Day 16 – 1,000 Miles!

eseidman1
Jul 31, 2016
4 min read

Date: Wednesday, 27 July 2016

Time on Bike: 5:41:49

Total Travel Time: 8:15:12

Miles Covered Today: 75.05

Total Trip Miles: 1,004.5

Average Speed: 13.1, Maximum Speed: 31.0

From: Enderlin, ND

To: Gackle, ND

(Uploaded from Dickinson, ND on 31 Jul 2016)

After 5 nights at the hotel in Fargo, it was time to move on! Loaded up all our stuff and headed out. But first stop WalMart to buy medications to control/limit/stop my saddle sore issue. Nurse Bunny took control.

Stopped by Subway for breakfast. Yes, it seems Subway does breakfast food too. But too many choices. The guy taking our order must have thought we were idiots. But after all was said and done, it was not bad at all… and seemed healthier than some of the other crap we have bought from fast food places! BTW, fast food places in ND are NOT fast!!!!

A long drive to Enderlin from Fargo… an hour plus! We might have to rethink this whole using one place as a base for several days. Wind looked good as I headed out…

Bunny & Woz are studying the map to see where we can meet up next. Not a whole lot of places it seems…

At my first rest stop, I am nowhere! BTW, HW 46 is another one of those roads in ND that is straight and goes on forever…

I get a text from Bunny that I made a reservation in Dickinson ND instead of Bismarck, ND. No phone service, but we exchange many a text trying to solve the issue. Bunny calls customer service at BringFido (dog friendly app) and they eventually straighten out my screw up… added aggravation that I take out on the road with my bike!

I take this big downhill into the Cheyenne River valley.

But if you go down, you also gott’a go up! Granny gear time!! Note tractor-trailer climbing out the other side of the valley in pic above!

There is absolutely no shade and no good place to take a break. I meet Bunny & Woz just after HW 1 crosses HW 46.

Nothing!

The wind has picked up, but luckily not in my face!

I heard a weird ringtone from my iPhone. I remembered it was a Skype call coming in. My very good friend Gilad was checking in. In the middle of nowhere, I was having a video call with a friend in Israel!! What a treat to speak with him from the road. Was able to show him via video where I was.

I love the way the farmers take advantage of the land next to roads/interstates and harvest the grass/hay.

When I saw the sign for Adrian, I couldn’t get Rocky Balboa out of my head for many a mile…

And then I cycled up to the James River???? WTF? I travel thousands of miles and bump into the James River?? I should have suspected as I saw a sign to Jamestown earlier in the day. For those of you who don’t know, the James River runs thru downtown Richmond, VA where we live!

This is a really deserted road. Maybe one vehicle every 10 to 15 minutes. I look for trees or sign poles or anything to rest my bike.

And... I really need to air out my privates and keep everything as dry as possible down there. So… I drop "trou" on my breaks whenever possible. A man has to do what a man has to do! Kids. Look away. This is now an R rated blog!!

This road just seems to go on forever…

The only company I have for my exhibitionist ways are cows! They don't seem shocked!

And finally, the big moment arrives some 4 miles before I arrive at my final destination for the day, Gackle, ND.

1,000 miles on a bike from Chicago, IL in 16 days!!

And a jig to celebrate!

BTW, that was as high as I could jump!!!

Back on the bike… is that what I think it is, a pelican???

Yes, as tomorrow I will see many, many more. But in North Dakota??

I cycle into Gackle, ND. Seems no one is home.

Bunny & Woz are there, and that is all I care about!

We drive the ~1.5 hours to our new base of operations… Bismarck, ND. We will be there three nights.

Hard to find good food around these parts. We end up at chains a lot. Not always good choices.

Here is a good use of time! While Bunny is inside ordering me a pasta dinner (we can never seem top find good ol’ spaghetti!!!), I make omelettes out of the remaining eggs we have in Perkin’s parking lot so as not to smell up our hotel room!

We are staying in what ends up possibly being be the sleeziest, dirtiest Motel6 in the entire chain in Bismarck, ND. No internet. Smokers everywhere. At least they have hot showers!

Some more pictures from today’s ride.