Montana and North Dakota

They are both quite flat. I have seen lots of the flats since I have been here, and it is cool, but I am ready to get into a forest or something. I am currently in Minot, ND taking the day off. Over the past six days I have averaged 70 miles a day, one of those days being a 10 mile day and one being a 25. My body feels pretty ragged.

I will continue east on the 2 tomorrow. I am supposed to encounter a 20 mph headwind/crosswind which I am not looking forward to, but these things happen. My hair is knotting up and I look like a damn hippie.

The ride from Havre to Sleeping Buffalo MT was pretty awesome. I did my first century ride that day. It was hard, even with the tailwind, but I cleared the 110 miles by 7:30. I found a small local bar that some folks were hanging around so I went to set up camp at the reservoir and went back to have a couple of drinks. Those people know how to party. I was up pretty late with them, and we had a really good time.

The next day I did not get on the road till about noon, for obvious reasons. When I finally did get moving I encountered a colossal headwind that slowed progress to about 5 mph. After 2 hrs of riding I came to Saco, and figured I should take on some water and check the weather. The only thing open at the time was the bar, so I walked in there. Behind the counter stood Joe, one of the guys I had drank with the night before. He is good people. He checked the weather on the TV and it was calling for thunderstorms and more wind. I decided then that I was staying in town that night. I got a motel room for 35 bucks next door to Joe's bar and rested. I went back later, for I figured I could use a drink. Kristina was working, another one of the folks I drank with at the Sleeping Buffalo. I was writing and drinking my beer, so I decided to load up some music on the jukebox. The folks at the bar liked what I was playing so much, that by the end of the night they had given me 30 bucks of their money to put in the box. That town was a lot of fun.

Went to Wolf Point the next day. It was a hard ride, but I made it, just in time. About an hour out of town I had lightning to the south and to the north, both closing in fast. Found a cheap place to stay there and got out the next morning.

Stayed in Lewis and Clark St. Park for a night in North Dakota. That was a nice place, and I would like to go back someday. The lake, whose name escapes me now was beautiful. The guys camping next to me were the sons of the Park Ranger there. They were pretty cool and shared some of their beer with me. The next morning they gave me a ride back to Hwy. 2, about 14 miles, due to the heavy traffic on SR 1804. The day that I showed up a big rig had flipped over on one of the sketchy turns, and they thought I would be significantly safer if I got back on the main highway. The oil boom has made what was once a very low traffic road very busy and quite dangerous.

Oh yeah, on the way into ND there was a roadkill deer in the road. It was nasty. I called the sheriff to report it, and he was not happy to hear about it. It was going to be some dirty work. To date I have seen who knows how many ground squirrels, a lot of rabbits, a coyote, a deer, a porcupine, a skunk, and a lot of birds on the side of the road in various stages of decay.

So now I am in Minot. I am going to shoot for Rugby tomorrow. It is only about 70 miles away, but with this headwind it may not be doable. I will be following Hwy. 2 for the most part until I get to Marquette, MI, where I will have a long rest. Then I will have to decide how to get to CaNaDa.

My hair is getting nappy. Is knotting up for real. I kind of dread being the white guy with dreadlocks due to all the politics that are caught up in that scene, but you cant fight the hippie hair on a trip like this, especially when you don't carry a comb.

There may be thunderstorms for the next few days. Will report from Duluth at the latest.