Note: Dan is providing a brief update for Liz
Thursday, August 10 Elizabeth had a short 42 mile ride from Hazelton to Bismark. The group woke up to discover it had rained overnight but the wind had dried most of their gear out by ride time. It was cool and jackets came out for the first hours of the ride.
Elizabeth had an uneventful ride — except that she noticed her rear brake pads were worn completely out. She knew Bismark was the biggest town they would encounter for a while so she decided to hustle on to Bismark asap and find a bike shop.
Elizabeth put the 42 miles away quickly and got her tent up and camp organized. One of the other riders, Niles, had already made an appointment at Larsons Bike shop in Bismark so Elizabeth decided to ride in to town with Niles. Niles’ bike had a broken shifter cable and he had been stuck in one gear all day so he really needed to get that fixed!
Friday the 60 mile ride from Bismark to Glen Ullin started by crossing the Missouri River as they left Bismark heading west. The planned route ran south of and parallel to Interstate 94 all the way to their destination.
The planned route included 13 miles ON Interstate 94 in order to avoid a stretch of unpaved county road. Elizabeth and a few others opted to avoid the Interstate riding and instead turned onto the gravel section. In retrospect, Elizabeth decided that was one of the most interesting rides (and best decisions) of the week.
Elizabeth noticed a lot of interesting things along the gravel road and opted to venture a mile or so off in order to investigate a church and its accompanying grave yard. She noted that every grave was marked with the same family name (Wetzel) except one! That one was interesting because it was the grave of a pilot and was marked with an airplane weather vane complete with propeller that spun in the abundant wind.
In the small world category, on that gravel road Elizabeth met another cross country rider coming the other direction. As they chatted, they found they were both from Raleigh and knew folks in common.
Saturday, August 12 the destination was Dickinson about 50 miles away. As usual, Elizabeth was up before the sun and was able to catch a beautiful sunrise over the field and grain elevators.
The best route planning can sometimes have flaws – and they quickly discovered one after just starting out of Glen Ullin on County Road 139. Turns out there was construction planned to relocate this road and replace the eastbound lanes of I94 — somehow this was not well documented (there is still not much to find online even though its going to be closed for weeks if not months). Unfortunately there are not a lot of re-routing options in rural North Dakota.
Having managed around this issue Elizabeth continued through several small towns on her way to Dickinson.
Having made it to North Park Campground in Dickinson, Elizabeth was now in the Mountain Time Zone. Sunday was to be a short 40 mile ride to Medora, ND where they would get a day off! Medora would be their last overnight in North Dakota before crossing into Montana.
Hey Liz, Your trip gets more interesting as each post arrives. What a wonderful way to see our country. Photos and texts are great, and we’re right there with you virtually. Many thanks! If you go through Whitefish, Mark Haselby would love a call. Glad you’re finding good bike shops along the route to care for your beast.
Rene & Len
We are going thru Whitefish! I’ll call to get details from you. Thanks for letting me know.