Day 41 Glen Ullin, ND to Dickinson, ND

52 miles
3:57 ST
13.1 avg

We really enjoyed the B&B last night; it felt homey rather than motel-ey. For someone like me, who's more or less a homebody, that was nice.

And, now today, we get another homey experience as we stay at my niece's home in Dickinson. Thank you, Jarid and Staci for letting us stay here even though you're gone. It is a blessing!

We wanted to get on the road by 6:00 this morning but didn't get away until 6:27. We knew there would be very little wind at that time, but would increase as the morning went on.

Leaving Glen Ullin was sweet. Not because we wanted to get out of there, but because the road was FLAT. For six  miles. 

Glen Ulllin is off the freeway; we had come in on the east end of town and now were going out the west end. The six miles was a secondary, newly paved road with no traffic. And did I mention that it was FLAT?

A beautiful sunrise.

The freeway was a different story. For about 15 miles it was up and down like yesterday, BUT there was no wind. At mile 17, the grasses started to flutter a bit. As each mile rolled away, the grasses began to wave, then they got downright jubilant as the wind played with them.

BUT, the hills were flattening out some (Hallelujah!) so we were grateful. Hey, we can't have it all, all the time. 

Then we saw these skies moving toward us.

I'm pretty sure you can guess what we were doing. Yup, praying. We didn't see any lightning so that wasn't a concern. We selfishly just didn't want to ride wet again.

We saw this sign along the road and it reminded us of our first bike trip. We rode through southern North Dakota and camped in the town park at Mott. I remember a bird singing all by itself very early in the morning, and also waking up in the tent and seeing the shadow of a man standing right outside looking over our bike and Bob. We had a nice conversation with him.

Six miles out it started spitting at us, five miles out it sputtered, then it stopped. But it was still looming.

We rolled the bike through the doors of Wal-Mart literally one minute before the clouds opened up. PTL!

It rained while we happily went shopping and Silver Streak and Bob patiently waited.

Yes, that is a half gallon of milk and 1.5 liters of Mtn Dew. There's also a rotisserie chicken in one of those bags. And lettuce and four red potatoes and an onion. Because we had only a mile to go and we knew we'd have a kitchen, we splurged. We did get it all on the bike or strapped to Bob, except for the chicken which I carried in a bag.

Later after a shower, Gerry fixed lunch for us: chicken, sauteed spuds and corn on the cob.

You have no idea how good a "home cooked" meal tasted, especially because it was something different than pasta roni.

We were very happy to be inside later this afternoon when another little storm sailed in.

Gerry took a short nap and worked on his Scripture memory, I did laundry and worked on the blog. It's very different from our last trip where we had to find a library for me to post. Now, as long as I have WiFi, I do everything on our Kindle.

Ok, see this?

THAT is 20 pounds of stuff we are "offloading" here. Sleeping bags, pillows, mats, tent, solar panel. We are finally chucking the camping thing, admitting that it's not going to happen for the rest of the ride, for various reasons. (Ah, if only we had done this back in Kansas when we mailed back some other things.) Our stuff will eventually find its way home via my brother or brother-in-law who work over in this area.

By God's will, tomorrow will be our last full day in North Dakota. So, tonight it's an early bedtime in preparation for those "Big Bad Badlands".

"I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."      Psalm 121:1-2 

With His help,
Pat

Thank you for praying; we are doing some better physically and mentally.

Day 40 Bismarck, ND to Glen Ullin, ND

56.9 miles
5:01 ST
11.3 avg

We wish we would have started a little earlier than 8:00. Maybe we could have gotten a few more miles in before the flags started looking like this.

On our way out of town we crossed the Missouri River.

Actually, it's probably good that we didn't get farther than six miles because of this first of several "firsts":

We stopped in the middle of the long climb out of Bismarck to take our preventive ibuprofen (that we had forgotten to take when we left). Oh, man! We had left all four water bottles in the fridge at the hotel. Our first "first". 

Gerry said we needed to go back for them because there was no place to buy replacements, and we knew we'd really need them. All I could think of was six miles backwards, which would be sweet in this wind, and then six miles back into the wind up this hill. "Why don't you hitchhike back and I'll stay with the bike?" So we prayed and he stuck out his thumb. Our second "first".

After about 10 minutes, he said he thought he should strip down the bike and ride it back by himself because we could stand here for an hour doing this. I dug in my heels at that. "No, someone will stop."

Thirty seconds later a van pulled over. Gerry explained our situation and into the van he hopped and away they went.

As I waited, the song that kept going through my mind was, "Bless the Lord, o my soul, o my soul. Worship His holy name. Sing like never before, o my soul, worship His holy name."

I don't think it was more than 20-25 minutes before the van pulled up again. Bill and Julie from Wisconsin not only took Gerry back into town, but they brought him back out! 

So, I don't need to say much about the wind as you can see by the first picture above. It made for a tough day.

But, I DO need to say something about what I put in the blog the other day about the hills between Dickinson and Billings. That needs to be corrected to say "Bismarck and Billings", because the hills started today.

We saw another touring bicyclist today! Our third "first". He was going the other way and I yelled and screamed at him but he couldn't hear me. So we didn't even get to wave. We were like ships passing in the night.

We are staying at the Rock Roof Inn, a B&B in Glen Ullin tonight. It's quite nice and feels homey.

 

The roof really is covered with rocks.

I forgot to ask why.

Staying at a B&B is our fourth "first".

 And can you believe there are three others bicyclists here! Our fifth "first". And two of them are on a tandem! Our sixth "first".

Tim (R) is from Australia and is riding the northern tier and will drop down to Great Falls and Missoula. Jim and Shaun are from Michigan and are riding from Maine to Anacortes, WA on the northern tier.

Tomorrow we are going to leave extra early (with our water bottles) to try to get 25-30 miles in before the winds increase. We will be staying at my niece's home in Dickinson (Thanks, Jarid and Staci!).

We've looked ahead and think we've been able to break up the remaining miles into doable segments that won't kill us. Except for the Forsyth to Billings piece - 105 miles. And we know we can't do that into a wind again. We'll figure it out as we get closer. We both have opposable thumbs and there are lots of pickups on the freeway. :o)

Gerry has three factoids he wants listed here:
1) There's a good reason to cross North Dakota from west to east.
2) It's not good when the wind turbines are pointing toward you.
3) God is the One who is in control of the wind and our energy.

I have several other pictures I wanted to put in here, but my gizmos decided to stop cooperating with me tonight. I'll try to come back and add them tomorrow.

Thank you for your prayer for today. And thank you for the encouragement in the comments section. You all are so special to our hearts.

Blessing the Lord,
Pat

Day 39 Day Off in Bismarck, ND

We spent our day off in our usual manner (with one exception):  sleep in til 6:30, breakfast, short walk, rest, nap, rest. 

The exception: time in prayer about whether or not to continue the ride. You read that right. We have been very seriously considering ending the ride. 

If you've been following the blog, you've suffered through my sharing about aches and pains along the way.  You've also prayed about those and we have been extremely grateful for that. 

What probably hasn't come through in the blog, though, is the overall fatigue and wear and tear on our bodies. (In case you haven't noticed, we're not spring chickens anymore.) We're a bit concerned about not recovering well from some of our "issues". Also, for me more than Gerry, the emotional stress of being away from home is beginning to wear.

After prayer and rest today, we have decided to continue. We don't know if that will be for two days or ten days to the end. We'll take it each day at a time. 

There will be two big factors that will affect us - lots of hills between Dickinson and Billings, and forecasted headwinds for EVERY day. Nothing can be done about the hills, but our prayer would be that God might be favorable toward us by reducing the wind. And if He would be extra gracious, the wind might be at our back.

Thank you, again, for your prayer on our behalf. We have definitely seen God's answers throughout the trip.

Forging on,
Pat

Day 38 Jamestown, ND to Bismarck, ND

105.2 miles
7:53 ST
13.3 avg

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mom Goede!

Today was very hard. What was supposed to be a long day with semi-tailwind turned out to be a VERY long day of head and side wind.

It was a good thing we started early, otherwise we'd still be out there. At 6:40, we were ready to go but Paddles was having a hard time. He kept looking back.

Traffic was minimal to start and the wind was SE, so it was kind of pushing us. At about the 20 mile mark it changed to a south wind and switched again at 30 miles to WSW. Not good.

Also, we could see a line of storms coming at us. About a half mile before exit 200 (at 60 miles), the rain started spitting. We were able to get to a truck stop to wait it out. One guy that walked by told us it was raining like crazy in Bismarck and that we had better stay put for a while.

Gerry pulled up the weather radar map on his phone and, sure enough, there was an active cell coming our way. We thought we'd be sitting there for two or three hours, but as it turned out, we were able to leave at 12:45.

Looking back at part of the rains; most of it passed to the right. You can see how Bob's flag is flapping in the wind.

Our last 45 miles took four and a half hours. At one point we did have to sit out a little squall, but God was gracious to have it hit just as we came to an overpass.

I won't go into a lot of boring details, but let's just say that by the time we reached Bismarck, we were beat. We stopped at Wal-Mart, then at Scheels for a spare tire and tube, and finally got to the hotel at 6:11. 

A much-needed shower, then dinner....

It's going to be 98 degrees here tomorrow. We are NOT going to ride in that, plus the wind will be brisk again. We are going to rest, then see what God has.

Hope you've all had a fun and blessed 4th of July!

Zzzzzzzzzzz,

Pat

Day 37 Cooperstown, ND to Jamestown, ND

66.6 miles
4:10 ST
15.9 avg

Today was a good ride. Blue skies, little traffic to start, and a slight wind at the end. And two "momentous events".

We saw there was supposed to be a south wind later in the morning, so wanted to get an early start. But we also needed to wait for it to warm up a bit, so at 7:45 we left.

I didn't tell you about our check-in at the little motel yesterday. Gerry had called earlier to see if they had any available rooms, which they did. When we arrived there was no one in the office, which is at their house next door. We rang the bell and waited, then Gerry called again. The lady told him where the room key was and said we could settle up later. All evening we watched for them to come home but ended up going to bed without seeing them. Where else but in a small town can you check yourself in and pay in the morning?

Except for one small ravine we dropped into and climbed out of, the day was pretty flat.

Our first "moment":

Add a 1 to the front of those 9s. 

Yes, we passed 2000 miles!

Today was a 2-dog day. The first was a huge German shepherd that barked us to his property line. The second was a yellow lab that just wanted to come with us, following us for a good half mile.

We rode by many small lakes and marshes today.

Our second "moment":

We turned WEST toward home!

Somehow, that makes me feel closer.

The following is to the tune of "North to Alaska" (which, if you're younger than 50 or 55, you've most likely never heard).

Tall Gerry left Galveston on May 28

With me, his wife and partner, and 70 pounds of weight.

Riding north across the USA on our silver tandem bike,

In heat, rain, wind and hills, near tornados (we didn't like).

The route has been winding

The road west we're now finding

West! to Montana! Heading west, we're going home!

The winds of Dakota seem to blow all the time.

If you're riding west to east, those conditions can be prime.

But we're going the opposite way so the days will be tough.

With God's power and strength, we'll have "the right stuff".

The route has been winding

The road west we're now finding

West! to Montana! Heading west, we're going home!

We talked about camping here in Jamestown at the same place we did on our last bike trip. But, because we're going to push for 100+ miles tomorrow, we wanted to get a good rest tonight. So we're in a Super 8. Across the street from a fireworks stand that shoots something off every half hour. Do you know how much that disturbed our naps this afternoon/evening? (Yes, I said evening. We didn't wake up til 7:27. Oops)

Paddles was quite excited to come back to Jamestown, his hometown. This is where we adopted him on our last bike trip.

I saw him looking longingly out the window.

Then I caught him making a break for it. 

We may have to lock him in the trunk pack tonight.

Guess I need to do a little sewing one of these evenings.

(Oh my, it also looks like I need a pedicure.)

The winds tomorrow are supposed to be SSE, so we're thinking, with a long day in the saddle, we can make it to Bismarck, about 102 miles. 

Our prayer needs:

-Please pray for physical strength to accomplish tomorrow's ride.

-Please pray for no blown tires, as we have no spare. We will try to get one at the sporting goods store or bike shop in Bismarck.

May you all have a blessed and safe Independence Day tomorrow, in thankfulness for the freedoms we've enjoyed for so long.  But remember Who gives true freedom...

"So Jesus was saying... If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free."         John 8:32

Pat

Day 36 Larimore, ND to Cooperstown, ND

57.5 miles
4:00 ST
14.3 avg

[If you haven't read yesterday's post yet, it's below. We had no WiFi last night so I couldn't post until tonight.]

"Gray skies are gonna clear up...."

I tentatively pulled back the curtain this morning and ...hallelujah!....blue skies! For the first time since Watertown, SD.

It was only 48 degrees so we waited a while for it to warm up, leaving about 8:30.

Leaving Larimore. Look at that blue sky! 

As we headed straight south with a WSW wind, we perceived quickly that we were climbing slightly. Ok, we knew we had to leave the Red River Valley at some point.

We also noticed MANY construction trucks going both ways. Down the road about 11 miles where we needed to turn west, we saw a lot of those trucks turning east. Yay! 

Oops, short-lived. The remainder of those trucks were going our way to the fresh oil and loose gravel somewhere ahead. Most of them pulled out to pass us. Most of them. Uh, yeah... we got run off the road again. 

The semi (tanker) was coming from behind and a pickup was coming toward us. Neither was going to give in. So we did. Again, we were thankful that the ditch was fairly shallow and forgiving. The most annoying thing about this is, a few miles up the road, we saw the semi just sitting, waiting his turn to refill the oil-spraying trucks. Really?! You couldn't wait seven seconds for that pickup to pass then pull out around us?

Then a mile or so after that, a gunshot rang out underneath me. Or a tire blew. Yeah, that one.

We have never had a tire blow up like that. It really WAS like a gunshot, it was that loud.

It blew a big hole in the tube and blew out the side of the tire. This tube and tire were changed out almost 700 miles ago and we have no idea why it would blow like this. There was nothing in them to indicate what caused it. Every day we pray that, if it pleases the Lord, we won't have a flat or bike problems. Well, today it pleased Him for us to have a flat. We have no idea why, but it doesn't matter - it pleased Him.

Seventeen miles of construction zone and still climbing, then we finally turned south again. And we came to real hills again. 

This picture doesn't really show the valley we dropped into and then had to climb back out of. (I KNOW, you're not supposed to end a sentence like that.) Just believe me when I say it hurt. I guess we left our climbing legs in Kansas.

How's this for an idyllic scene?

We arrived at Cooperstown around 2:00 this afternoon and are resting in preparation for our last push to I-94 and Jamestown tomorrow. ("Civilization!")

Thank you, again, for your continued prayer on our behalf. We believe we would not be where we are without it.

In Him,

Pat

Day 35 Cavalier, ND to Larimore, ND

61.9 miles
3:19 ST
18.6 avg

The one thing you might assume in those numbers is, with that average, we probably had a tailwind. You would be right.

What you don't see is that our total time on the road was 3:25. When you subtract the saddle time from that, you get six minutes. Six minutes is all the break time we took all day. Why would we do that, you might ask. Let's take a look...

It's July 1st, what's wrong with this picture? You got it - we are wearing our cold weather gear. For the first time on the trip. On July 1st.

It was 53 degrees and had stopped raining and was supposed to not rain for the rest of the day, or so the weather map showed. So we took off.

What do you think? Yes, it rained on us for a good part of the day. And with the wind blowing like it was - 25-28 mph NW -well, that brings us to why we had only six minutes of break time. We were wet and it was just way too cold to stop for any length of time. 

The first stop was just long enough to dig out some bars from the trunk pack, unwrap a couple and stuff the rest into Gerry's back coat pocket. That way we could eat on the fly. The second stop was to down some Ibuprofen for my burning knees.

We very gladly checked into the only motel in Larimore, looking forward to a dry room and hot shower...and the possibility that we might need to sleep in our sleeping bags.

We were pleasantly surprised at how clean it was and pleased at its "quaintness". The lady and her daughter who checked us in were very excited and interested in the trip. They were quite helpful by giving me some old towels to clean all the mud and grit off the bike. The harder part of the motel is that we didn't have a fridge, microwave or coffee maker (some hot chocolate would have tasted great!), or WiFi (which is why there was no post for the day).

After a shower and getting warmed up (and a nap for me), we walked a half mile to the grocery store (the motel was on one end of town and the grocery store was on the other). When we came out it was starting to rain again. We just laughed and, stuffing our hands into our pockets, we headed back into the wind. "Lord, wouldn't it be cool if someone gave us a ride?" 

"You guys want a ride?" A guy had stopped right in the middle of the street and rolled down his window. "That would be great! Thanks!" We jumped in and he told us he had seen us earlier walking with our hands in our pockets. When he saw us again just now, he figured we weren't from here. (First clue? Walking. Second clue? Probably our bright bike jackets.)

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what that means.

Today, we reached and passed 29,000 miles on the tandem. By the end of the summer it will most likely turn over to 30,000.

"When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes the lightning for the rain, and brings out the wind from His storehouses."    Jer.10:13

Gratefully dry and warm,

Pat