Trans America Bike Ride 2019: Day 28, June 27, 2019

Expansive North Dakota Sky

Henry's notes for today:

Day 28: We awoke to some light rain, and we left perhaps an hour later than we normally would have. We experienced a mild pleasant tailwind out of Gackle, heading to Napoleon, where we would have lunch. All the towns we have been encountering are very small, and we are lucky if the town's restaurant is open when we arrive. Since leaving central Minnesota, we have had to be extra careful to make sure we have enough hydration and snacks to get us to the next little town. There is hardly any civilization between these little towns, but the verdant landscape has been a joy to behold. Wide open farmland and wetlands, with gently rolling hills in all directions, as far as one can see. It is a bird hunter's paradise, as numerous ducks and geese scatter from each pond we roll by. There are egrets and the occasional pelican. I saw a pheasant today when I stopped on the roadside for a snack. All of us have been pleasantly surprised by what we have discovered as we entered the Great Plains of ND.

Rhythmically pedaling on a long stretch of road, we encountered another Tim, a high school math teacher from Minneapolis who was riding across the country solo for the second time. Last year, he rode from Portland, ME to Seaside, OR. This year, he is doing the exact same route, but going from west to east.

We arrived in Hazelton (pop. 218) at 3:30 pm, and it was almost 90 degrees. Our original plan was to camp overnight there, but the town did not have a pool. Bismarck was another 45+ miles away, but since we had good luck with a tailwind all day, we decided to push forward after some refreshments, since we had a rest day planned the next day. Upon leaving Hazelton, it wasn't clear if we had made the right choice, because a headwind immediately greeted us. Fortunately, that abated when we turned west after 14 miles, and our tailwind resumed. About 10 miles outside Bismarck, Jeff got a rear flat (our 2nd of the trip collectively), but that was quickly resolved with Tim's help. Linda and I worked on a Bismarck hotel reservation while that repair was occurring. We were lucky to get a room, as Bismarck is hosting McQuade, the country's largest charity adult softball tournament this weekend. We arrived at 8 pm, after logging just over 110 miles for the day. Tim 's computer says we are now 1,850 miles from our starting point. I looked on Google maps, and it looks like we have about 1,400 miles and 45,000 feet of total elevation gain left before we reach Anacortes. We're all glad to have a nice place to rest and recover for a day.

A cautionary note for other bikers: in Wisconsin and Minnesota before we merged onto the well-documented Adventure Cycling northern tier route in ND, Google maps tried to route us onto several gravel roads. It helps to ask the locals at each town if you are not sure.