June 22, 2018
Pollock to Bismarck- A strategic high mile day
When we left Pollock at 7am our intention was to ride about 37 miles to the Beaver Creek Recreation Area. The forecast was for gentle tailwinds, and we anticipated an easy day.
We sailed through the remaining miles of South Dakota with minimal effort and into state number six, North Dakota. Before long, we encountered a new breed of livestock, the American Bison. Many people call these wooly-necked creatures buffalo, but true buffalo are native to Africa and Asia. And the horns on a buffalo look like Marlo Thomas' hair in That Girl. Remember: buffalo - Marlo Thomas hair; bison - Peg Bundy hair.
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Anyhow, on we rode through the gently rolling hills of North Dakota on route 1804. Gay was in the lead (as usual - he is a rockstar endurance athlete!), and before long I saw him talking with 2 touring cyclists on a tandem. Dale and Susan from Kearney, NE were heading east on the Lewis & Clark route and we all stopped to chat for 20 minutes or so. It was great to run into other cyclists and I was so happy to finally meet another woman out riding the Lewis & Clark route.
They shared some very helpful information about the road ahead, and let us know that the convenience store we were expecting at Beaver Creek was closed for remodeling. We could probably get by with the food we had, but this put a little hitch in our provision planning. We agreed that we would stop for lunch at the campground and evaluate our options.
With building tailwinds, a lack of available foodstuffs, and rain in the forecast we decided that our best bet was to continue riding to Bismarck. It would be a long and arduous 82-mile day, but we would be closer to hotel bail-out options in the case of extended rains, and the forecasted high for the day was a tolerable 85 degrees. Plus, we would have a tailwind assist that I estimated would boost our average speed up to 15mph.
What I missed in this calculation is the 10-mile section near the end where our direction of travel would change from north to mostly west. With winds from the south, this meant riding rolling hills with building crosswinds - right when our energy levels most needed any help the winds could provide.
After our lunch at Beaver Creek, we took one last break for 2nd lunch at Glencoe Presbyterian Church. The final 25 miles to General Sibley Campground outside of Bismarck were pretty tough, and our total travel time for the day ended up being 11 hours. We were ready for pizza; lots of pizza!
We found a spot to pitch our tents near the 1 power outlet so that we could take turns maintaining a minimum charge on our various devices. And we ordered 3 pizzas from AB Pizza, a medium pepperoni each for Ron and Gay and and a small veggie for me. We had no problem devouring every last crumb, and by 9:30 were ready to crash.
We knew that since it was a Friday night at an urban-area campground there would probably be a fair amount of drunken nonsense. But the park's quiet hours began at 10pm and we figured we were tired enough to sleep through anything.
What we did not know was that Bismarck was hosting the largest softball tournament in the country, and 500 softball teams converged on the city the same day we rode in. The most drunken rowdy buffoonish of the lot was sharing our camp space. These people were loud enough to wake the most profoundly-affected narcoleptic. And apparently the park security guy was off duty. Needless to say, we didn't sleep much.
Good thing we had a mostly-awesome ride and found a pizza place that would deliver to our campground!!
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5 years ago
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I have to say that even though the ride was tough, we are all proud to have done 82 miles on fully loaded bikes. Although it might not seem like it some days, we are definitely getting stronger.
Statistics:.
- 81.9 miles
- 5119 elevation gain
- Average moving speed 11.1
Today's ride: 82 miles (132 km)
Total: 884 miles (1,423 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 11 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 17 |
The wound is good. She had it checked in Pierren by a doctor who gave it a thorough 45 second evaluation. It's healed but will leave a nasty scar.
5 years ago
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Btw, what you eat should always be mentioned with pics if possible!! Have safe travels
5 years ago
We have been debating the food picture thing but will follow your suggestion.
5 years ago
Great pics and journaling, thanks for taking the time to keep your readers happy!
Suzanne
5 years ago
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