| 6/20/05 Monday | Chester MT |
| 6/21/05 Tuesday | Havre MT |
| 6/22/05 Wednesday | Malta MT |
| 6/23/05 Thursday | Malta MT |
| 6/24/05 Friday | Glasgow MT |
| 6/25/05 Saturday | Glasgow MT |
| 6/26/05 Sunday | Wolf Point MT |
| 6/27/05 Monday | Culbertson MT |
| 6/28/05 Tuesday | Williston ND |
| 6/29/05 Wednesday | Stanley ND |
| 6/30/05 Thursday | Minot ND |
| 7/01/05 Friday | Minot ND |
There's not much scenery now. "Towns" typically consist of one or two buildings
and are 30 or 40 miles apart. In between there's nothing but grass. The BNSF
Railway runs parallel to route 2. Eric is a real train fan and stops to watch
every time a choo-choo goes by.
The last 15 miles were hard today because 1) my feet hurt and 2) I ran out
of water. Don ran out too. When we got to Chester we rode up the hill to
the Subway and ordered the 6-inch sandwich value meal with 6 or 7 refills
on soda.
There is a group of three
touring cyclists from Tenessee here. Dave introduced himself to them.
(He's from Knoxville and flies the U. of Tenessee flag from his BOB
trailer.) They are also going east, doing 100 miles a day.
I checked my email at the library. I bought a Coke for $0.40 from the machine
in front of the little market nearby. It sure costs more than that in
California.
I drank 3 water bottles and 2 or 3 Cokes during the ride. After arriving
in camp at the fairgrounds, Don and I headed into town to do some errands
and shop for food for the group. I mailed my cold-weather clothes back
home, Don hit an ATM machine, and we went to the bike shop. I couldn't
find the kind of mirrur I wanted but Don got a new rear derailleur installed.
At the bike shop I wasn't feeling well. Then we rode to the supermarket
and when I got in the air conditioning I felt better. But by the time I
rode back to camp I was worse. I tried to take a cold shower but the
showers were hot only. I laid down on the floor with people pouring water
on me until the ambulance arrived.
Bill went with me to the hospital and stuck around until the doctor finally
cleared me to go. We returned by cab to the campground to shower and then went
back to town for dinner, finally getting back to camp after 10:00.
The doc thinks it a good idea to take a couple days off the bike so I am
taking the cab to Malta which is our rest day the day after tomorrow.
Bill negotiated with Sue the cab driver for $50 instead of $90.
I did my laundry. It dried guickly on the line.
Dave did arrive later and is staying in a motel a few hundred yards down
the road. For dinner we walked to a bar/steakhouse in town and then
returned to his room. Just as I was calling my friend Sue on his phone a
severe thunderstorm blew through. The National Weather Service alert on the
Weather Channel said gusts to 60 mph which I can easily believe. I was
worried about my tent but when I got back to canp I found that Scott
and Sandy had kept it from blowing away.
After taking a shower I ran to my tent to beat the mosquitoes. I later
learned that the rest of the group had them really bad in Harlem also.
Wes shaved his head yesterday.
We're camped on the lawn in front of the office of an RV park in Glasgow MT.
We found out that Dave stayed behind in Malta because of chest pains.
The doctors at the hospital say it was not a heart attack. Brendan stayed
behind with Dave until noon and then brought Dave's group gear.
It was Dave's night to cook so I and others helped Eric carry groceries
and prepare the meal. Bill may have to rent a car and go pick up Dave tomorrow. Tomorrow is a layover day which coincides with some kind of fiesta in Glasgow.
I called work voicemail and found out that my company is instituting a
Voluntary Severance program. More details Monday.
Breakfast at the Oasis was excellent. Lunch was chicken salad at Dairy Queen.
Dinner at Johnnie restaurant was disappointing.
It was an easy ride today - about 55 miles not counting 5 miles riding all over
Wolf Point looking for the town park. We had light tailwinds most of the day.
As we were stopped on Rt 1 for a snack break a vanload of Assiniboine indians
stopped for a chat. One mentioned we should be careful in the Sioux part of
the reservation as we continue east. (I suspect the Sioux say the same thing
about the Assiniboine.) He gave Maddy a sprig of sage to burn for good luck.
This evening after the map meeting there was a discussion of group issues.
Jeanne wanted some kind of designated sweep to keep track of possible
stragglers. There was a big blowup with Bill storming out of the meeting,
feeling his job performance was being criticized.
We're camping at the city park in Culbertson, MT. There are showers at the
city pool six blocks away.
Shortly afterwards Brendan rode by and the three of us mooned him in
retaliation for his mooning us a couple days ago.
We're staying at Buffalo Trails RV park in Williston ND. Real showers and a
laundromat!
The first 31 miles today had strong headwinds and sidewinds. The last of the
ride was a quartering tailwind. Instead of following the official Adventure
Cycling route through Newtown we are staying on US 2 to Minot.
After dinner Maddy went to the store and bought ice cream and cookies for
dessert.
We're right by the railroad tracks again, which should make Eric happy.
The local paper reports they had 11 inches of rain in June - an all-time record.
There has been an annoying small leak in my tent's flysheet which causes a drip
through the vent screen in the tent roof. So I bought a can of silicone water
repellant in the camp store and sprayed the fly and bottom of each side of the
tent. Now it probably won't rain again for the entire tour.
We're staying at the Rough Rider campground in Minot ND.
There was quite a shock at the map meeting tonight. Bill has decided to quit
as tour leader. Maddy will be taking over. In the past, she has trained for
and led a couple youth tours and has passed a wilderness first aid course.
Apparently she interviewed with Adventure Cycling over the phone and accepted
the job. I had noticed some intense conversations between Bill and Maddy the
last couple days and some long phone calls that Maddy had been making, but I
didn't guess what it was all about.
Bill has rented a van and will follow the group for a couple days to help
with the transition, then go home. His friend John will also leave the tour.
Bill says this is not due to anyone on the tour but he just prefers to tour
his own way at his own pace.
We divided up Bill's group gear. I agreed to carry the tool kit. I plan to
go through it and suggest changes to Adventure Cycling.
Maddy ordered pizza for dinner and everybody chipped in.
This was Bill's birthday. Jeanne bought a bunch of baloons and filled
Bill's tent with them when he wasn't looking.
6/20/05 Monday, Chester MT
69 miles
The lady at the Riverview RV park drove 35 miles down the road to catch us
and deliver some mail that arrived this morning. Chocolate chip cookies
and mobile mail service too - What a nice lady!
We're camping at the city park. In the photo are Maddy, Brendan,
RonE, and Carol. I don't know why everyone looks so serious. The staff did
get the hot water in the shower turned on.
6/21/05 Tuesday, Havre MT
66 miles
It was very hot and humid today.
The bank in Havre said 95 degrees when I was there around 2:00 and 99
degrees a little later. The locals said that is very unusual for June
and the high humitity, from the recent rains, is also most unusual.
6/22/05 Wednesday, Malta MT
4 miles
I arrived at the Edgewater Inn and RV park in Malta by cab about 1 pm.
Scott and Sandy, a couple riding their own route across the US, had just
arrived. Since no rooms were available at the motel, I joined them in the
tent camp area.
There's an elevated railroad track right along the edge of the campground.
Trains go by many times a day. It may keep some people up at night but
Eric will be happy.
The rest of the group must have made Harlem before we drove past because I
didn't see anyone on the road. (Thanks Brendan for this photo.) But I did
see Dave on the road who is evidently pushing on to Malta. I also saw a
number of other touring cyclists on the road. Also in camp is a fellow named
Tod who is bicycle touring with his wife and 3 kids, age 11, 13, and 14,
supported by their RV. They are following the Adventure Cycling route.
6/23/05 Thursday, Malta MT
4 miles
Today the group had strong tailwinds and only 45 miles so the first riders
rolled in at 10:00. They have decided to push on to Glasgow tomorrow and
take our layover day there.
6/24/05 Friday, Glasgow MT
73 miles
Breakfast at 6:00 again. On the road shortly after 7:00. I saw deer and
antelope on the optional partly-gravel detour that starts shortly after Malta.
But when I quickly stopped to take a photo of an antelope Wes ran into me,
bending my fender. No serious damage done but I'm mad at myself for being
careless.
I haven't been taking photos because the scenery consists basically of the
same thing every day - miles of grass with occasional little towns along
the way. This area has been losing people for years so the towns are
pretty quiet. (Thanks Brendan for this photo.)
6/25/05 Saturday, Glasgow MT
Layover day in Glasgow. We checked out the town garage sale and I got a free
copy of Lance Armstrong's "It's Not About the Bike." The car show later
only had 8 or 10 cars.
6/26/05 Sunday, Wolf Point MT
60 miles
Dave is still not feeling well and has decided to abandon the tour. He says
if he starts to feel better he will ride home, otherwise he will take Amtrak
to some place where he can catch a bus to Knoxville. Trailers seem to be
jinxed on this trip - Jeanne has been having trouble with hers and shipped
it home a couple days ago in favor of panniers and now all three BOB users (Jim,
Ray, and Dave) have had to drop out.
6/27/05 Monday, Culbertson MT
61 miles
In the town of Poplar we saw work crews cleaning up a train derailment.
6/28/05 Tuesday, Williston ND
50 miles
We only did 50 miles but had strong headwinds most of the day. We stopped at
the North Dakota border and Maddy and Don mooned the "Welcome to Montana" sign.
I got a photo but they won't let me show it. I even have a caption all picked
out: "We were glad to see the 'end' of MOONtana!"
6/29/05 Wednesday, Stanley ND
69 miles
We're camping in the city park in Stanley ND. It's Ron Etzel's and my first
cook night together but it's been decided to eat out. We only had to buy
breakfast and lunch for tomorrow.
6/30/05 Thursday, Minot ND
53 miles
Easy ride today - strong tailwinds the last half of the ride. It rained last night and was
cold in the morning but then it turned into a nice sunny day.
Thanks Brendan for the photo.
7/01/05 Friday, Minot ND
14 miles
Layover day in Minot. Among other things, layover days are for bicycle
maintenance. Here's Don with his homemade bicycle repair stand.
I bought a tube at a local bike shop but I still couldn't find a suitable
bar-mount mirror to replace the one I broke several days ago. I had borrowed
John's spare Take-a-Look glasses-mount mirror and Bill says that John said
I can just keep it. I checked my email at the library and printed out some
information about the voluntary severance package my company has just announced.
Some of us visited a replica Nordic stave church and
also an actual circa 1700 house that had been moved from Norway.
Bill bought a used Goldwing motorcycle which he plans to ride home and
returned the van he had rented. At the library earlier today I had to leave
my driver's license to use the Internet and forgot to retrieve it when I left.
Bill kindly rode back and got it for me.