Day 25: Bicycling Across America – Birchwood, WI

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St Croix River at Taylor’s Falls, MN

I was afraid to get out of the tent this morning. Last night, the mosquito hordes had found every spot that I had not applied my small stash of 100% DEET. So… I got a bit of a late start. I stopped in Taylor’s Falls because I saw there was a cafe there.

Mandy at Coffee Talks in Taylor’s Falls, MN

This was a real cafe where I was able to get a chai latte with soy and some peppermint tea. They were playing the Ingrid Michealson songs we listened to at our wedding and folks were asking me about my hometown and what made life there and in New England so special. There is nothing like traveling across the country in slow motion to give you perspective. Wow, I got so homesick missing Vanessa and home, I could hardly talk and I carried this feeling the rest of the day.

Crossed into Wisconsin

Anyhow, crossed out of Minnesota across the St Croix River and into Wisconsin.

Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin. This was a mixture of paved and packed gravel.
Wisconsin tribute to mosquitoes.
Another picturesque farm. I saw my first river otters here (a mom and two pups) cross the road, from one pond to another, and then play and swim in the shallows.
A lot of old vehicles
Corn snake shaking its tail at me on the bike path trying to look scary.
Wheat field

Wisconsin is lovely, picturesque and becoming quite bumpy. Good training for New England. Anyhow, a couple more days in Wisconsin, across Michigan, and then I’m almost home.

Day 24: Bicycling Across America – near Lindstrom, MN

Crossing the Mississippi River

Back to the busy roads again. A lot of people seem to be on the road because of the holiday. The shoulders have largely disappeared from the roads but still, the roads are plenty wide and cars give you lots of space.

Lots of old buildings in the countryside
Have we time warped to the 50’s? The chickens and other animals were running and playing all over their yard. When I stopped to take this picture, and few geese and turkeys came over to greet me.

I called around for a hotel room this afternoon on Osceola, WI and the cheapest place was $130 plus they wanted to charge me another $15 to keep my bicycle in the garage. Seriously? I decided to just pull over to the side of the road in a pine forest and camp there for free. If it weren’t for the mosquitoes and biting flies…… I set up my tent, quick as a bunny, then hid in it the rest of the evening.

Day 23: Bicycling Across America – Bowlus,MN

So many lakes in Minnesota. This is the view from the bike path

95 miles exclusively on bike trail! There is an extensive real trail system on the western border of Minnesota and there are a lot of people using it.

Camping in the town park in Dalton

It was also interesting to see how many older folks were on e-bikes pedaling with their families on human powered bikes. such a relaxing great day out of traffic and meeting friendly people who love biking.

Purple Heart Memorial
Maker’s Market along the bike trail

Folks were super friendly. I met one 73 year old gentleman named Roger and chatted about biking with him for about 20 miles.

Little bits of inspiration all along the bike path
Benches, kiosks, repair stations, and shops every few miles
M60 tank, the kids were all over this
Covered Bridge
Some crazy sculpture garden acting out local history
Jodie of Jodie’s Trailside Cafe in Bowlus, MN
Ready for polka the next day
Fresh and clean

I ended up camping in the City Park in Bowlus, MN. They had set the park up for their 4th of July weekend celebration which involved a lot of fried foods and polka. On the plus side there were probably 20 completely fresh porta potties to choose from in addition to the normal rest room. A good day on the road!

Day 22: Bicycling Across America – Dalton, MN

No State crossing sign since I was on a backroad, as I crossed, but the roads suddenly became much smoother. Wolverton, MN was the first town on the Minnesota side of the border.

Hey! Finally made it across North Dakota and to Minnesota. The states are starting to get smaller. Minnesota has lakes everywhere and it’s just beautiful. Unfortunately, that also means there are mosquitoes everywhere so now my layer of sunscreen has an extra coating of DEET. My skin now looks very shiny and I’m afraid to was my chemical coat of armor off. One big positive, is that the water is good to drink now and tastes good. The Fergus Falls city park campground, where I planned to stay, is now closed for the season which left me in a bit of a bind. I called a local campground and they were asking $50 for a little patch of grass behind the office. Last night I stayed in a hotel room for $80 that came with a shower, clean linens, towels, and breakfast. $50 seems a lot for a patch of grass. So… I pedaled another 10 miles down the road and am staying in the Dalton town Park for free! Hopefully the locals have run out of fireworks.

Lake next to bike path

Right now, the trail follows the Central Lakes Trail bike path. It’s a beautiful quiet rail trail. Tree lined on both sides, peaceful ponds and lakes, no traffic, and flat and mellow as a rail trail can be.

The Central Lakes Trail. This goes on for 55 miles from Ferris Falls to Osakis MN.
Birds everywhere here with small stands of trees, wetlands, meadows, and fields
More Ponds
Lunch has been very white these days. There should be more healthier food that a vegetarian can eat as I get closer to home in New England.

Day 21: Bicycling Across America – Enderlin, ND

Tastee- Freez in Gackle, ND

Oh how I miss a good nights sleep. I thought I was all set last night since I had the campground all to myself. It turned out the dirt road next to the campground was a main thoroughfare for off-road vehicles and they would gun their engines to get up the hill. There was a constant stream of traffic until it got dark and those folks went home. That’s when the fireworks started from people’s backyards and it continued until at least midnight. Then at 3 o’clock in the morning, I was woken by the patter of rain on the tent so I had to run outside and collect the clothes I had drying out on the line. All told, not much sleep last night.

The brown spots are from a neighbor who accidentally sprayed too much weed killer when watering the campground as a favor and killed all the grass. I didn’t put my tent there.

Today, the road ran almost straight east without the hoped for Western tailwind. A light rain accompanied me all day, which kept things cool and enabled me to make decent progress.

More lakes and gently rolling roads (and mosquitoes)
More lakes (and more mosquitoes)

The landscape is getting even prettier with more and more lakes, and with so many waterfowl that we don’t see out East. Today, I stopped early at 74 miles and am staying at the Enderlin Inn. This has given me time to do a bunch of bike maintenance, dry out me and my great, clean up the bike and myself, and try to get a good nights sleep (if the backyard fireworks ever stop) . Crossing my fingers.

Hmmm… I thought I passed over the Continental Divide a thousand miles ago. Apparently this is the Laurentian divide which divides water flowing north toward the Hudson Bay and water flowing south to the Gulf of Mexico.
Backyard fireworks in Enderlin, North Dakota

Day 20: Bicycling Across America – Gackle, ND

McKenna Lake outside of Gackle North Dakota.

Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
I don’t know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels. -Jackson Browne Running on Empty

So I didn’t get much sleep last night and was paying for it in the morning. Someone noticed my Z-Packs backpacking tent and, for a lot of folks, this marks you as a thru hiker and prompts a conversation. We stayed up late talking about the Alps and Patagonia and the Himalaya and I didn’t get to sleep until midnight. You can’t do that and ride 100 miles a day.

Yellow Canola fields

The countryside has transitioned to corn and hay and rangeland and yellow canola fields to the horizon over gently rolling hills. There are little ponds everywhere as you get closer to Minnesota.

Bicycle path out of Bismarck
Random farm vehicles
Ponds everywhere

I was invited to a pig roast. I declined, offering a thin excuse. I don’t think vegetarianism is a thing out here.

So tonight, I find myself in a little private campground that someone sat up in their side yard as a side hustle. I’m the only one here. It’s actually kind of nice.

Day 19: Bicycling Across America – Bismarck, ND

I was told that as I get closer to Minnesota, t’s going to get flatter and flatter. It was true. Today was slow, easy, rolling hills with tailwinds most of the way through green grassy meadowlands. It’s unusual for this area to get this much rain this time of year.

Thunderstorms missing me to the south

I spent the day trying to outrun thunderstorms, and fortunately they all past either north or south of me. I did not want to be caught in a hailstorm. There just aren’t that many places to hide. I made it to Bismarck and was able to find a bicycle computer after calling every shop in town so now I’m back in business. Using my phone for navigation throughout the day, nearly drained it and that’s just not sustainable when you’re staying in campgrounds and power is uncertain.

Stopping at the zoo made me profoundly sad. i’ve seen most of the North American animals in the wild and somehow confining them to little confined spaces felt totally cruel. If you’ve ever seen a pack of wolves or coyotes in the wild yipping and playing with each other at sunset, watched a grizzly bear ripping apart a log for grubs, or even see just a porcupine high in a tree top contentedly gnawing on bark, you’ll know what I mean. Watching many of these animals repetitively pacing their little prisons made me tear up as it does now just thinking about it. I’m not sure I can ever go to another zoo.

My favorite ”exhibit” at the zoo was this wild 13 lined spotted squirrel, which was running around foraging for food.

The city of Bismarck, runs a nice campground here and that’s where I’m staying. Mint Klondike bars were only $1.50.

Tent site in General Sibley Park run by the city of Bismarck North Dakota.

Day 18: Bicycling Across America – Dickinson, ND

North Dakota! I never realized how dopey this helmet looks.

Yay, made it to North Dakota! I didn’t realize that Montana was almost as big as California, but now that I’ve peddled across it, I definitely do. Today was beautiful rolling countryside with about 20 miles of that on interstate 94. Travel on the interstate is actually much safer than riding on the side roads. The shoulders are a full lane wide and there’s a rumble strip separating you from the traffic. Although the speed limit is 80 miles an hour, the speed limit on the side roads is typically 70 in Montana and frequently there’s almost no shoulder.

Crossing the Yellowstone River in Glendive, MT
Sadly, the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum was closed all weekend and didn’t open until 10AM today so I missed it.
Cruising in the breakdown lane on Interstate 94.
One of the last towns in Montana before the border
There’s a surprising amount of groundwater here. but don’t drink it because everyone says that it will cause “digestive issues“ from the dissolved minerals. From the air, the Badlands look so brown. It’s unusual for them to get this much rain.

So far North Dakota has been good roads and easy paddling, but it did rain the entire afternoon and I think it finally killed my Garmin bike computer. If I can’t get it going, I’ll see if I can replace it in Bismarck, which is 107 miles away.

Oil derricks are randomly spread across the countryside in North Dakota
Rainbow just before entering Dickinson, ND

Overall, despite the rain, it was a good day and another 106 miles closer to home.

Current location after 2 1/2 weeks on the road. 

Day 17: Bicycling Across America – Glendive, MT

Locomotive in Glendive, MT

“The wind shows us how close to the edge we are.” – Joan Didion

The ride today started with a crazy headwind combined with a gradual 1000’ climb. The wind was howling, wires were making that futuristic humming whining sound, the birds were staying low in the bushes so as not to be blown away, the howling wind noise was driving me crazy, and my shirt was flapping and snapping like a Trump flag flying from a beat up pickup truck. Today was one of those days that tests and builds character. At the 5 mile mark, I was considering turning around, going back to where I started with my tail between my legs, and taking the day off. After a candy bar and a “man-up you baby” speech I pushed on.

Grain elevator near Lindsay, MT
Lindsay, MT
The train of grain hauler cars were separated where roads cross the railroad tracks.

On the way, there were literally 20 miles of Grain hauler rail cars parked on tracks next to the highway I was on.

Along with the 20 miles of train cars, there was 20 miles of graffiti. No explanation as to the story behind uncle Susan.
I feel like this sometimes too, like today.

Anyhow, finally made it to Glendive which is the next town east of Circle, phew!!!! It turns out that the campground that was listed in the Adventure Cycling Association guide doesn’t actually accept tents…. but I did find a $65 motel room that doesn’t smell woohoo 😊

Tomorrow the wind shifts to the West, yay!!!!