Two Wheeling West

North Dakota and Montana Photos

Posted by Andrew on August 3rd, 2009 - 1 Comment...  

I’m glad I watched the truly flat parts of ND roll by from the train and got back on my bike to ride through the rolling yellow hills of canola.  ND was a lot of fun, the people I met are fantastic, the weather was good, and the landscape was completely new to me.  I loved the extremes: bright green fields gave way to blinding yellow fields, then rolling “waves of grain” became sparse, rocky, then barren as I approached ranch country.

All I saw of most ranches was a gate with a name and a beat up fence at the road.  Obviously there’s something else back there, but I couldn’t discern any other buildings or activity as far back as I could see.  Big ranch. The cattle that I did see near the road all watched as I rolled by, which was sort of an odd feeling.  They didn’t just look up, they actually turned around to face me, turned their heads, and shuffled around to get a good look.    I mean, I’d watch me too, not probably not that intently.

I met some interesting people in Montana and had several unexpected conversations along the way.  Gordon is a full-blooded Sioux Indian living just off the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana.  I found him leaning over his car on the side of route 2 staring straight up at the sky with a pair of binoculars.  At first glance, I didn’t see anything, but after I stopped to ask what he was looking at, Gordon pointed out several golden eagles floating way up in the sky.  He told me about seeing a few up close, how they mate (grab onto one another up high, then float down slowly until the last moment and let go), and their position as a sacred animal.  We went on to talk about the trouble on the reservations, both in years past and in the present.  Gordon has his fair share of issues years ago, but is proud to have cleaned up and is trying to help others, unfortunately without much success lately.

I met a rancher in Saco, MT as I was changing my rear tire.  I picked up a sharp stone in NY, which turned into a hole and kept giving me flats…  2200 miles on that tire wasn’t too bad.  We spoke about riding, the weather (of course), the bugs, which weren’t too bad so far this year, and about organic farming.  He was pleased to see that a few farms, mostly wheat, peas, and canola, have started to switch over to organic practices.  I must admit, I was a little surprised to hear about changes in a place like Saco.  I assumed this was very large-scale commercial farming with all of the chemicals and debt that comes with it.  Before he left, we talked about my bike for a few minutes… turns out he used to race bikes in high school and college, but doesn’t ride any longer.  Instead he builds tandems and other odd bikes (4 wheels) for whoever needs them - just gives them away!  He recommended the beef jerky at the local grocery store, “Robert makes the best jerky in the state!”  I don’t know if it’s the best in the state, but I thought it was excellent.  The grocery store had several animal heads on the wall - nice touch as you’re looking around for ice cream.

View ND photos on flickr…

View MT photos on flickr…

Grace and Alan
view on flickr»

Montana
view on flickr»

Laurie, Lucy, Me, Grace, Alan, Barbara
view on flickr»

Back on the bike in ND

Posted by Andrew on July 7th, 2009 - 1 Comment...  

I think I picked the perfect spot to get off the train in ND and start riding again!  Most of eastern ND (at least up north) is flat and looks pretty much like Indiana blanketed in wheat instead of corn.  I was up early on the train to watch the wheat fly by - I woke the guy next to me so he didn’t miss his stop, and the woman across from me decided to start snoring at 5 AM.

Anyway… got off the train in Minot and watched two guys try and run after the train when it left them in the station.  They were warned to stay close - we were an hour late and the conductor made it very clear that the stop would be a short one.  One train a day through this area, so I hope they enjoyed the coffee they absolutely had to  get!  After I laughed at them shuffling toward the train, I realized that I left my mirror (helmet mounted) on the train.  Damn, off to the local  bike shop.

Val’s Cyclery is great, and I ended up with a better mirror, gave my extra bungee cords away to another tourer, and got the last two Northern  Tier maps from someone else.  They also warned me against following the maps west (they were going east), and  suggested I take route 2 straight to Williston instead of the back roads.  There are several few small oil wells in the area with none large enough for a pipeline, so they haul the oil around in trucks.  The trucks must use the ACA maps as well - apparently the route is littered with them.  Route 2 has a nice shoulder, well graded, and traffic is certainly fast, but has been good to me so far.  The only car that got close to me was a school bus#$%!

This part of the route doesn’t have many campgrounds, or towns, or people, or much of anything, so I stopped in Stanley, ND for the night.  I used the Internet for a few minutes at town hall, had a chat with some people about the weather, then headed north to find a quiet corner of the town park.  Surprise! Other tourers!  Alan and Grace are on a 4 month cross-country/visit friends trip, and Laurie is headed west from Michigan.  We all shared mac and cheese, chips, steamed asparagus, and plenty of beer - good times, I’m glad I ran into them!  We’re all in Williston for the night after being rained on all morning - time for food, laundry, more food, and some rest.

56 miles yesterday, 72 today + whatever we ride around town, and possibly 90 tomorrow.  I feel great and could have covered more miles during the last two days, but purposely kept it low to take it easy on my body.  So far, so good!  I plan on gradually ramping back up to 80-90 per day, weather, terrain, and campgrounds permitting.