June 23, 2018 to June 24, 2018
Downtime in Bismarck- Chasing a tire and summarizing one month on the road
6/23 and 6/24
We decided to get a hotel for a couple days in Bismarck to rest and plan the next stage. The long ride plus the buffoons in the campground left us tired and grumpy Grumbys. Haha! Plus we have the damn tire to track down.
Gay stayed at General Sibley Campground again Saturday night with the drunken hoosier meatheads and planned to leave Sunday morning towards Hebron on the I-94 cutoff
Saturday morning, the day after our long ride into Bismarck, we rode the 5 miles from the campground to the EverSpring Inn, where I had reserved the last room online an hour before. We checked in, unloaded our crap and took a nap. The room was comfortable and roomy, and sufficient for both bikes, the bags and us. There was a major softball tournament in town which brought 500 teams in, which iinflated hotel prices for Saturday night. But the staff was incredibly nice and interested in our trip. We gave them Porridge cards but I wish we'd have gotten their names. I highly recommend the Everspring Inn if you're in Bismarck.
After the nap we walked to the mall and grocery store. It was boring like a rest day should be.
On Sunday we walked downtown and past the Governor's house to the state capital. There are some nice old homes and large elm trees along the way. A lot of the architecture in downtown is very institutional, kind of mid-century drab with muted colors. We did run across some nice alley murals.
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There was an art exhibit at the mall where schoolkids drew different species of ducks. They are phenomenal!
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Jen and I have been mulling the option to rent a car or Uhaul to bypass some of the North Dakota route and hopefully miss some predicted thunderstorms. So we reserved one today (Sunday) and we will pick it up tomorrow morning. We will leapfrog to Beulah, North Dakota, 70 miles, rather than Dickinson, 91 miles. This will give us a jump out of town, avoiding softball hooligans rushing back home, and allows me to retrieve and install Jen's tire, assuming it arrives as scheduled.
On another note- today June 24 marks 1 month on the road. You might remember this video of our departure from Weston, Missouri:
Some highlights of the adventure so far:
- Nice send-off parties in Missouri and Colorado, and getting dropped off in Weston by my family to get started.
- Finally beginning fter talking about for so long
- Courtesy by most rural drivers
- Learning that headwinds won't kill you
- A few tailwinds
- Riding with Gay Rehnback for 2 1/2 weeks. We learned a lot and enjoyed his humor, accent and company.
- Sheltering in a bathrooms, a screen porch, and a neighbor's RV during angry thunderstorms.
- Eating a lot of food with no consequence - Giant pancakes, sticky buns, chicken fried steak (3 times), more fresh produce than we expected. Honorable mention: Tee Pee Cafe in Bonesteel, South Dakota and Great Plains in Mobridge, South Dakota.
- Lots of nice people and surprisingly great scenery.
- No indication of political or philisophical suspicions with interactions with locals. I'm guessing many people in the rural areas wouldn't vote the same way Jen or I would, but we've never felt unwelcome.
- Mostly good weather.
- It's better than working
Some lowlights
- The heatwave early in the trip, particularly Atchison, KS to Hiawatha on May 26.
- Headwinds. I know I've harped on these many times, but when they are so strong that you are struggling to make 5 mph for hours on end, it is a truly helpless and ridiculous situation. Add up and down rollers and it makes Ron have a coniption.
- A few asshole campers. I realize this is probably payback for my past sins, but nevertheless....
- A few asshole drivers, mostly in urban and suburban areas who have no spatial awareness and hurl their SUV or truck towards the next red light at warp speed. Luckily, most of the route has been on rural roads where drivers are patient and skilled.
- The route has long some long stretches between services, and some of the scenery is monotonous.
Statistics:
- Miles ridden - 884
- Total Elevation Gain- 53,986 feet
- Camping nights- 19
- Camping expense- $224.30
- Hotel- 10 nights
- Hotel expense- $1092
- Guests at Bonnie and Ed's - 2
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You should get back out there.
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