Recap of July (Hebron, ND through Gackle, ND) July 8th (arrival in Hebron) Hebron was the neatest little town ever. We arrived and pulled our loaded bikes up to the grocery store window, pronouncing our arrival with a grand reflection. We were clearly out-of-towners, as we navigated the small grocery store against the grain. Locals were backing up, carts were pressed against the small aisle shelves. Everyone was kind and smiling--this wouldnt happen on Marthas Vineyard. After leaving the grocery store, we got situated at the town park. We set our tents up right under the pavillion seating. This was cool. News of the cyclists (us) travelled quickly around the town, and before we knew it the Mayor was in his car, on the lawn, right next to us. Do you guys have everything you need? We can unlock the Womens bathroom if you need it, he looked around at our set up, If you think of anything, just give me a call. This town is amazing! Stef, Brendan and I ate dinner in awe. Its the little things on a bike tour that make you happy. Here we were, complete strangers to a small town in North Dakota, and the whole town was rallying to make us feel welcome. During our dinner someone showed up to our site. Hi! My mom owned the bagel bar you guys went to in Dickinson, she called me to come check on you guys, do you have all you need? I live up the street and if you need anything, beds, showers, a kitchen... Just call me, my name is Melissa. Here is my number, She placed her card on the table, and dropped us off a bag full of Gatorades. Brendan and I shot a jaw dropped look at each other. Could this place, North Dakota, get any better? We went to the Pool to shower, and for the third day in a row our showering opportunity was fouled. In Glendive it was no showers, in Medora it was a power washer in a metal box that actually hurt to use, and here in Hebron it was an ice cold hose shower apparatus. Its all part of the adventure though, right? July 9th (Hebron to Bismark, ND) Highway 10. Its crazy to think that this high way used to be the main drag across the Northern United States of America. It is a beautiful winding road, through the rolling crests of North Dakota. The farms crops, presumably wheat, beets and barley, are all uniform in shape, and the green is so smooth it looks like Scotland. We were biking at seven in the morning, the only people on the road. For twenty miles we wound through the countryside, until we were abruptly presented with a dirt road. We knew it would be there though, because it was on Stefs Adventure Cycling Map. We took the road for ten long miles. Crawling down the gravel road at a consistent six miles an hour, we rolled up and down the hills. We were in the remote countryside now, not even a house was around. At one point the gravel was too deep to ride, so we had to push our bikes up the hill. Occasionally we would pass some cows, and they would just stare at us until we were out of sight, this is a recurring trend of all cows in the United States. We eventually rolled our front tires onto the asphalt. What a relief! I almost kissed the road, but thought twice about it. The Asphalt road was obviously much smoother, and carried with it the same incredible landscape. Im impressed, Willoe--North Dakota is pretty spectacular. On our way to our camp site in Bismarck we were approached by three people on bikes, they were part of the Bike the US for MS group. Stef and Brendan are independently biking to raise funds for the same organization, so the bikers told us to come camp with them--for free! Sick! There were 26 cyclists there, they were 43 days into their ride, and started in Maine. It was great to see them all, and hear about all the cool places they recommended. I love the community on the road of touring cyclists. We all share so many tips, and stories, and it is just...great! June 10th (Bismarck, ND to Gackle, ND) What we had figured would be a 70 mile day quickly identified itself as a 110 mile day--due to an adding error. This seemed to immediately set the tone for the rest of the day, accompanied by severe headwinds--all day. I got ahead of Stef and Brendan for most of the day, stopping for a lunch break with them, and then biking the last ten miles of the day with them as well. I enjoyed biking completely alone again. There is something about being on my own on the road now that is comforting, which clearly wasnt the case when I started this trip. Its really cool how that has changed. I enjoyed flying down the hills with no hands on my bike, and just thinking about how insignificant I felt in the middle of North Dakota, on a bicycle. Im starting to realize how important it is to keep my head in the moment, because I am flying through this trip. Im going to be halfway across the United States tomorrow. (I am in Gackle, taking a rest day right now). The end of the ride was a lot of fun, Brendan, Stef and I were so happy be entering Gackle, heading to a bikers hostel. We had been biking for over nine hours. My youth was shining though though, because it was my ninth day in a row, with almost 1,000 miles covered and I was feeling excellent--they didnt feel so hot at 30 years old. This was a good topic of conversation. I dont want to deteriorate! We went to the hostel, showered, and then headed out to a pizza place. We each got our own Pizza, and ate them in a few minutes. I was impressed. So was the owner of the restaurant. I also scored a shotgun shell christmas tree ornament! After inhaling my own pizza, I went over to the ice cream shop and got a large strawberry milkshake. Yummy. In the shop we noticed another biker. Erik was his name, he was 26 years old and was extremely happy to see cyclists headed the same way he was going! Eriks story is really cool. He flew out to California to walk the Pacific Crest trail, but a part of it was impassable (not sure where) and instead of quitting and going home to New York, he went to Seattle, bought a bike, used his backpacking gear, and left two days later to bike home! Pretty amazing. I stayed up late talking to him, expecting that he would be gone in the morning. July 11th, to the hour of 12:14 pm I woke up and Erik was gone, but I remembered a dream I had where he had came back to the hostel and announced he was taking a rest day. The dream seemed very real, but he was certainly gone. I walked out into the living area to get my charging phone, and all the sudden Erik came back into the hostel, I left, but turned around because I decided I should take a rest day. I started laughing. I explained my prophetic dream, which actually began to freak me out--I dreamed about the future.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 17:17:55 +0000
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