Tales of three angels

For the most part, our adventures are about riding, camping, and the people we meet...here are a fee of our stories: We were riding through rural farmland in minnesota when we saw a tractor pulling a wagon with something really big, a large tree trunk, perhaps? It was coming from a side road out to the road we were on. It pulled out on the road in front of us and it became obvious just what it was: a wagon loaded with manure! (you've heard of 10 pounds of s**t in a 5 pound bag? This was like 10 cubic yards!) As the tractor and wagon bumped along, one wheel on the shoulder, one to the outside, the contents kept falling out. It was about 95 degrees and it smelt like you-know-what. We did not want to pass it and we really didnt want to slow down so I thought of my mother's guardian angel. You see, my mother's guardian angel used to find us parking spaces so i figured she could get this manure wagon to turn off SOON. She did, it turned, and we were on our way on a clean shoulder! Second: our maps indicate places to camp and, occasionlly, "biker only accomodations." At the end of a 70-mile day we rolled into the bicycle bunkhouse and were amazed and overwhelmed. Donn Olson retired from the army and came back to the farm where he grew up. After he realized he was on the Northern Tier bike route and that lots of hot, tired bikers were passing by, he decided to open up his farm to bikers. His facilities continue to evolve but what we found was an Air Conditioned barn with separate bed rooms, frig, microwave, free bread, butter, eggs, jam, and other foods at ridculously low prices. There was a solar shower and photos of all the bikers who stayed there. We saw pictures of several of the folks we had met. Donn is a character and a shining star of our ride. Third: we have left the mapped route and are headed toward Chicago, which means we have to navigate across Wisconson. A bike shop in Stillwater, MN, told us we should go to another bike shop in Hudson, WI, to get Wisconson info. So we went to Art Doyle's shop, told him what we were trying to do, and he was SOOO helpful. He explained WI's geography, then showed us the map set that catagorizes all roads as to their suitability for biking, gave us his viewpoint on routes (he is a go-fast road bike guy while we are loaded tourers), then he gave us the $20 maps as his contribution to our adventure. After we studied the maps and considered alternatives we decided to ride a ways down the Mississippi then do 100 miles of rail trails, 40 miles of road,40 miles of rail trails to Madison...the (maybe) center of American bicycling. FroM there we would figure out how to get to Chicago. Given our decision, Art mapped out the best way to ride out of town to the river...and i mean mapped. He used Map My Ride and printed out the route for us to take with us. Riding, camping, people; some are awesome, some provide a contrast so we can appreciate the rest.

Good Bye ND & MN; Hello Wisonsin

We loved ND, they are at the top of our list for friendliest. People honked, gave us high fives and truckers waved. When were sopped for grocercies someone always struck up a conversation qsking qbout ut trip. Besides friendlyness, the state was really pretty with hills, farms,cattle, valleys and numerous unexpected wetlands. We even saw pelicans! MN was also very beautiful with large acres of farm lands and small towns. One day we decided to disregard the detour signs and precedded forward thinking they would surely stop us if we were not supposed to be there. Not; no one stopped us, it was about 5 miles with big trucks hauling material, loose squirrely dirt and heat & sun penetetrating down; needless to say it was narrly but we made it through even ifwe had to push our bikes at times! Some of the highlights of MN were Pelican Rapids with the largest pelican statue in the world and a very cool pedestrian suspension bridge over a large lake in town; Bowlous & Jordie's Cafe w/incredible pie selection (pieces were several inches high) and air conditioned bathrooms for their city park camping; and then there was Don Olsen's adventure cycling bunk house! Don is retired Army and now lives on the family farm. He converted his old barn into a bunkhouse for cyclist - it too has air conditioning, 3 room with wooden bunks, kitchen area w/microwave indusreial size toaster oven, hotplate, toaster and coffee maker, plus all kinds of snacks, frozen foods at ridiculously low prices and free eggs, butter, milk and jam. He saw a need a number of years ago when some cyclist requested to camp on his farm. His house is right on the root. He also has outdoor solar shower, and outhouse. He gave all of us (2 women we had been trave.ing with also stayed there), a tour of his 100 acre farm in his van. It was quite a wonderful stay. He said he wantedto give back and really enjoyed all the cyclist. He takes everyones pictures and post on the wall, we saw several cyclists we had met earlier who were traveling east to west that had stayed there. Another wonder of our trip!

2000 miles

We've biked over 2000 miles and still having fun thought we would like to include some pictures of ourselves and other cyclists we have met along the way.

Bismarck to Fargo, North Dakota

In four hot days we biked from Bismarck to Fargo...about 250 miles, 3 nights camping, no showers! But we had a lot of fun; seems like we have developed our rythem. We rolled into Fargo yesterday afternoon and experienced a new lodging option: a "warm showers" host! The savy women we have been traveling with are members of the warm showers organization...and now we are, too. So, we offer to host bicycle travelers in our home (when we get back)and in exchange, we can stay at others' homes...if they are available. Last night was awesome. First, there was the big grocery store. It is difficult to overstate how exciting big, air conditioned grocery stores are. Next, our host rolls up on an extracycle and says you must be the folks who are staying at my house tonight. On request, he recommended a Mexican restaurant (one block away & excellent). Then we ride to his house and soak our feet in the pool while visiting with his wife. After showers, laundry, and discussion of route options, and more snacking, we all (the 4 of us, not the hosts) sleep on the floor in air conditioned comfort. This morning they made coffee and pancakes and we were on the road by 7...fat and happy. As for those route options...as some of you know we have a wedding to go to in Denver on August 11 (I think). Our plan is to get close to Chicago, prevail on Nancy's cousin, generous John, to pick us up, and then we are going to take the TRAIN from Chicago to Denver!!! How fun is that?!? We are now thinking we will ride from here to Minneapolis (we have the maps for that) and then strike out across Wisconson heading for Madison. Our host of last night lent us some old Wisconson bike maps, so hey, lets have an adventure! This morning we crossed the Red River and left North Dakota and are now in Minnesota...in the small town of Pelican Rapids, camping in the city park. This campground has showers! We really liked North Dakota...amoung other surprises, there are a lot of wetlands and, hense, a lot of birds! 'til next time, Keep on rolling!

The Heat & New Friends

Chris and i are amazed at how well we have adapted to the heat. We have gone from wet and cold to extreme heat. Initially it was a dry heat but with all the weather we have experienced on this trip, this is not the usual weather pattern. It usually isn't this hot for this long. It is not usually humid in ND from what we have been told. But it has been all of the above. We finished one day and it was close to 100. We try to start early around 6:30 to 7AM and finish by early to mid afternoon. We have been using 80 sunblock to keep the sunburn and sunrash to a miminum. Today we had a reprieve, it was cloudy, headwind and only in the 80s. We rather enjoy a side wind when it is hot because it keeps apus cool as we ride. We are spending the night in Gackle, ND, a town of about 300 people. Last night we were in Napolean, ND and got free ice cream at the grand opening of the credit union. We love camping in these small towns and meeting the people, they are so intestered in our trip and share small town living with us. Last night we camped in the city park, tonight we are in an RV park, the owner said no charge for bicyclist, they love having us. We have really enjoyed the people in MT and ND, they are so friendly. The truck drivers are even friendly, giving us a friendly honk or wave! Besides meeting so many locals we have also met many wonderful other cyclists. Most pedaling faster and farther each day, but a few our pace as well. We have been traveling with 2 women from GA for the past week and half who are on recumbents and also with a couple from Boulder, but they are now ahead, on a tigher schedule than ours. Our mileage range per day has increased from 30 - 60 to 40-70 miles per day. Camping/lodging options and headwinds/tailwinds are the determining factors on when we stop. The headwinds seem to be most frequent, another unusual element this summer, in past winds tended to be more from the west. As with every day, the weather, temperature and winds are what they are and create a new adventure and story each day.

Give me wheat, wides, and whine

Well...we have been busy cycling, camping, eating, sleeping, and getting up and doing it again! We have really been enjoying the plains and the people who live here. At first, we really enjoyed the tail winds (you've heard of westerlies, right?) but they don't always blow in the right direction!!! The morning light on the wheat fields can be so beautiful and the little towns can be so interesting... One afternoon we were hot and tired and had about 12 miles to go to our destination town. There was a pickup truck ahead on the shoulder of the road. As we got close, a guy got out and waved for us to stop. He explained that one of the bulls had escaped and that two of the ranch hands and a dog were tryong to get him into a pasture. He asked us to wait because the bull was ornery and he didn't want him to charge us!?! So we asked him about ranching and in a little while the bull came down the road and the guys and dog got him into the pasture. We continued on our hot way, richer for the experience. We went to a little local bar in a farming town (population 500) and Nancy asked if they had any white wine...sure, what kind do ya want? NF: Savinyon Blanc? Nope, don't have that. We have been camping in town parks which vary widely in how nice they are, shade, proximity to railroad tracks, and condition of bathrooms! Honestly, we have set up our tent within 100 feet of the railroad and had the train go by 5 times during the night!!! Tonight we are in New Salem, North Dakota (population: 946) and tomorrow we head to Bismarck. Hopefully we can catch up with some more stories.

Electric bikes and small town hospitality

Its like riding an electric bike, we have had a great tailwind for the past two days, going up hills at 14mph, its been great. We have been able to ride 60-70 miles, with half the effort we put in 3 days ago. Our good fortunate may turn on us today if the weather forecast is correct, that's OK, we will probably have a short day od biking and get some laundry done before we depart today. Two nights ago we camped in the small town of Chester, MT, population of about 900, mainly farming and service for the other smaller communities in the area. It had a hospital, nursing home, great museum about the area, community swimming pool and all grades for school. The grocery store was small but great selection of items. We had dinner at "Spuds" for a total of $15.00. You could tell people took pride in their town, lots of flower and vegetable gardens, and people out mowing their lawns. They also had a big city park with a new covered pavillion with about 6 or 7 picnic tables and outdoor restroom with running water. The amazing thing was they offered free camping in their park. There were signs telling you where to pitch your tent and what time the sprinklers came on in the morning. It was great and it felt very safe. This trip has provided opportunities to see slices of life that we would not have otherwise. Yesterday was the 4th of July and we stayed in a dorm room of MSU north in Havre, MT. It wasn't splashy but good showers, we went to the community picnic, heard live country & western music & alittle 70s geezer rock, and saw some fireworks from the front door of the dorm. Life on the road is interesting

From the Mountains, to the Praries....

...to the Oceans, white with...oh, hold on, not so fast. I dont really want this to be the chronicles of the misfortunes of nancy & chris but we had some surprises and they were not all good! First, nf's bulge...or, more accurately, her tire's bulge. The bike shop didn't have a suitable replacement tire so we ordered one from Bike Tires Direct in Portland, OR, next day air. Got the tire on tuesday afternoon, put it on, and headed out in the rain. Whitefish was great but we had spent 4 nights there and it was (past?) time to move on. We had a short day. Finally we were off to Glacier National Park! They restrict bike travel on "going to the sun highway" so we zoomed 32 miles by 11 am then snacked, visited, and cruised to our campground. Next morning we were on the road by 6 in order to make the top by 11. First our fingers were frozen so we stopped to put on gloves. Next, nancy sees a bear grazing next to the road. We have alternative stradegies as to how to proceed... Nancy and most of her bike are inside the roadside restroom (and i'm thinking, i'm the one carrying all the food...) when i flag down the first car we have seen for 10 minutes. I ask the lady passenger if they will escort us by driving between us and the bear. She puts down her phone/camera long enough to say yes so we bike along side. The bear goes into the woods as all good bears should. After the car drives away, my behaviorially observant wife says, he (the driver) didn't seem to be that into it. Be that as it may the rest of the climb went fine. It was hard, but not as hard as Washington Pass, the first one we did in the Cascades. However, during the descent, I had a blowout...my tire, that is!!! Some bikers reading this may have heard of people using their brakes too much, the rims heating up, and the tire exploding. Well, I'm here to tell you it can happen and it happened to me! I didn't die, though you probably figured that out. Actually, I was stopped in a scenic overlook when my front tire went BANG!!! (the reason my rim overheated is a bit complicated but if you buy me a beer I'll explain it to you). The tube had a 3 inch split and the tire sidewall seperated from the bead. I tried to fix it with duct tape and I did roll slowly down hill for a couple of miles but it was Battle of the Bulge redux. I hitched a ride to the next campground and tried to identify an address for another new tire to be sent. The details are a bit tedious but eventually, eventually FedEx delivered 2 tires (we thought we should have a spare!) to me care of a grocery store outside of the park. After that, things have been going well. We biked to Canada and went to Waterton Park. We have left the Rockies and are now on the plains, in Cut Bank, MT! We rode 73 miles today! We've met some interesting people and are having a great time. With our spare tire we are assured not to need it!