Day 31 to 34: Glendive, MT to Bismarck, North Dakota

Day 31:  July 15 - Glendive, Montana to Medora, North Dakota

Days mileage:  67.1 miles 

Mileage since the Pacific:  1621 miles

Well another 2 milestones today. Riding on the interstate (which I used to think was illegal)Crossing into North Dakota and leaving the steep rolling hills of Montana.  For the most part. Again today I had a stiff headwind. My route was mostly southeast and then east and the 10-15 mph headwinds started out from the southeast and then moved to face me from the east. It took me 3 hours to go the first 25 miles and I averaged only 8 mph before noon. My top speed was 15 mph and that was pedaling full out downhill. Not good. 

I had planned to make it to Dickinson, ND but I stopped in a convenience store in Wibaux (last town in Montana before crossing the border) and the counter lady advised against staying in Dickinson as it is a mess with oil field boom creating lots of congestion, construction and rising crime. She recommended Medora, a small town and a shorter ride. Sounded great to me.  The afternoon was better due to reduced headwinds and some longer downhills. 

Looks flat. Can't see the wind. 

Entering the 4th state on this trip: North Dakota!

I had lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Beach, ND. It was bad. And don't ask me about the rest room or the stone in the broccoli of my moo goo gai pan. And why is there a Beach, ND?  There wasn't a beach within several hundred miles. 

I found a great campground in Medora, with showers and wifi. Nice. They also told me about the famous Medora Musical which was in an outdoor amphitheater with the Badlands as the backdrop. So I quickly showered bought a ticket and took the camp shuttle to the show. 

Elk on the hill behind the stage.

Cowboy coming down the hill moving the elk. Realized shortly that this was all staged for our benefit. 

I'm not much into schmaltzy cowboy musical vaudeville but it was a nice diversion and a window into the culture in this area. 

I met a nice guy from Egan, Minnesota who was camping in the site next to me. He offered me a place to stay with him and his family if I need and I'm in the area. I may take him up on it when I go thru MN. 

Day 32:  July 16 - Medora to Hebron, ND

Day's mileage:  78.8 miles

Total mileage since Pacific:  1,700 miles

The Badlands

Fortunately less windy today and I made pretty good time overall. The hills are still there but not as long or steep as in Montana. 

I passed through more of the Badlands in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  They're spectacular. 

It transformed eventually into rolling agricultural land and wheat fields. The breadbasket of the country. 

Big church in Richardton.

I had hoped to stay in the only motel in Hebron but I was out of luck. Full up. So I called the police department there letting them know my dilemma and they suggested the Hebron City Park. Woohoo!  Free camping. Fortunately the community pool was next to it and they let me take a quick rinse-off shower before they closed in 5 minutes at 9 pm ( I had just crossed into Central Time Zone).  I looked around for a restaurant but the only options were a couple bars serving microwave sandwiches or pizza. I opted for the Brick City Bar and Grill where I ate an entire sausage pizza and had 2 IPAs. When I finished it was 11 pm and I still needed to go to the park and set up my tent. It was a nice park and location and I slept like a baby except for the 3 times the coal trains passed theough town and blast their train horn. 

My humble but comfortable abode in Hebron City Park. 

Playground equipment?  Or medieval torture device?

Day 33:  July 17 - Hebron to Bismarck, ND

Day's mileage:  70 miles 

Total mileage since Pacific:  1,770 miles

I broke camp and found a nice coffee shop in town where I had an egg breakfast sandwich, oatmeal and a cappuccino.  

Oh and I dropped and killed my Samsung Galaxy smartphone while I was there. I had to IM and Skype Cathy to let her know and see how soon they could send it to some future yet to be determined location.  Geez. More on this later.

I left for Bismarck about 9:30 am with a bit of a slight south/southwest wind. Yes!  

Hebron at 8 am. 

Really North Dakota?  You newly pave a road and this is the shoulder? A 45 degree drop off and no shoulder. They really don't like bikers here I guess. 

Well there was an option to follow the 4 mile longer detour and go up on Interstate 94 or take this 11 mile gravel road. I decided to chance the gravel road. Well it wasn't too bad in the flat parts but the first hill I went up I swamped my tires in loose gravel and almost fell over before I could un lip my feet from the pedals. So I ended up walking up that one and the next 6 hills on the gravel road. So it took a lot longer but it was really beautiful, isolated and quiet. Except for the 3 yahoos who sped by me in their pickups covering me in a layer of dust. Reminded me of the laterite roads in Burkina Faso when the same would happen when we'd ride our mobylettes en grouses. 

I was very happy to reach the pavement at the end. 

Continuing on, I finally (and with difficulty) found a place to eat in New Salem.  Where they have a very large statue of a Holstein cow. Must be a story there somewhere. 

If you enlarge the photo you should be able to see the cow on top of the hill next to the New Salem sign embedded on the hill. 

Crossing the Missouri River into Bismarck at the end of the day's ride. Just for fun the wind decided to change direction to a headwind for the last 5 miles. Yaaaaay!

I'm staying at the Expressway Inn in Bismarck. I get a kick out of these notices that are in a lot of hotel rooms now about how environmentally conscious they are and are trying to save water, pollution, etc. however the notice is in front of plastic drinking cups in the bathroom.  When you go to breakfast in the morning it's all plastic ware and styrofoam. Environmentally responsible, my ass.  They're just trying to save themselves money. They'd have us sleeping on plastic sheets and drying with styrofoam towels if they could. Hippocrites!  

Day 34:  On another note I took the next day (today, Friday, July 18) as a rest day. So 2 nights in a real bed. 

I took my bike to a bike shop to get it tuned up and checked out for the next half of my journey. I did need a new chain as I've beaten this one up pretty good over the last couple of years. 

Oh and I bought these bad boys:

They have a stiffer sole so maybe now my feet won't hurt so much after the 60 mile mark on my longer day rides. 

Tonight's cultural happenings at the Luck Duck's Deli, Bismarck.

Tomorrow off toward Jamestown, where my new Samsung phone will arrive. I probably won't get there til Sunday (it's 148 miles by the bike route I'm on) and I'll be staying with my friend Doug's cousin. Thanks Doug!

Until the next posting.