June 26, 2021
Day 52: Bismarck, ND to Glen Ullin, ND
Hilly Plains and Interstate Travel
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Climbing Today; 1,843 ft Climbing to Date; 77,028 ft
Up at 04:45 this morn, when we took the bikes down on the elevator from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor we were pleasantly surprised to find that we could access the breakfast room earlier than advertised. And so, I had yogurt and french toast and a breakfast burrito and juice; enough to call it "1st breakfast" so that we didn't need to stop before leaving Bismarck.
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Bismarck was easily navigated via bike paths that led us to the outskirts, then we were riding the shoulders of roads that may become busy later on - today is Saturday, you know. We saw a couple of flocks of wild turkeys early today.
The landscape is changing. It's becoming a series of roller-coaster hills with some valleys incised deep enough to create a different ecosystem. It's still flat on a large scale, but locally there's a lot of relief.
It seemed like a long struggle to reach New Salem, where we hoped to find "2nd breakfast." Maybe I was just tired from yesterday's longer ride, or perhaps the constant pace is wearing me down. Regardless, I was happy to finally get there.
Google maps indicated that a cafe was open out adjacent to the interstate, and so we headed there. It was indeed open, and we enjoyed a sit-down real breakfast. We had ventured a mile off route for our breakfast, and it would be 2 extra miles if we went back. Our route today included riding the shoulder of I-94 for 13 miles, commencing 4 miles west of New Salem when the county road ran out. Since we were already adjacent to the interstate, I opted to just hop on it there so as to avoid the extra 2 miles. Doc preferred to stay on the quiet back roads as long as possible, so he rode the extra 2 miles to do so.
It was tempting to ride the fast lane of I-94, but I just didn't have that kind of energy today, so it was the shoulder for me. The shoulder was clean and smooth and it would have been great, except for the weird way they constructed rumble strips that run perpendicular to the shoulder.
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Fortunately, the rumble strips don't run all the way across the shoulder, so you can ride to the left or right of them. Riding to the right puts you further away from the high speed traffic, but the bushes adjacent to the shoulder intruded into your travel path when you opted for the right side. So I rode right side some, left side when there was no traffic coming (you need a rear-view mirror to do that) , and just kind of meandered along the shoulder. Really, it was fine. I even stopped at a rest area and got lots of strange looks when I rode up to the rest stop building on my bicycle. The Northern Tier route takes quiet back roads as much as possible, but in this one case there is no other option besides the interstate. Well, actually there is a dirt county road in bad need of repair, but neither of us wanted to do that. About halfway along my interstate ride, the rumble strips decreased in width, making it easier to ride past them.
Reaching Glen Ullen, I stopped at the local bar and grill for some lunch and texted Doc so he would know where I was (I was a little ahead of him because he rode those 2 extra miles). The bar was full of drunks in the early afternoon, and they insisted on talking to me about the trip and telling me how amazed they were that I was doing this because they couldn't even ride a bike across their little town. Hmm... perhaps if they would do something besides spend their Saturdays in the bar, maybe get a little exercise? Oh well. Doc arrived and ordered and we had to go through it all again as they congratulated him for his prowess and bicycle bravery. We ate quickly and got out of there and found our way to the Rock Roof Inn B&B. It seems to be an OK place, we are inside with wifi and a shower and we have breakfast foods available in the morning - so it's fine.
We Respect The Wind. The wind is ever-present; it's just a matter of how strong it will be and whether it will be our friend today. Judging from what we have experienced so far, the wind is most often a sidewind from the south or north and often quartering as we progress west. Sometimes it's a headwind that impedes progress, and sometimes it can make it almost impossible to progress. We can only produce so much power to propel our loaded bicycles forward; if that isn't enough to produce a reasonable forward velocity that will get us to our goal, then we lose. A sidewind isn't a "neutral" event; you spend energy correcting for the sidewind and it slows you down. Since we left Fargo, we have had 5 days of unfavorable wind conditions (mostly sidewinds with some headwinds), and 1 day of favorable wind conditions (a tailwind, not very strong, but blowing in the right direction). Even on the 1 favorable wind day, we had a headwind for about the last 10 miles.
We Are Slowly Climbing. We have been slowly climbing into the High Plains, and are now above elevation 2,000 feet. I'll update our elevation as we continue to climb.
ACA Map Update. If you recall, there are 153 map panels that cover the Northern Tier route. We have almost finished map 56, so we have 55 maps to go till we reach Anacortes. Just thought you may want to know.
Good night everyone. I need to get to bed even earlier I think - for some reason I've been feeling tired recently. Maybe I'm getting old. Getting tired is a good thing, because it means you did something besides drink beer all day. I hope you all occasionally get a little tired, and I hope you stay young forever. Best wishes, zzzz...
Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 2,724 miles (4,384 km)
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