Riding away from Malta two weeks ago, I was extremely happy with how many aspects of the ride were going at that time.
1.) I was on the Northern Plains where the logistics of touring are much easier to figure out. Getting food and water is easier since the route across much of Montana and North Dakota is along Highway 2 and you bump into at least one town every 15 miles or so. This had not been the case in the mountains where there would often be 40+ mile spans with no services or potable water. This meant I would have to plan out food and water before each days ride. On the prairie you just ride until you are out of water and then you stop at the next town along the way.
2.) Finding spots to camp and sleep was logistically easier as well. Many smaller towns and cities in this part of the country allow folks to camp in the city parks for free. Many even have bathrooms, showers, and other facilities available to campers.
3.) The Weather was cooperating wonderfully. It wasn't too hot or cold, I wasn't riding in rain or afternoon thunderstorms which are so common to the Midwest. However, the best thing about the weather I was experiencing were the winds. I had almost direct tailwinds during my entire ride across Montana. I was averaging just under 17 MPH according to my bike computer; which is ridiculously awesome considering the number of miles I am riding per day and how heavy my bike is. (I typically average around 12 or 13 MPH.)
4.) Perhaps the best thing I had going for me as I rode closer to North Dakota were all the friends and contacts I had from UND who would entertain and host me as I made my way across the Northern plains. I had already visited with a few folks from UND during my ride but once in North Dakota and Minnesota I would have places to stay and a warm shower almost every other night.
So I've painted this amazing picture of how amazing I was feeling leaving Malta that morning. I am sure I was smiling as I rode along the berm of the rode that morning. I typically stay pretty expressionless as I ride so if I'm smiling while riding things are going great. I was feeling so good about the day to come that I elected to take an alternate route that my map gave me to get off HWY 2 for a while. HWY 2 can get pretty old since it is so flat and straight, so the alternates are intended to keep you sane essentially. Up to this point I had not used any of the provided alternates since I was happy with the roads the maps had given me for the "Primary" Northern Tier Route. The alternate only added 1 additional riding mile and would add maybe 6 minutes onto that days ride.
The road started fine but 12 miles in it went from pavement to gravel. I assumed it would return to hard top at some point but it didn't and I ended up riding close to 8 miles on a poorly maintained unimproved road. I was so angry riding down that road. I often will curse under my breath when things are not going my way riding but I was in the middle of nowhere and I yelled things that would make a sailor blush. It was on this lonely dirt road that I got my first flat tire of the trip. I was so angry that I could have kicked a puppy. I had gone 1624 miles on the trip without a single breakdown and my stupidity of continuing along that road ended my luck. I took off all my gear, got a new tube and put on my spare tire onto the rear wheel and eventually made it off the road. In all, my detour and breakdown probably cost me 1:30 of time. Looking back on it now I wish I would have turned around when the road transitioned from hard top to gravel. It wasn't until later that night while reviewing my map that I read the caution about how the road was not in the best of condition and only half of it was paved.
The following morning I woke up to a flat tire on my front tire which I suspect came from the same road. I had inspected both tires once off the gravel the previous day and had found a pretty good chuck of rock stuck in the front piece of rubber and sure enough the next day that is where the leak had developed on the front tire. Having two flats in a 24 hour period because of my mistake causes me much grief and I'll leave it at that. No more detours.
Two days after leaving Malta I rode into Culbertson, Montana which would be my last night in Montana before crossing into North Dakota the next day. I wanted to end my time in Montana in style since it had been so much work, so I decided I would find a restaurant in Culbertson to have a celebratory meal at. Once in town, I found a bench on main street to collect my thoughts and figure out where to get food. I must have looked hungry because a friendly guy in a early 90's Ford F150 pulled up next to me and suggested the bar down the street for good food and alcoholic beverages. I thanked him and ended up eating at the "Montana Bar" which he had recommended. I take the time to describe this guy in my notes because his type of character is somewhat common around this part of rural Montana and Western North Dakota. While leaning over to chat with him in his truck I immediately noticed the shot gun sitting next to him in his passenger seat and the mixed drink he was sipping away at in one hand while steering with the other. Like I said, he was extremely friendly and approachable but you don't see things like that often growing up in cities. This part of the country is still relatively cut-off and wild as compared to the rest of the world but I admire that in a way.
My meal at the Montana Bar was amazing. Had a cheese burger with sweet potato fries, onion rings, and a PBR to wash it all down with. I had gone into the bar just wanting to get a meal and be out of there an hour later to set up camp in the park, however I ended up staying there until a little past 1 a.m. Everyone there was interested in the trip and had questions about the ride and why I would do such a thing. I ended up having 7 or more drinks bought for me that night, kinda lost track after 7. One guy offered me his living room floor to camp out on that night and I took him up on his offer. I told him I was happy he offered it to me since I probably could not have set up my tent at that point anyways.(My tolerance to alcohol is way down since I don't drink often while on the road.) Anyways, Culbertson was awesome, the picture above is me crossing into North Dakota the following morning. I may still be hungover in that picture.
My time in Montana was amazing. It is a beautiful state and has many good things going for it. I often though that North Dakota was more deserving of the title of "Big Sky Country" since there are no mountains in North Dakota to block your view of the horizon on all sides of you but I am now confident that Montana deserves its given title. Something about the surroundings there just makes the sky never seem to end.
WILLISTON, ND
Making it into Williston on August 17th was something I had been looking forward to since leaving Seattle almost a month prior. (I departed Seattle on July 21st) Williston and Western, ND are significant to me since I worked out in this part of the state the previous summer doing cloud seeding. I was excited to meet up with the crew who was on project this summer since I hadn't seen many of them since the end of last years project. My summer out west the previous year as an intern pilot had been a memorable summer not only because I got the chance to fly planes in and around thunderstorms, but the guys I was fortunate to work with during those 3 months on project made it the party it was. If you have never heard of cloud seeding or weather modification check out these sites, they should give you a little more insight into what I did during the summer of 2009.
http://www.swc.state.nd.us/4dlink9/4dcgi/GetSubCategoryRecord/atmospheric%20resources/ND%20Cloud%20Modification%20Project
http://www.weathermodification.com/cloud-seeding-aerial.php
Rolling into Williston I found this old UND bus. Made me feel more at home and excited to make it into Grand Forks where I hope to log some hours behind the wheel of UND buses for some extra cash.
While in Williston, myself and two former weather mod colleagues Tanner Overland, and Nick Peacock took a Cessna 172 down to Fairview, MT to grab some dinner at this great pizza place called the Powder Keg. It is tucked away in this small town that is off the beaten path and only locals seem to know about but is worth the effort of commuting all the way down to Fairview. We met up with other WX MOD folks there and ate pizza till it hurt. One of the best things about the Powder Keg in my opinion is the unlimited soft serve ice cream you can enjoy for dessert. I have a weak spot in my heart for soft serve and will often make several trips to the soft serve machines when presented with unlimited ice cream. I think everyone else in our party managed one cup of soft serve for dessert but I had to push the envelope and managed three liberal servings of frozen goodness. It's a miracle I didn't vomit during the drive back to the plane or during the flight back up to Williston. Unfortunately, Nick and Tanner were very not sympathetic to my stomachs vulnerability during the flight back to Williston. I suspect they wanted me to "lose it" flying home. Many steep turns and other maneuvers were attempted to discomfort me but I managed to keep things down. I am yet to lose my stomach in an airplane but that is about as close as I've come.
I was fortunate to make it up in a plane again during my time in Williston. Tanner and his friend Matt needed to make a trip over to Bozeman, MT and were nice enough to allow me to tag along for the flight. If you are not familiar with Bozeman's location in the state of Montana, it is in the mountains on the west side of the state. This flight allowed me to fly over all the ground I had covered in a 10 day period in only 3.5 hours. It gave me a greater appreciation for the ground I had covered during the previous week but was also somewhat demoralizing. Planes are amazing machines and I certainly value their ability to save you time more than ever now.
The plane on the ground in Bozeman
Myself in the Co-Pilot Spot, Matt in the back, Tanner pimping it up as PIC. Matt's camera has convinced me that I am ready to drop a grand or two on a nice camera. I really like how this picture turned out.
Harvesting in Williston
Since breaking out of the mountains and into the midwest I have seen a shift in the types of rigs and semi-trucks that pass me on the roads. In the mountains it seemed like most trucks were associated with logging, but now the majority are farm semis hauling different crops out of the fields. I pay special attention to commercial vehicles on the roads because the drafts they create can steer you right off the road if you are not paying attention to them. While trucks sometimes cause some scary moments for me, in general truckers are some of the more considerate folks on the road in how they navigate around you. Consistently, they give me more room while passing than cars will. Also, on two lane highways they will almost always roll into the other lane as they pass and if a car is coming from the opposite direction they will downshift and coast behind me until there is a break in traffic.
Seeing harvest trucks roll by has been a constant reminder that I will not be able to drive sugar beet harvest back in Grand Forks this year because I'll still be on the road. Fortunately, I was able to satisfy some of my harvesting appetite while in Williston by driving Durham out of the fields for the Overland family at their farm North of Williston. Was able to put in 3 good days of work up at the farm and maybe I will be able to help some more farmers later on down the road since all farmers in these parts are trying to pull their product out of the fields in the following weeks. Since I didn't have my trucking hat with me or any of my good plaid shirts I couldn't dress the part of a truck driver so I look like a city kid in all my farming pictures from Williston.
Peacock on top of his truck in the field. Beautiful night to be working in the fields that day.
Grilling out at the farmhouse out in Alamo, ND
Oil Boom
I really enjoy Western, ND because of the rolling hills, the people, and the sense of being so far away from "civilization." One thing that is sort of sad about it though is the oil and gas development in the area. You cannot go anywhere in Williston or the surrounding towns and communities without seeing the impact of oil on the area. Oil has contributed many good things to the area and North Dakota as a whole. North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the U.S. today at 4%. It is also one of four states to be operating on a budget surplus right now. Both are amazing figures considering the state of things in other parts of the country right now. However, seeing its impact on the landscape is somewhat sad. Flying over the area or driving along HWY 2, it is impossible to not see oil wells sticking up from the landscape or the flames coming out of the ground from where gas is being burned off at the surface. It's not the environmental impact that bothers me however. It is unfortunate to see all this small towns get manhandled in a way by the companies moving in. The tanker trucks which go back and forth down dirt roads tear up the surface and make it rougher to drive on for everyone else. Housing costs have been driven up by the demand created by oil workers who move into town. Unfortunatly, the cost of renting is now so high because of the demand that unless you can afford $1000 or more a month for rent then it will be hard to find housing. Williston had a population of around 13,000 when I started University up here in 2005. Today they are hanging around 17,000 and it is projected to be 23,000 by 2015 under ideal circumstances. 10,000 people in 10 years is too much for some of these small communities out west and hopefully they figure things out.
I am not mad at the oil companies since it is only economics and our energy demand which drives their operations. It is partly North Dakotas fault for not doing more to regulate that growth. People who drive their cars 10,000 miles a year are at fault for not living closer to work and commuting 2 hours a day. I guess I am at fault to for flying airplanes. In the 7 hours from Willsiton to Bozeman and back I bet we burned close to 80 gallons of fuel.
Ok, I'm stepping off my soapbox and gotta hit the road. These are just things I think about while riding along the highway 6 hours a day. I needed to put them down into writing so I can let it go. Expect an update upon my arrival in Grand Forks around September 2nd.
Haliburton trucks are everywhere.
An Oil Rig along HWY 2.
One last thing, an update on my facial hair. I had been letting it hang out since Seattle and it was starting to get pretty scary. I don't know if people would be willing to stop and chat with me with the look I had going so I buzzed my head with a number 3 razor and took off the chinstrap. I look young and vulnerable now however so hopefully that doesn't catch up with me on the road.
