| 7/02/05 Saturday | Rugby ND |
| 7/03/05 Sunday | Minnewaukan ND |
| 7/04/05 Monday | Carrington ND |
| 7/05/05 Tuesday | Hope ND |
| 7/06/05 Wednesday | Moorhead MN |
| 7/07/05 Thursday | Moorhead MN |
My rear tire has failed - the bead separated from the sidewall, eventually
causing a flat. Now I'm riding on my 28mm foldable spare. It looks funny
compared to the 37mm front tire. I tried to order from Nashbar but the only
way they will ship to a post office general delivery is by ground. I
guess I'll just hit a bike shop in Fargo, across the river from Moorhead
where we have a layover in a few days.
Bill has left without saying goodbye to everybody. Very strange.
We set up camp behind the baseball diamond in Minnewaukan. We had to hunt
around for areas of dry land to set up the tents. You can see the lake from
the campground - not long ago it was 8 miles away. A father/son team, Robert
and Justin(?), arrived in camp. They are also doing the Northern Tier. Later
another group of five cyclists doing the NT in the opposite direction came in.
There are also several RVs here so there is quite a waiting line at the
very minimal facilities.
Wes and Jeanne stayed for the bull riding contest after.
The Hope ND city park, where we're staying tonight, is again much nicer
than the one in Minnewauken.
The manager is a part-time frame builder. He let us (Don, RonP, and me) ride
his 5-seat tandem.
Other errands: post office, Walgreens (bought Woolite), library (Internet),
Don got a haircut, lunch at Chinese buffet. The Blue Angels are performing this weekend and we saw them practicing over
the city.
7/02/05 Saturday, Rugby ND
72 miles
Here are Brendan and Eric escaping from the heat.
(Thanks Brendan for the photo.)
We're camping at Oakwood Inn and Canpground in Rugby. There's a free Internet
terminal in the motel lobby. Rugby's claim to fame is that it is supposed to
be the geographical center of North America. That's Alan (me) and Don in
the photo.
7/03/05 Sunday, Minnewaukan ND
61 miles
The only store in Minnewaukan closes at 1:00 so the cook crew (Don and Brendan)
got up early and hammered. I rode with Eric and Maddy most of the day.
We had strong tailwinds for the last two-thirds of ride.
The official Adventure Cycling route along the south shore of Devil's Lake
is apparently impassable because of flooding. In the past few years the
lake has risen 28 feet. We'll have to take a different route tomorrow.
7/04/05 Monday, Carrington ND
50 miles
Today is Independence Day. In Sheyenne we noticed a sign for a "Bull-a-Rama"
today so we stopped and inquired. We found out that they also have a 4th of
July parade and a pit-roasted beef dinner afterward. The 6 of us (Brendan,
Jeanne, Ron P, Wes, Don and I), plus Robert and Justin, were entry nr. 42 in
the parade.
The concrete-walled roasting pit for the beef takes 24 hours to prepare -
the beef cooks for 12 hours.
We also had beans, cole slaw, baked potato, cookies and drink
for $7.00. I believe the guy with the baseball cap between Brendan and
Don is Robert, the fellow we met in camp yesterday, and his son Justin is
on the other side of Don. That's RonP on the right.
Before this trip I hadn't realized that there's a north-south continental
divide as well as the better-known east-west one. We crossed it sometime
in the afternoon.
There was another parade in Carrington, featuring giant farm tractors.
We're staying tonight in the city park which, compared to the one in
Minnewaeken, is cheaper (free) and much nicer. We all went out to dinner
in celebration of the holiday. I was hungry in spite of the big lunch.
7/05/05 Tuesday, Hope ND
75 miles
We had georgeous riding weather today.
Brendan, of Hope ME, likes to take photos of all the Hopes we go through.
That's me in front of the post office.
7/06/05 Wednesday, Moorhead MN
71 miles
This was a long day with side and head winds. We're staying tonight in a
dormitory on the Minnesota State Univ Moorhead campus, which is just across
the river from Fargo ND. My cookmate RonE didn't get in until late so Maddy
and I walked to the grocery store to shop. Since an oven was available,
Maddy made home-made spinach-pesto lasagna.
7/07/05 Thursday, Moorhead MN
6 miles
Layover day in Moorhead. Don and I rode into Fargo.
Don has been braking spokes in his front wheel. At the Island Park bike
shop he bought some spare spokes and had the wheel re-trued. I bought a
new tire and tube and had them re-true the rear wheel. They were very
helpful and the prices way low.