses they had working. I was able to get my breakfast OK, but was hoping to order dessert also. Instead, after I left I stopped at Kum & Go gas station for some goodies. When I was walking out the door a fellow jumped out of his pickup truck and said, "I was going pay for that. Here." as he handed me $20. I told him that was way too much. He said he didn't need the money and wanted to support cycling. Wow!
By the way, noon mileage today was 0.6 mile.
My routing to Powers Lake follows the GPT - on dirt roads of course. Considering how much rain we had overnight, I decided to abandon that route and to get to Powers Lake using highways. So it would be ND-40 north, then ND-50 east. There was a fairly good northwest wind, so the first half would be the hardest. I got started on that at 12:42pm. I could tell right away riding was easier when I turned east onto ND-50.
I stopped for a break when I got to a pull-off area. I was knocking off dried mud from some of the spokes on the rear wheel when I noticed I had a broken spoke. Closer investigation revealed it wasn't a broken spoke. That cracked part of the hub had finally broken off. I had thought when that happened, I would notice the effect immediately. Guess not. The wheel is still rolling.
I passed the town of Battleview at 3:58pm. There were lots of clouds in the sky and I got sprinkled on just a little. The weather radar indicated there was no serious rain in the area.
At 5:08pm I arrived at Powers Lake on its north side. The campground is by the lake on the south side. I took a few pictures as I rolled through town. There's a nice park along the north shore of this lake, but I didn't know exactly where tent camping is allowed. I got to the RV park camping area where there is a sign with a phone number to call. Liz answered the phone and told me the tent camping area was back by the grain elevators. The cost would be $8, which could be deposited in the box on the south side of the bathrooms building.
After I found the area, I ate the bag of chips I bought a few days ago and two pop-tarts from my lunch bag. Then I got set up. I was too far away from an electrical box to run my extension cord into the tent. I did however roll the bike over to a box to charge the accessories battery. Then I walked over to a pavilion to charge the cell phone while I worked on picture selection.
When I got back to the tent, a fellow staying in one of the nearby trailers wanted to know about my trip. He was impressed. He was also quite concerned about how I was going to stay warm enough tonight. The low is predicted to be 49F. I've handled that OK before. He went to his trailer and brought back a little space heater, saying I could keep it. To make use of it I'd have to move the tent closer to the electrical box where the bike was plugged in. I decided to go ahead and do that. In the meantime this fellow brought over two LED headlights that he recommended I use on my bike. Then there were more gifts: three USB LED plug-in bulbs, a USB battery block that can be solar charged, two bottles of water, and a can of Coke. I protested a little, but the fellow was insistent. He admitted he has ADHD, and is buying gadgets all the time. He said he is well paid for his work at the oil fields, and the cost of what he was giving me really amounted to nothing. I convinced him that I didn't have room on my bike for carrying the heater, but would be happy to use it tonight. I'll have to figure out a way to pack the other gifts. He sure was enjoying giving them to me.
All this delayed me some on getting my evening report sent out, but I'm quite OK with that. It's great to meet new people, and I met some especially kind ones today.
Jeff
Spent: $22.17 plus $5 (breakfast) + $4.38 ("dessert") + $8 (campsite) = $39.55
Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 3,269 miles (5,261 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 6 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 2 |
So many wonderful people to meet gives us hope for the world!! That was quite a nice bunch of stuff you acquired from the one guy, and $20 for you meal was nice too. Keep on rollin’ safely.
8 months ago
I'm certainly glad the bike didn't fall apart going downhill!
Yes, so many kind people . . . there is hope.
Jeff
6 months ago