July 15, 2023
Day 29: 106 Mile Day!
Dickinson to Bismark
We left Dickinson around 7:00 am because we were going to have a big mileage day and wanted to take advantage of the tailwinds. We were also pretty worried about the smoke which was supposed to get worse in the afternoon, and well, it did not! As we headed east, the smoke seemed to dissipate. The smoke maps were not totally accurate or something changed with the weather, except for those amazing winds at our backs. So, all that time we spent in the hotel doing research was wasted time, but we just went on the predictions, and that is all you can do. We got lucky.
We were actually going to end the day in Mandan, ND, but when we got there and checked out hotel prices, we decided to go eight more miles to Bismark as the hotels were less expensive. My legs were not too happy about this as even though we had good winds, the hills were starting to get to me at the end of the day. The landscape reminded me of Vermont a little, rolling hills, pastures, and lots of green - except, we could see the road in front of us way in the distance, so we could see the rolling hills we would need to power up. We had a north west wind, so that meant side winds, so at times we had a short headwind or side wind. This seemed to be effecting me a bit, but not Mike. He was like a rocket all day long; I was impressed. It must have been because we had gone grocery shopping the day before, and I was carrying more weight…yes, lets blame it on that…
Anyway, I didn’t take many photos as there was a smoke haze and there were clouds. I think I took one or two. The day went by pretty quickly: we met a few bike tourists heading the other direction, who were fighting the wind. That might be us on Monday. Today, we will try to make it another 106 miles to the Honey Hub, lodging for cyclists in Gackle, ND to take advantage of the tailwinds again. The person who owns the Honey Hub lives in ND in the summer to raise bees and then in Loomis, California the rest of the year. We actually live not too far from Loomis.
Before I go and leave you with a bunch of photos from the past five days, I have to tell you that there have been more of those Kevin Bacon connections. First, on Friday when we were trying to take in the smokey views from a vista point in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we struck up a conversation with a woman, and she happened to be from VT and had family in Grand Isle, which is where Mike’s dad lives. Anyway, she was telling us about the devastation that has occurred in VT from the recent flooding. We have not been paying attention to the news, so we really didn’t know the extent of the situation; it is so bad that Amtrak has suspended operations. This is impacting Vermonters, and I feel for them as we can empathize, but it will most likely impact our navigation around VT and our options for getting back to California. We will worry about that in another month. Lastly, the attendant at the front desk of the hotel we stayed in last night is a sweet kid from CA. He lived pretty close to us, Grass Valley. He is now living here because the cost of living in CA is too high; we can empathize with that too, but we are seeing high prices across the West. Anyway, because of our connection, he upgraded us to a suite last night…sweet!
Okay, got to get the show on the road for today’s adventures,
Team Bean
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Tour Stats
- Cribbage Game Wins: Mike 5, Dawn 6
- Tortillas Eaten: Mike 61, Dawn 27
- Jars of Peanut Butter: 4
- Flats: Dawn 2, Mike 1
- Bike Haters: 4 (We had our first one in Montana yesterday.)
- Bags of Salad Consumed: 12
- Dog Encounters: 2
- Beers, too many to count
- Bags of M&M’s: 4 of various sizes
- Fritos: 7 of various sizes
Today's ride: 106 miles (171 km)
Total: 1,769 miles (2,847 km)
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Enjoy! Keep blogging! You have inspired me to keep a journal on my adventure!
9 months ago