Day 26 – Superior

Day 26 – Superior, Wisconsin (Wednesday, May 27, 2015)

Today was my first 200km day!

I had lunch somewhere near Grand Rapids and stopped at a number of places to get fluids. It turned out to be a hot day.

I kept my mind on the road and didn’t talk much with anyone. According the forecast this was going to be the only good westerly wind in the next 7 days and I wanted to make the most of it.

When I first saw Lake Superior it surprised me how high the western approach is relative to the lake (you may be able to see from the picture.). All of Duluth and Superior can easily be seen from the west. It was an uninviting maze of highways and roads.

Duluth happens to be the most dangerous place yet in my cross country tour.

There are two causeways more than a mile long connecting Duluth to Superior. The one that I needed to take was under construction so I was forced to take a #2 detour along the north causeway. I am not sure bicycles are allowed to travel on it or not. Imagine the traffic very much like the 401 with a shoulder about one lane wide for “most” of it. Then at the very top of the overpass there is a sign saying “shoulder narrows”. Stinking bit late to turn back! It’s not exactly bicycle friendly place.

When I was finally through the cities of terror I stopped for the night at the Super 8 on the eastern outskirts of Superior. I took advantage of the room to dry out my tent from the nights of heavy dew.

One of many Mississippi river crossings. This one – which is difficult to see – is nothing but a little stream n a marsh.

Interesting town name. The town will survive.

Old houses.

First glimpse of Lake Superior after the long haul across the prairie.

Day 25 – Bena

Day 25 – Bena, Minnesota (Tuesday, May 26, 2015)

I left Lakeside Campground in Erskine around 7am.

I picked up bits of breakfast along the way, muffins and stuff. It was not very satisfying but it held me over.

I had lunch at McDonald’s in Bemidji. I am still concerned about keeping my system running smoothly. One thing that I can say about McDonalds is that I have never suspected that the food has been “bad”.

I was entering the national forest at Cass Lake and a girl at the checkout counter recommended a restaurant and campground in Bena. I am finding recommendations by locals ahead of where I want to stop are more reliable than maps or the internet.

The forest was a nice change from the long stretch of treeless prairie. I found the smell of the conifers (I think especially the pine) especially beautiful. But the land was still essentially flat and height of the trees unimpressive. I believe the other attraction of the National Forests were the lakes and the associated fishing. The lakes were all low lying and I imagine, in keeping with the geography, quite shallow.

I had supper just west of Bena at a recommended place called Big Fish. It was a very friendly, inclusive place. Whoever entered was thoroughly greeted and brought into conversations. This was generally lead by the bar tender with a big booming voice and an infectious laugh (he may also been the owner.). I struck up a conversation with a Ornithologist who had just severed his Achilles and was wearing a special boot. The restricted mobility resulted in a blood clot that nearly killed him. My own issues with Achilles issues peaked my interest. Fortunately cycling seems to be good therapy.

I camped at Winnie’s General store in Bena. Not a bad little place. They had a good spot for tents and seem to have had other cyclists pass by.

IMG_20150527_070011 — The general store (and campground) in Bena.

Day 24 – Erskine

Day 24 – Erskine, Minnesota (Monday, May 25, 2015)

Memorial Day!

As I was eating my lunch in Grand Forks I met a nice group of people who were curious about my bike. It turns out they just came back from a memorial day service. One of the men with a perpetual smile stopped by as he was leaving and gave me an American flag. He talked about his brother, a gym teacher who lived in Perth, Australia, and biked 10 miles to work everyday. He continued “he’s been in a lot of accidents”,”his helmet has saved him”,”he was hit by a car mirror and had to get his hip replaced”. He introduced himself as Winston, proceeded to spontaneously pray for me then left. I get that he thought cycling was dangerous but he was a selfless pastor’s soul. What would become of the likes of him if there was no Christianity?

I gave my flag to Ralph the Trek (as you can see in the picture). I was told he was made in America like Lance Armstrong.

For the record; the wind was mostly in my favour today until I approached Mentor. ‎

When I arrived at Erskine I met a gentleman who was struggling to embed memorial plaques in a brick sidewalk. He looked old enough to have retired so I assume he was a volunteer. I enquired about places to stay. He enquired about my trip. I told him that I was crossing the country going east. He said “then you’ve gone through North Dakota?” with a smile, slightly derisively. I asked what’s wrong with North Dakota and he said “it’s flat.” I guess he figured I would have noticed the difference between Minnesota and North Dakota but I didn’t. I told him I had seen “flat” since Calgary and hadn’t noticed a big difference in North Dakota. He claimed that Minnesota has forests and told me I should see them in the 200 miles or so. I guess there will always be rivalries.

As a result of the conversation I was satisfied that Erskine was as good a town as any to settle for the evening.

I had an early supper at a pub where everyone was singing along with the jukebox including the bar tender. I did my laundry and met a elderly lady preoccupied in her cleaning. We chatted a bit, she complained about people leaving their clothes in the dryer, and I told her I was travelling to St. John’s. I think she got it confused with some place with a similar name in Minnesota. She ended up helping me push the right buttons on the dryer as I attempted to explain Canadian geography.

I set up my tent at the campground by the lake aptly named “Lakeside Campground”.

Campground at Erskine. 7:06 am 2015/05/26

Ralph with a memorial day American flag that Winston gave me. 3:36 pm 2015/05/25

A barn. 4:07 pm 2015/05/25

Day 23 – Larimore

Day 23 – Larimore, North Dakota (Sunday, May 24, 2015)

I think Coriolis stopped working. The weather men all say that it’s a high pressure system and shrug. Ya right! There are only two possibilities for an east wind three weeks straight:

(a) Someone did something to Mr. Coriolis
Or
(b) the world stopped spinning which doesn’t happen often.

Well the sun came up this morning thus my conclusion.

I got up reluctantly at 6:30am this morning, shook the due off my tent, packed up, and found a spot at a table at the corner store to eat my muffins. I didn’t feel much like eating, so I left some of the sugary cinnamon buns, and got going.‎

I had a late “second” breakfast at McDonald’s squeaking in just before they started serving lunch. I had two pancake meal thingys, an orange juice (more sugar) and a coffee. I had trouble eating it all but downed most of it.

For the record… I stopped in at Lakota for a beverage break and chatted with Ann before taking off to Niagara, my intended destination.

I arrived at Niagara and found a quaint little hamlet that was generally well maintained. I called a bed and breakfast and was told that they don’t open until June. The man, who was pleasant enough added “this is North Dakota.” like it was an irrefutable natural law. (It is as clearly understood as the one that prohibits voting for a black president although nothing is ever written. Someone should tell them that even the written natural laws are being revoked.)‎

While I was standing there with my bike wondering what to do a kindly old patriarch and his family drove by in a brand new four door pickup truck and asked me with a baritone voice if he could help. (He sounded like he could be a preacher.) I told him all I needed was somewhere to setup my tent. He generously offered – anywhere – I am not sure if he owned the town. And then I added “a public washroom would be nice.”. At that point he reneged on his offer and directed me the Larimore. “It’s just 10miles down the road. They have a rest area there.” Like he walked there everyday! I should be careful not to scoff. Perhaps he did. It’s still prairie farming country.

What was I to do?

So here I am at the rest stop on highway #2 at the exit for Larimore. I’ve set my tent and will be eating my camping meal. Although it’s not the most private place it’s pretty nice and so far it’s free. I am pretty sure it wasn’t intended for tenting. Who’s going to tell me to leave?

Camping at the rest stop at Larimore. There was nowhere else. 8:13 pm 2015/05/24

9:04 am 2015/05/24

9:23 am 2015/05/24

5:47 pm 2015/05/24

Day 22 – Leeds

Day 22 – Leeds, ND (Saturday, May 23, 2015)

I had relatively good, consistent wind from the south by southwest and made good time.

I left Minot at 7:15am. I stopped at Rugby for lunch a bit after noon. Apparently I passed the middle of the continent today in Rugby. There was a big sign making the proclamation. Now I start going down hill! Unfortunately by my calculation I will have gone halfway in another 700kms.

I stopped at Leeds at 2:30pm and decided to have a turkey wrap at the road side joint (I was suspicious of the hamburgers). As I was eating a man a little old introduced himself. He said he recognized me right away as the cyclist; skinny, eating healthy food (only by random coincidence), and my apparel outrageous apparel. He had met a lot of cyclists passing through from all over the world. Apparently he and his wife had set up a spot at Knox for long distance travelers. It was too bad I had already passed Knox. I told him that I would mention the place if I met anyone going west.

I decided to stay the night at Leeds. This was a day that I would have liked to go farther but Devils Lake was 30 miles more (50 km). I still feel that if I stretch the distance on one day I may feel tired early the next. The distance to Churchs Ferry would have perfect except there didn’t seem like there was much there.

I am pitching my tent tonight. It is 6:50pm. With the sun still bright in the clear sky the tent is too hot to settle down.

I found a few things loose on my bike. One of the bolts and a spacer for my front rack came loose and was lost. I replaced the bolt with one of the spare bolts. The spacer will be difficult to replace. Another bolt came loose that was used to fasten my rear water jug. I will have to be more careful and check all the bolts regularly.

I have to look at the map for tomorrow. I will have a strong head wind after about 10am. I planned to make Niagara ND tomorrow (80 miles) but if the wind isn’t too bad I may see if I can camp adjacent the highway near Larimore (93 miles.)

I think Leeds is a typical American prairie town. I have an impression that the American towns are more prosperous. Stores, restaurants and accommodation are cleaner and better maintained in North Dakota along Highway 2 at least. The whole economy where I’ve been is based on some sort of farming.

I think there is a high premium on “large” genes. It might have something to do with three or four generations of farming in tough conditions. None of the locals here were shorter than 6 feet. I am speculating here… the runts all ran away and ran the banks in Chicago. Who know’s they may have found Steinbeck’s Kate. Then their offspring caused the market crash of 2008. Voila – the genesis of two new species – evolution!

Geographical Center of North America 12:16 pm 2015/05/23

Geographical Center of North America 11:52 am

BikeTracking, BikeRoute

Day 21 – Minot

Day 21 – Minot, DK (Friday May 22, 2015)

Three weeks on the road!

I left Bowbells about 8am and arrived in Kenmare at 10:30am to have my breakfast staple; two orders of french toast and hash browns.

My direction was mostly south and again I ended up facing a strong head wind. I was disappointed with my progress.

I aimed to have lunch in Minot but I didn’t arrive in Minot until 2:30pm. By then I was desperate for something to eat and ended up at a Burger King while I got my bearings. I needed something at the bike shop and dropped in at Val’s Cycles to pick up a new chain.

I’m disappointed I will be staying in a hotel. Ann told me to ask around for a place to pitch a tent. I think there is quite a low likelihood of finding a campground in the middle of an urban area but I guess it’s worth a try. She also scolded me for being such a whimp and not going 24 km further. She was right on both counts. I need a firm itinerary now I’ve left my original intended course.

House in North Dakota 10:56 am 2015/05/22

9:55 am 2015/05/22

House in North Dakota. 10:10 am 2015/05/22

BikeTracking, BikeRoute

Day 20 – Bowbells

Day 20 – Bowbells, ND (Thursday May 21, 2015)

I took down my tent, packed up and was on my bike by 7:15am. I stopped down at “Sista’s” restaurant for french toast and discovered that the service hadn’t got any better overnight.

I had a second breakfast in Estevan in good time at 10:30am. Although there were “local” choices I picked Dairy Queen. I wanted to count on quickness, cleanliness and a smile.

I crossed the border into North Dakota at North Portal SK at about 1:30pm. The border guards were good guys and were curious about a crazy old man riding across the country on his bicycle. They asked what I had in my panniers and I made the mistake to list my food items. Apparently my rice was not allowed into the US and was confiscated. Who would have thought? My wife Ann packed that rice. It was healthy nutritious brown rice. Don’t tell Ann but I didn’t like that rice. It made eating my camping meal a chore and I am glad it is gone. Now I can go and buy some white rice with impunity.

It may be important to note that the stretch of east bound highway on number 5 doesn’t have much of a shoulder. Typically the shoulder would be described thus from right to left: there’s a white line, then about 12 inches of a rumbles strips, then a strip of about 4-10 inches of good pavement intended for bicyclists like me, then about 4 feet of gravel. The strip of good pavement for bicyclists varied in width depending on the whim of the highway builders. On highway 5 to boot here is one lane of traffic in each direction with a speed limit of 65 miles per hour.

There a number of things I learnt when riding on a narrow strip of pavement:

You get better at riding in a straight line.
Your grip gets stronger.
Rumble strips act like brakes. (So does gravel)
Livestock trucks push the most wind.

I gave up travelling on this thin strip of due to difficulty and decided instead to use the road when there was no traffic. I started thinking that avoiding Ontario’s highways north of Lake Superior by traveling in the US was a dumb idea.

Luckily the traffic was sparse, the drivers gave me the next lane (when they could) and the highway improved significantly to 9 feet of paved shoulder once the highway headed south to Bowbells.

There are no campground in Bowbells. I am staying at an acceptable motel with a shower, laundry and a bed. Isn’t quite as good as the tent but it will have to do.

An iconic prairie house. 3:23 pm 2015/05/21

Benson and a ubiquitous ‎prairie grain elevator. 8:57 am 2015/05/21

Benson and some old farm buildings. 8:58 am 2015/05/21

Someone running a junk yard looking for amusement. 9:53 am 2015/05/21

BikeTracking, BikeRoute

Day 19 – Stoughton

Day 19 – Stoughton, SK (Wednesday, May 20, 2015)

Although I didn’t see downtown Regina it seemed from the ourskirts that Regina was a busy town like any other busy town. Perhaps it was trying to be like some other city in Ontario.

I stayed at Days Inn. It was like any other Days Inn with a pool, cookies and a hot breakfast. But I really miss sleeping in a tent.

I took advantage of the “hot” breakfast which made me later than usual and set my new course south of Superior.

I had a good day bicycling, again not a cloud in the sky and the wind was finally in my favour. I hit 38km/hr in the flat but other than that the day was generally unmemorable.

I can guess why people from the prairies are so serious. There is nothing funny about living here. The winter is brutal, the spring is filled with bugs, the land and the sky are all you see without variation, and up until recently everyone was dependent on the rain for their livelihood.

The new route – highway 33 – runs right beside the railroad tracks. The grain elevators were built at regular intervals about 20km apart. One of the guys I met in Stoughton said there has been a lot on consolidation but they are still the most distinguishing land feature.

And then there are oil wells. Lots of them. They are marked by machinery moving slowly up and down resembling a nod of some prehistoric animal.

It seems like much of Saskatchewan is in some sort of disrepair. Despite this people are still eking out a living. Beats me how! This may be the slow route to prosperity. Or maybe not.

When I arrived in Stoughton I found a nice campground and left to look for a place to eat. Someone pointed out a corner where there was a restaurant. It’s called “Sista’s” they said. “The have pretty good food there.” So I went to the corner where there was a typical prairie building with aluminum siding and minimal windows. There was no restaurant sign. There was no “Sista’s” sign. They were (or I was) lucky I was on my bike or I would have kept going. The food was ok but no-one really knew how to wait on tables. The waiters were nice enough but were much more interested in chatting with the locals. Somehow this seems typical.

I pitched my tent which was still wet from the snow at Eagle Valley. I looked forward to finally sleep in the fresh air again.

An old building in a small hamlet on the way to Stoughton. 2:02 pm 2015/05/20

BikeTracking, BikeRoute

Day 18 – Regina

Day 18 – Regina, SK (May 19, 2015)

This morning I was slow to get going. Some of the food that I had eaten yesterday wasn’t sitting so well. I forced myself to eat two slices of pizza from last night’s dinner. If didn’t I’d be hungry at 10am.

Not much happened today. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the was only a mild head wind.

I made Moose Jaw at little after noon. Had a long easy break. Started out again before 2pm and arrived in Regina a bit before 5pm for the daily distance of 155km.

Tomorrow I will change course. Rather than heading north of Winnepeg I have decided to take “BigCalves” advise and travel south of Superior. Planning this route will be a bit of a challenge since I can’t download to my GPS without my computer. I heard that they have paper maps somewhere. Pretty novel, eh?

A beautiful house in Parkbeg, SK. 9:05 am 2015/05/19

BikeTracking, BikeRoute

Day 17 – Chaplin

Day 17 – Chaplin, SK (May 18, 2015)

I had breakfast at the gas station by the transcanada and met Robin Edgar-Haworth, a native artist who had become another long distant traveler. He had set out from Penticton walking to Ottawa on a custom made three-wheel cart. He said that his kids had all grown up and he took this opportunity of a lifetime to protest against Steve Harper and to gather interest in his art. You can check out Robin’s facebook and article here…. Rogin’s Facebook Page and Robin’s Support Page. His art is available here…. Robin’s Art.

Although the temperature had dropped to -7 at night the day looked perfect. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I made up my mind to cover as much ground as possible. I had lunch at Swift Current at a little before noon and set my sites on Chaplin.

Although the day was uneventful the head wind subsided considerably and it continued to be a great day for biking.

I arrived in Chaplin a little after 6pm, ordered a 15 inch pizza (half of which I will save for breakfast) and a beer. The restaurant was run by an outstanding Chinese fellow who had immigrated to Canada with his family and had only been here for six months. He struggled with the language and was generally determined to find out what I was saying.

I rented a fully furnished flat from him for the night at 5 8th Street in Chaplin and crashed a little later than usual.

Robin the long distant traveler. 7:51 am 2015/05/18

Robin the long distant traveler. 8:00 am 2015/05/18

Old farm machinery on the prairie somewhere Swift Current and Chaplin. 2:12 pm 2015/05/18

BikeTracking, BikeRoute