North Dakota

 

To be honest none of us thought much of North Dakota before we started biking through it. It was a "state to get through" on our way to the beauty and challenges of the rocky mountains. But, as it turns out, it is a great state--interesting and beautiful.

From many people we met on our way to ND we heard that the state was flatter than a pancake. For the first 70 miles or so they were right. Even before you leave Minnesota the hilly terrain starts to subside and as you enter ND the land is pulled tight like a sheet so that you can see in every direction for miles as there are few trees. At first the sensation is calming--nothing is happening, you can see cars at least two miles off, and besides the wind all you hear is the rhythm of your own pedaling.

After a few hours your mind is searching for more stimulation. The mind starts looping the same thought patterns over and over again until the desire for a fresh perspective or something interesting becomes uncomfortable. Soon Kevin Costner's monotone voice starts narrating everything and "your mom" jokes become increasingly absurd. This in combination with the heat of the sun and dehydration you can get a little silly. Which is fun, sometimes.

For better or worse the land gets hilly again. Pretty soon the flat ground of eastern ND opens up into vast valleys and rolling hills left by the Wisconsin Glacier in the last ice age. Since the state has gotten way more rain than usual this year a lot of those valleys are filled with water so that there are many ponds scattered across the treeless landscape.

The towns on our route have been unique. None of them have any of the popular franchise restaurants or stores so riding into one of these small towns is like going back in time or being in the twilight zone. The first night we stayed in a small motel called the Eagles Nest in Enderlin, ND. What a place. It smelled like the carpet was wet and the walls were made of cigarette butts--a perfect place for the night. Walking around town you wonder 'why in the hell does anyone stay here?' Yet, from our experience, as rundown as some of the small towns in ND are, the people are uncommonly friendly and down to earth. One of the best parts of this state is talking with the locals at cafes and bars.

The second day in ND we met a lot of cool people--locals and tourists. In Enderlin we met a couple probably in their 60's making their way to Oregon by way of Washington D.C. They were riding a tandem bicycle. In "Little Yellowstone Park" we met a friendly Dutch couple on a road trip. They loved our homemade panniers. We've also met many people biking the entire Northern Tier Route from near Seatle, Washington to Bar Harbor, Maine--and they're all way older than us. The second night in ND we stayed at the Honey Hub, a hostel for cyclists on the Northern Tier, in Gackle, ND. It's owned by a young couple who split their time between California and Gackle. Many thanks to you guys for the couch and showers!

In many ways North Dakota is a land of extremes. Some mornings we start it's a cool 60 degrees and by 1 p.m. it's almost 90. You can't help noticing the changing role of the economy in this state as well. Local farmers have told us about the switch from wheat to corn and soybeans which is evidenced by the old threshers that decorate the prairie in places. All those commodities are being overshadowed by the oil and natural gas boom happening in the northwestern part of the state. The Bakken formation is one of the largest sources of oil in the country and it turned a lot of poor farmers into multimillionaires. The big oil names of the area just celebrated 1 million barrels a day being extracted from the ground--which is coming out faster than ever with the technology of hydraulic fracking and Wisconsin silica sand. Traffic from the trucks going back and forth changed the route of the Northern Tier Bicycling route which is how we heard of it.

The 27th was Brady's birthday so we went out in Bismarck, ND when we arrived early afternoon. The first place we went to was a microbrewery where we met a couple from Green Bay who were also riding a tandem and going all the way to Bay Harbor by way of Washington. We shared stories and had a couple beers--it was a good time.

That night we stayed with a great family we found through Manuel and warm showers--the Hermans. Hands down the nicest people we've stayed with so far. They let us crash in their camper and use their shower. They even had a pool and fed us dinner. The best part was that their son, Tyler, operates a full service bicycle shop "The Broken Spoke" out of their garage. Tyler is one of the most thourough and honest bicycle mechanics I have met and he tuned up our bikes (rebuilt Ryan's back wheel which is tough to do) for cheap and they are in the best shape they could be in. Thank you, Herman family! You showed us a great night.

Also, a Wisconsin author by the name of Brian Benson just published a book about bicycling from Northern Wisconsin to Portland, Oregon.  He was on the Larry Meiller show on WPR a few days ago.  Brady's friend told us to listen in and as we were listening they mentioned our trip and gave us advice.  Turns out Brady's friend emailed the show, but it was pretty shocking when we were just hanging out listening to it in a park.  It kind of went like: "Oh shit, that's us!"  Here's the link and the book sounds super interesting as well: 

http://www.wpr.org/shows/going-somewhere-bicycle-journey-across-america

As of right now we're nursing our legs at a hotel, waiting out the 30 mph headwind and growing out our beards.  Anyways, thanks for reading :)

Miles logged last four days: 248
Total: 635