June 29 - Bismark to Napoleon - 70 miles

Bismark was a rest day for us and it poured down rain all day long.  We were able to get laundry done, bikes repaired and spent time at an inside mall and the library.  There was a big softball tournament in Bismark and many teams were camping at the park where we were camping.  There were parties going on all night long and most of us didn't get much sleep.

The big challenge today was biking 15 miles on a busy highway with a side wind.  Wind speed was 25 - 35 mph with gusts up to 45 mph and it was so hard to stay upright.  We were so exhausted when we got through that part of the ride.  The rest of the ride was tail winds and you could coast on flat roadway at 25+.  The two of us on the lightweight bikes had the hardest time.  All of us agreeded that we had never biked in such severe winds.  Tomorrow is also suppose to be high wind advisory.  Not sure how we will handle the riding.

July 30 - Napoleon to Gackle,  40 miles. - Even though today is a short day, Sussie and I decided not to ride because the winds are as strong as yesterday and it is projected to get worse as the day progresses.  Sussie has a Specialized bike like mine and she also felt that it was to dangerous to ride with the side winds on such light weight bikes.  All of the other riders were up early and on the road by 7:00 am.

Napoleon is a small farm town and most shops were closed when we arrived yesterday because it was Sunday.  We are camped in a city park which has a pool, showers and campground.  Six tents huddled under the one picnic shelter for the night and two of us put our tents out in the grass.  We found an ice cream parlor open in town and everyone pigged out on ice cream.  I think most were so stressed out by the ride and they needed ice cream to celebrate the end of a hard ride.   Pictures are of a field of canola plants and Russ changing a tires.

Typical Day on the Road

Here is an idea of a typical day:

There are four guys in our group that are up every day by 5:30 in the morning.  The rest of us get moving by 6 or 6:30.  Dick and Cheryl, who own the RV, are up that early and they get coffee and breakfast started.  That includes oatmeal, yogurt, cereals, toast and bagels.  Also fruit is out for everyone.  Also snacks are put out along with fixing for sandwiches for lunches.  Some folks make eggs and bacon.  Dish duties are shared by all.

The bikers usually leave in 3 groups.  The early birds leave, then 3-4 more leave, and then the last group takes off by 8.   About half way, we usually stop for breakfast or early lunch at a small town.  We kind of overlap when we stop.  It is not that there are really faster riders, but people leave at staggered times.  A lot of days we are in camp by noon or one.  By now we have kind of broken into groups based on ride speed.  The early group of guys like to ride straight through.  Russ and I ride with all the folks depending on how fast we break down camp.  But we stop for pictures and visit museums and talk to the locals.

There are three recumbent bikes, two of which are trikes.  The trikes ride together.  They climb slower but haul downhill.  They remind me of spiders crawling when you see them from behind.

We have 12 bikers but sometimes a person might ride in the RV because of weather, injuries or bike problems.  The RV is a 34 foot fifth wheeler that is a toy hauler where we put all our provisions.  Sometimes someone might even sleep in the back of the RV if they don't want to pitch a tent.

Dick and his dog, Sidney, drive the RV.  They usually go directly to the next camp site.  But they will come back and pick you up if needed.  He also hauls us for groceries, laundry, and the bike shop.

Cooking dinners are shared along with KP duty.  The

Trikes

Camping in Wolf Point

hardest part was figuring out how much to cook for this size group.  The bikers eat hardy.  But we pretty much have it figured out by now.  There are snacks out when we arrive in camp.

Trains

As we travel through Montana and North Dakota we see trains day and night.  When we are biking along the road and a train comes along, we wave and and conductor blows the whistle.  But they also blow their whistle all night long.  Every night we seem to be camped close to the tracks.  Last night I counted 6 trains during the night and each time they blew their whistle loud and long.  It makes it impossible to sleep through the night.  The trains are long and seem to be caring coal and oil.

Thunderstorms

Thursday, June 26 - Dickenson to Glen Ullin - 57 miles.

Highlight of the day was a visit to Assumption Abbey in the town of Richardton, North Dakota.  Just a small town with this beautiful church and monastery.  The Benedictine Monks on the Prairie.  You could see it for miles away.  Locals said there use to be close to 100 Monks living in the monastery but now only 20 or so.  There also is a convent with about 20 nuns living there.  The church was finished in1910 and its twin tower rise 120 feet and are topped with 8-foot iron crosses.  It also has 53 stain glass windows.  However, the big excitement was the thunderstorm that night.  Locals told us to be prepared for rain, thunder and lightning.  We were able to move all our tents under a small shelter and had to sleep really close to each other.  The skies were clear when we went to bed but in the middle of the night the skies opened up.  Russ and I have never seen thunder and lightening like that. It was pretty frightening.   Went on for hours and needless to say, no body got much sleep.   We all got up early and had a nice ride into Bismark 62 miles away.

Church on the Prairie

Inside the church

Another window

Sample of the stain glass windows

Big Sky Montana

It is hard to describe the beauty and diversity of the landscape in Montana.  When biking you have a 360 degree view of sky and farmland.  Many parts remind us of the Palouse.  We can be on side roads without seeing a single car for an hour or so.

We have not had the best of luck with campgrounds.  Some have been really bad.  But we have made the best of it all.  Our internet is also real spotty.  Verizon services are non existent in some of the small towns where we stay.

So today, June 24th, we crossed into North Dakota.  We were 14 days crossing Montana.  It was interesting how the landscape changed as soon as we crossed into North Dakota.  Strange shaped hills, petrified wood, buttes and open range farmland.  A quick calculation of mileage puts us at over 1355 miles so far.

Tonight we are camping at Medora.  The map says that they only have a population of 100. But it is a big tourist destination.  The Teddy Roosevelt National Park is here and the Cowboy Hall of Fame.  We went to the Cowboy Hall of Fame and it was really interesting.  More like a rodeo museum.

The past few days have been rolling hills and a few days ago we had 12 miles on gravel roads.  That was hard on my bike.  Russ however managed fine because his bike is a lot heavier.  We have had a mixture of side winds, tail winds and head winds.  This morning when we left Glendive it was foggy and misty but cleared by midday.

Find of the day:  Russ a plastic bat and Diana a snake

Pictures

Where is the rest stop?

This is the second comic rubber ball that Russ has found along the road

Lots of trains running through Montana and North Dakota

Gassing up my bike

June 25 - Medora to Dickinson

Headwinds and side winds all day long.  Good thing we only had a 40 mile ride.  We are in the area where they are drilling for oil and there are a lot of trucks on the roadway.  It is sad to see how the farmlands are being plowed over for the oil exploration.  You see a lot of new housing from the oil money.  One of the problems with the camping is that many of the places we go are now work campers living full time in trailers.  I can see where the term "trailer trash" comes from communities like these.  The little towns that we bike through are now boarded up with new commercial establishments along the highways.  It is sad to lose the ma/pa businesses.

We stopped for breakfast in a town called Belfield where the downtown has died and everything is up at the interstate.  Anyway, one of their specialities was scones.  Here is a picture of what they call "scones" in North Dakota.  We would call it "Indian Fry Bread".   The restaurant was almost like Cabellas with stuffed animals all over the place.

About 4 miles from our campsite today it started to rain.  Good thing we were close to the end of our ride.  We did manage to get our tent up in a hurry.  Thunderstorms are projected for tonight.

Trains!!!   They are forever running and go day and night where we are camping.  Tonight the track is  maybe 100 yards from our tents.  It will feel like the trains will be coming right through them.

A North Dakota Scone

June 21 - Summer Solstice

Glasgow to Wolf Point - 55 miles

Another great day of riding with the sun shinning and a strong tail wind.  We were on back roads most of the day, hardly any traffic on the roads.  Wolf Point is an Indian Reservation and the only place to camp is a little park outside the swimming pool.  We paid $4 to shower at the pool and that included swimming but we passed on that part of the deal.It is nice to see a pool in such a small town.  It is also nice to see kids running around in these small towns where we stay.  Across from us tonight is a little league field and we heard that a tournament is going on.

We have a tentative bike schedule but with a good tail wind some of us get done rather early in the day.  Like today Russ and I were in town before noon.  That leaves a lot of down time.  Our group is a little conflicted on whether to go off schedule on days where we have good riding conditions.  A few of the group do not want to add miles and want to stay on schedule.  Guess we will have to work it all out.  Everyone in our group is getting stronger but some are somewhat slower.  So far we are one day ahead of schedule.

At the Havre railroad museum

Back on Bikes

Thursday, June 19 - Back on the bikes!

We had a well deserved rest day in Havre, Montana yesterday and we all are staying in a motel because it has been rainy for the past 3 days and the campground was flooded.  It was nice sleeping in a real bed after tenting for the past two weeks.  Spent the day doing wash, visiting a museum and going on an underground tour in the town.  Our group has been a big hit at the hotel taking over the breakfast room for dinners and cards.  Most in the group now know how to play Euker and Hearts.  It has been so much fun that we don't even mind the rain and cold.

There is 3 miles of unpassible road out of town here that bikes can't ride so we rented a Uhaul truck to transport all the bikes through the construction zone.  We loaded bikes last night and are shuttling riders this morning.  Five of us are waiting for the second shuttle.  The sun is shinning and a westerly wind so we should be in good shape.

The tail wind was so strong today that we did 85 miles in 4.5 hours and averaged 18+ miles per hour. Russ has become a really strong rider and a couple of days he leaves me in the dust.

June 20 - Multa, Montana to Glasglow, Montana - 72 miles.  Again a great tail wind but today we took the route that had us going on 12 miles of gravel road.  Russ, Jim and Diana did fine with their bikes but I had a hard time on my bike because it is carbon and not heavy enough for gravel.  All the other bikers stayed on the highway route.  Our route was more scenic as it took us through a wildlife reserve.  Saw many long billed curlew, ducks, red winged blackbirds, and other birds that we couldn't identify.

Uhaul truck to get all the bikes across a detour of 3 miles outside Havre, Montana

More Pictures

Here are some of the sights along the road.

Russ with Glacier Park in the background.

 
Mailbox along the road and a barn about to fall over outside Havre, Montana

Still Raining!

Cold and Wet!

Saturday, June 14: After staying dry in a cabin all night in West Glacier, we had to hit the road in the rain.  Half the group bailed and rode in the SAG.  So Russ and I bundled up and began our 60 mile ride.  Not use to riding in the rain much so things were a little tense at first.  Brakes were wet and I was really cold after a few hours.  About half way we came to Essex where they have an old historic lodge and by that time I was freezing.  Stopped for warmth and a cup of tea.  Didn't want to get back on the bike.  Before we left in the morning I asked Dick, our SAG driver, to come back and check on us in the afternoon.  We have a rule that if you are not in by 6:00 pm, Dick will drive and check on you.  On some of the harder days, some folks pull in really late.

For some reason the cold and wet didn't affect Russ so much.  When we got back on our bikes about noon I was still so cold that I was shivering so bad that my handlebars were shaking until I hit the first hill and my body heat kicked in.  Luckily Dick came along about 2:30 and I snagged a ride.  Russ, what a trooper, finished the ride a few hours later.  We are staying in the hostel in East Glacier so we are warm and dry for the night.

Friday the 13th

Not the best of days.  First, the roadway into Whitefish, Montana was really bad.  No shoulder to ride on, lots of potholes and drivers that wouldn't move over to give you any riding room.  The cars go fast and hog the roadway.  Don't think they like to share the road.  If dodging cars wasn't bad enough, it started pouring down rain.  Then we had to walk our bikes over a long detour of mud, later had to ride 3 miles on a gravel road, but finally arrived in West Glacier, cold and wet.  We got a cabin to sleep in for the night to stay dry.  Rain is in the forecast for the next few days.

Funny Signs

We have seen all sorts of interesting signs and businesses along the road.  Here are a few:

"Wiggins Wigglers" -  selling night crawlers

"Little Joe Montana" - a cafe outside Heron, Montana

"The Last Straw Cafe" - a cafe going into Eureka, Montana

"3 Dog Night Kennel" - a dog kennel in Sandpoint, Idaho

"Past Hope Resort" - a lodge a few miles past Hope, Idaho

Wildlife Along the Road

Each day we experience nature and wildlife in it's finest.  A few days ago we were on a back road and up ahead was a wild turkey and 6 baby chicks.  We were surprised how small the baby's were.  The mother was herding them across the road. They must have been newborns.  You wonder how many will survive into adulthood.

Another day we were stopped along the Highway into Libby, Montana.  Our side of the road was forest and the other side was the river.  We heard a loud "snap" like a tree branch and out flew a huge bald eagle with a big tree branch in its claws.  It flew right out in front of us.  Took us by surprise.

Yesterday we were again on back roads and a white tailed deer jumped over a fence and started running along the ditch parallel to the road.  Russ kept peddling his bike alongside and finally the deer jumped ahead of him and scurried across the road.  That is when I saw him dart across.  We had never seen a white tail deer in the wild.  We usually see mule deer.  This one was quite large with a long fluffy white tail.  I was also surprised by how high they can leap.

We also have seen lots of beaver lodges.  Today Russ saw a huge one but have not yet seen a beaver.

We are keeping an eye out for elk, moose and bear.  Others have seen them along the ride but we have yet to see any.  We still have a long way to go in Montana.

Finds of the Day

Finding junk along the road has become rather competitive.  It has been fun looking for the most unique find.  Here is a picture of one days "finds".

Dean found a balloon, Cheryl a tennis shoe, Russ a monarch butterfly, license plate, squirrel tail, and Bill found a marble.

Sites Along the Way

Rest Day Today

Today it is Day 8 and we are taking a rest day in Sandpoint, Idaho.  Ridden almost 500 miles.  Scenery is beautiful.  We are up in the  panhandle of Idaho and it is only 70 miles from border to border.  Wind is blowing strong so maybe there is a storm approaching.  Sure hope not.  

Here are some pictures from the North Cascade National Park taken a few days ago.

Pictures

Four Days of Moutain Passes

Today we go over Sherman Pass at 5500 feet.  This is the last day for major climbing until Glacier.  Weather has been great, no rain, sun is shinning.

Three people in our group are riding recumbent bikes and two of them are trikes.  They climb slow but speed downhill.  One of the harder days it took them 10-12 hous to go 68 miles.  That is a long time to be on the road.

Yesterday we had a 70+ mile day with a strong head wind for the first 35 miles.  Then at the start of the pass we encountered chip seal for the first 5 miles of the climb. No shoulder and gravel.  Luckily the wind shifted in our favor after awhile.  Only 4 of us completed the ride yesterday.  The others missed the turnoff and went 20 miles in the wrong direction.  They rode back to camp and caught a ride to Rebublic, our destination for the night.

I haven't figured out how to post pictures yet.  Will try again later.

Sunny Days

We got off to a great start dipping our bike wheels in the water in Anacortes.  But best of all, the sun has been out and the weather has been in the 70's.  The first day we biked 58 miles to Concrete and the second 48 miles to Diablo.  The North Cascades are beautiful and I will try to post pictures soon.  Today, our third day, 68 miles and it was a constant climb over two mountains.  The first was Rainy pass at 4855 feet and the second was Washington Pass at 5477 feet.  It took us over 4 hours of continous climbing, stopping often to catch our breath.  No services the whole day and we ran out of water when we reached the summit.  Luckily there was a moterhome parked at the top and he refilled our water bottles.  We must of passed hundreds of waterfalls and the whole day you heard constant water running.

This group of bikers are all so nice and from all over the county.  We are all getting along great.  Today was a struggle for half of the group and some of the riders took 12 hours to get into camp.  We have 2 more days of hard climbs over 3 more passes.

We have a find of the day and day 1 was a rabbits tail from a road kill and the second day was some bear poop.  Today it was a tie with a child's baseball and a butterfly.  Most of us were just to busy trying to make the summit.

Need to figure out how to post pictures. To tired tonight.