Northern Tier Day #35 Fargo, ND to Enderlin, ND
Northern Tier Day #35
June 24, 2019
Fargo, ND to Enderlin, ND 62 Miles
Ride Time 5:12
Tour Total 2786 Miles
I slept well in my Warm Showers host Shawn’s son’s room. His small black cat tried to sneak into my room all night long. I woke up early and completed yesterday’s report. Shawn slept in while I packed and got ready. It was raining outside.
Shawn heard me open the garage door and I was able to thank him and wish him farewell. The rain stopped right as I hit the road. The streets were wet, and my handlebar tape was a disaster. I fixed it a couple miles down the road.
My devices were fully charged, my clothes were clean, and I was freshly showered. I’m keeping it at level one people! Shawn lived directly on the route so it was easy navigating out of Fargo. What a relief!
I’m now on map section 4. In Bar Harbor I started on map section 11. Up until now the background on all my Northern Tier map panels has been green. All of the sudden it’s yellow. I suppose that means that I’m not going to be seeing many more trees.
University Drive was a big four-lane highway with lots of traffic and stoplights. It was start and stop all the way out of Fargo. I cut over to a bike path on the side of the road to avoid the traffic, but I still had to stop at all the lights. I was wearing a short-sleeve jersey with my sweater and my cycling shorts. The sky was gray and cloudy. There was a little wind out of the south.
There was no more rain in the forecast, but the rain this morning wasn’t forecast either, so who knows. The temperatures this week are supposed to be in the 80’s. It was going to be cloudy today and sunny tomorrow. Supposedly its going to hit 85 on Wednesday. Currently it was cloudy and cool, and perfect for cycling.
Eventually the traffic lights and sprawl ended. The highway to my right narrowed down to two lanes and it was a straight shot south to where I’d be taking a right to be heading west on Highway 14.
Despite the chicken dinner with steamed broccoli and goulash that Shawn cooked for me last night for dinner, I was hungry this morning. As usual, I like to pedal 20 miles before my breakfast stop. The soybeans in the field to my left were only 6“ off the ground.
Suddenly the bike path ended and I found myself back on University Drive South. It had much less traffic and I had a nice wide shoulder with rumble strips to the left under the white line. I took a right on State Highway West 14. The wind was from the south so I had a slight crosswind and the left part of my body was chilly. I was pedaling 12 miles an hour. The trees were definitely becoming more sparse.
I crossed over interstate 29. The terrain was pancake flat. Today I would be stair-stepping mostly to the west and slightly to the south. I had to go a mile and a half off route for my first stop in Horace. It was the first Casey’s I’d been to since Iowa. I had an egg and bacon on a croissant sandwich, a Starbucks Frappuccino, an orange juice, and a donut. The clerk was pitching a hard-sell for everyone to round it up for the Special Olympics, and I declined. There was s separate entrance for the adjoining liquor store, just like in Minnesota. I sent out one more batch of Minnesota postcards at the post office from just over the state line.
Shawn’s family hailed from the Czech republic and he had been back to visit several times. He had numerous bicycles in his basement in various states of repair. He had a nice bicycle stand and parts littered everywhere. He had a nice looking tandem.
South of Horace there was a brand new asphalt surface. I also had a head wind, as I was pedaling south right into it. It was chilly and I thought about pulling over to don my leg-warmers and down vest. I stuck it out, because the southbound stretch was only 3 miles, and soon I‘d be going west again, and would have a crosswind. I finally succumbed. I pulled over to put on my leg-warmers and vest. I was averaging about 10 miles an hour.
The road was so straight, flat, and boring that I decided to do some office work. I fine-tuned my itinerary for the week, putting me in Dickinson on Friday and on schedule. I noticed dark smoke coming from a spot several miles southwest. I took a left on County Highway 15 going south directly into the wind.
There was virtually no traffic and I had a nice shoulder to the right of the white line rumble strip. It was a really nice surface, level and 3-1/2 feet wide, with a slope down into the grass. It was kind of fun to ride the slope, so I played a game riding on the level and then dipping down onto the slant. These are the sort of games that I’ll be playing to get me across the great barren expanse.
The two water towers from Kindred appeared on the horizon as well as the grain elevator. The smoke from the fire was now directly to the west, and was still far away. It looked like lettuce growing in the field to my right.
I passed a sign saying ‘Welcome to Kindred where kindness is a way of life’. Kindred, population 692, had a small airfield, a school complex with an athletic field, a John Deere dealership, and a large grain elevator complex.
My fender was rubbing against my front tire so I stopped to adjust it. It’s gotten bent out of shape, from when I lay my bike down on the ground. My bike doesn’t have a kickstand. I spent so much time fooling with the adjustments that I rode past the turn-off for the business district. This was my only chance for services until my destination, so I turned around and retreated to town.
The Kindred Spirits bar and grill was closed, so I went across the street to the Morning Glory Cafe. I had a Cuban sandwich and two glasses of lemonade. Before leaving, I signed their guestbook. A mile down the road I took a right on North Dakota State Highway West 46 which was a straight line headed west for the next three map panels. I finally got a decent shoulder, and the sun was trying to poke through the haze. I was getting slightly warm, but didn’t want to stop and remove my leg-warmers.
I called a bike shop in Anacortes to see if they could box and ship my bike, and what their hours were. My next order of business was to make a return plane reservation. It’s looking like a July 20 arrival in Anacortes. My tour would be exactly 2 months. Not too shabby.
The shoulder got narrow but I decided to ride on it anyway. It was 2 feet between the rumble strip and the gravel. The road was a straight and flat, and it wasn’t much of a challenge. I saw two eastbound touring cyclists approaching and I crossed the road to talk with them. I love the random roadside meet-ups on long distance tours! Carol and Kirt were riding from Seattle to Maine on a modified Northern Tier. They were from Madison, Wisconsin and would be stopping at their home on their way east.
Kirt was a brewery enthusiast and recommended numerous places for me to stop. He had had mechanical issues in Montana. Three of his spokes had broke and they had to put their bikes on an Amtrak train to the next town that had a bike shop. They met and played leep frog with east-bounder David. Carol and Kirt have a tour Facebook group which they invited me to join. They were averaging 75 miles a day, and had some good tailwind days. Today the wind was out of the southwest and they were able to catch some tail, whereas it was giving me a some resistance.
Right before the intersection of North Dakota State Highway 18 a rumble strip appeared in the middle of the shoulder making it impossible to use. Why do traffic engineers do this? Bad North Dakota DOT! Shame on you! So now I was riding left of the white line out in the lane of motorized traffic, where I don’t want to be. I hoped this didn’t continue the next 20 miles to Enderlin.
I was at 1000 feet elevation and planned to report my elevation the next couple of weeks until I cross continental divide in western Montana. It warmed up a little bit and the sun was brighter. I pulled over and removed my leg-warmers and down vest. I put on my sunglasses.
State Highway 46 was the boundary line between Cass County and Richland County. At one point I crossed an intersection where three counties met. I think my reptile expert on crazy guy has given up on me. He didn’t chime in with a description of the road kill turtle that I posted yesterday.
I noticed some big dark clouds to the north. It was no longer as hazy, and the clouds had gotten puffy. To the far north it looked like cotton candy and mushroom clouds with billowing white puffs in the sky.
I pulled over and removed my sweater. I was now back in my cycling shorts and short-sleeve jersey. I smothered myself with sunscreen. At some point the shoulder got wider and I could ride on it again. The rumble strips moved under the white line where they should be. It wasn’t the best shoulder, but it was preferable to being out with motorized traffic.
About five miles out from Enderlin I could spot the water tower on the horizon. I crossed the thin brown Maple River about three miles out of town.
Enderlin, population 886, is the little town with a big heart. I called the City Hall to get permission to camp in the town park. Enderlin was a relatively short ride for me today, but the services are limited heading west for the next 78 miles. I’m planning to do that stretch tomorrow to Gackle.
I rode around town looking for the best tavern and settled on the Friendly Bar. Bartender Angie served me several Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandies while I booked my return flight from Portland and prepared this report.
Comments
Post a Comment