Heading On The Trail

IMG_0431Happy 4th of July from Sanborn, ND! I’m not in Sanborn any more, but I rolled through that town on the evening of the 4th, and had an absolute blast. I’ve made my way from Fargo over to Bismarck, and I’m taking one more day off before getting on the Lewis & Clark Trail tomorrow.

So I zipped on out of Fargo on Saturday morning. This was to be an interesting stretch of cycling for me, as I really had no idea where I would be camping for the nights between Fargo and Bismarck. The cycling was a challenge, as well. There are many unpaved roads between these two cities. I found myself on them sometimes, and I found myself on the shoulder of I-94 to avoid them at other times. Saturday evening, I rolled into a town called Sanborn. There was a rally going on of some sort. I moseyed my way on into a pub called Ditos to ask about places to set up a tent for the night. That’s when things got fun…

In Ditos I ran into a guy named James. He invited me over to his barbecue for some delicious ribs, steaks, pheasant, and beer; setting up a tent in his yard would also be cool. What more could a random cyclist rolling through town ask for? Initially, I figured I’d just party and then set up the tent when it was all said and done. In the end, though, he invited me to crash on his couch.

Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that the world really is full of nice people. This trip, with the many generous people I’ve met along the way, is an excellent reminder of how friendly people can be.

Sunday morning, I got a bit of a late start out, but we were up late watching fireworks (I took some video as well, see below), so that’s understandable. I made a brief stop in Jamestown to grab a couple of things, found myself on some dirt roads for a while (very annoying, but then so is riding the interstate), which slowed me up. But I made my way over to Tappen, ND for an evening of stealth camping.

Yesterday’s ride in Bismarck proved breezy and easy. I had a nice tail wind (finally!) most of the ride in, and the hills were few and gradual. It was early in the afternoon when I rolled in.

Fascinating enough, this morning, on my day off, there were a few thunderstorms rolling in. There have been two days of rain so far on this trip. Once today, while I was working on writing this post and checking up on email, and once on my day off in Stillwater, MN. Let’s hope this trend continues.

Tomorrow, I get to what I consider the real meat of this trip. Tomorrow, I pick up the Lewis & Clark Trail. I will hopefully run into more cyclists now that I’m on an actual cycling route. I’ve met many wonderful people so far, but there have been many a lonely night of solo camping as well. As much as I love camping, it really is best as a shared experience. On the trail, I’m hoping I’ll run into other cyclists camping out at the same spots as I am.

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One thought on “Heading On The Trail

  1. Good to hear you are rolling west with such fine memories already being created. Here’s to good companions to be met along the way.

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