Day 23: Bismarck to Napoleon, N.D.

We awoke today to cool weather again with threatening clouds throughout the sky. Had a hearty breakfast at the hotel, stopped at a supermarket to get some extra food for the day, and headed south on trails that took us right outside of Bismarck. Despite this being the state capital, a relatively large city, and a growing one, we had a very quiet morning of riding out of the city center. We passed by the University of Mary on the south end of town before climbing through rolling hills to the east. We have definitely entered what I’ll call “corn area,” as we started passing through miles and miles of corn fields. Not too much different about the scenery today, very similar to yesterday, though it was nice to stay cool all day as the clouds hung around until we arrived in Napoleon. Ed kept his arm warmers on all day, a first.

Just as we were to turn onto US 83 we noticed a few cyclists heading west and waited to greet them. It was a mother-daughter pair from Michigan, Sarah and Autumn. They had started their tour in Wisconsin less than 2 weeks ago and are heading to Anacortes then, I believe, south down the coast toward California. We knew they were coming as Autumn had a portable speaker that was playing music as they turned the corner. We talked a bit about what was to come, and we both thought we’d been experiencing tailwinds that morning, which probably means winds were pretty light and variable overall today. They were asking about bears in Montana, so we were finally able to pass on our bear spray as we’d hoped to do. I still had mine holstered in my handlebar bag, which was getting more and more unnecessary by the day.

Sundays can be tricky for food, but we found a gas station with sandwich bar in Hazelton. We were carrying extra food for lunch, but it will be good to have for tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch, since there will be very limited services between here and Fargo, about 160 miles east. Sundays and Mondays seem to be the worst in terms of restaurants and stores being open.

Tomorrow we will head for Enderlin, a long day. We’ll be up early to beat the heat and the wind, but should have a few easier days of riding after that through Fargo and onto Minneapolis Saturday.

By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 71
Total climbing: 2005 ft.
Foot-long subs consumed: 2
Average temp: 63F
Flat tires woken up to in the last 3 days: 2
Signs saying it was 26 miles to Napoleon: 2
Distance between signs: >1 mile
Waterloo puns made (inclusive of this one): 1

Climbing out of Bismarck. 

 Bike path leaving town this morning.

 Riding along McKenna lake, just outside of Napoleon.

 Sarah, Autumn, and us. This selfie was only possible because there was a teenager present.

 Changing maps. Probably somewhere near the end of the map.

Lunch stop.