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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nI woke up in Bismarck, North Dakota, not really knowing what kind of day it would be.\u00a0 My goal was to pedal 100 miles to Jamestown, North Dakota.\u00a0 However, the weather forecast was for thunderstorms around 4 pm plus heavy rain after dark and into tomorrow.\u00a0 Not only was the afternoon weather iffy, the maps showed more than half the day’s ride would be on gravel roads.<\/p>\n
On the positive side the morning’s weather was supposed to be greatand there were numerous towns with motels if the ride needed to be cut short.<\/p>\n
The morning ride of 45 miles was glorious.\u00a0 The weather was perfect.\u00a0 Once I left Bismarck, few cars or truck were on the road and the pavement was new and easy to pedal.\u00a0 I reached my lunch spot of Steele, North Dakota around 11:30 am.<\/p>\n
Steele had a grocery store!\u00a0 While they didn’t make sandwiches or salads, they did have a ready to eat BBQ beef bowl.\u00a0 The store manager even heated it up in her microwave oven and gave me a plate so it would be like a real meal.\u00a0 I then told her and some customers the above story when they asked how I could pedal so far.<\/p>\n
I ate my lunch two doors down on some benches in front of a church.\u00a0 The Pastor came out and invited me inside to use the bathroom and fill up my water bottles.\u00a0 Yes, I had the same discussion with him.<\/p>\n
After lunch I hit the first 8 mile stretch of gravel.\u00a0 It was pretty bad.\u00a0 The first 2 miles were so soft I switched into sneakers to prevent myself from crashing again.\u00a0 The last 6 miles were so bouncy there were times my eyes couldn’t focus because my head was being jarred so much.<\/p>\n
After 8 punishing miles, I decided to try pedaling on the Interstate.\u00a0 My goal has been to avoid the highway, but the gravel roads in North Dakota were too tough for me.\u00a0 The first section of the interstate I traveled was quite pleasant.\u00a0 The only issue were that some delivery service companies like Federal Express were running triple trailers.\u00a0 These road trains create quite a suction force, but all the road trains stayed in the left lane when they passed me so there was a lot of space between us.<\/p>\n
After a dozen miles, I got off at an exit with a gas station.\u00a0 The clerk told me it was either the highway or gravel roads the rest of the way to Jamestown.\u00a0 This was not good news, so I got back on the highway to pedal more.<\/p>\n
A few miles later in Crystal Springs, North Dakota, I ran into a problem.\u00a0 The highway, starting at that point, was under construction.\u00a0 Instead of being two travel lanes and one breakdown lane it was one of each and my road train cushion disappeared with the left side travel lane blocked off with cones and signs.<\/p>\n
They started the highway construction at a rest area.\u00a0 I pulled into the rest area to contemplate my options.\u00a0 The choice seemed clear.\u00a0 Get back on the gravel road, at least until the construction was done, and live with the jarring. This was easy since the service station had one entrance on the highway and a back entrance onto the gravel road.<\/p>\n
Alas, this idea did not work out.\u00a0 I pedaled the gravel road for about 1 mile and then ran into a sign stating the gravel road was closed 2.5 miles ahead.\u00a0 I was now semi-trapped at the rest area.\u00a0 I could definitely not go forward on the gravel road and didn’t want to go forward on the interstate highway.<\/p>\n
It took a long time to find someone who would give me a lift down the road.\u00a0 My saviors this time were Ben and Lisa, who were driving a pickup truck that was towing a camper.\u00a0 They had just started out on a 3 month adventure.<\/p>\n
They were going to Jamestown so they gave me a lift the whole 35+ miles.\u00a0 It was a good move because there were some bridges on the interstate that were under construction and had no shoulder at all.\u00a0 In Jamestown we looked at the world’s largest statue of a buffalo and then parted ways.<\/p>\n
There was still plenty of sun in the sky so I called my wife for some trip help.\u00a0 The map told me it was 33 miles to the next set of hotels. My wife told me she could book me a room.\u00a0 If I hustled I could make it beyond Jamestown and be in a motel before dark.<\/p>\n
The bike and I flew the first 25 miles.\u00a0 The road was great.\u00a0 I felt good and there was a clear sunset deadline.\u00a0 The next 5 miles were slower.\u00a0 My legs were tired and I was running out of energy.\u00a0 Maybe I misread the map but it turned out to be 38 miles not 33 to Valley City.\u00a0 I was very slow the last 8 miles but still made it into the city before the street lights came on.<\/p>\n
Overall, it turned out to be a great day.\u00a0 The morning ride was excellent.\u00a0 The people in Steele, ND were friendly and welcoming.\u00a0 The late afternoon sprint was exhilarating and once again I met nice people (thanks again Ben and Lisa) who were willing to help out a stranger.\u00a0 Plus the weather held off and no rain has fallen yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I was little my father and I watched a running marathon.\u00a0 I was amazed that people could run 26.2 miles.\u00a0 It seemed almost impossible, yet thousands of people were streaming by who were doing it. I asked my father “how were they able to run that far?” He said if you want to run … Continue reading Day 20: Bismarck to Valley City, North Dakota<\/span>