Drive-in theater, Williston ND
Just an "am" from home. Add "am" after the
second "i" in Williston and what do you get? Williston was a real
tongue-twister for me.
I did indeed take Thursday, July 25 off. Losing an hour to the time change,
I awakened late and after eating breakfast at my motel (the El Rancho),
I went across the street to the laundromat and did my laundry. I ate lunch
at a nearby taco place and walked to the old downtown area, about 1.5 miles
away, where I got my beard trimmed by a barber ($2.00). I returned to my
motel for dinner. Walking the 3 mile roundtrip in my Teva sandals produced
some serious bloody blisters on my feet, so I curtailed any further walking
efforts.
It was raining when I got up this morning. Checking the Weather Channel,
I learned that thunder showers were forecast along with NE and E winds at
10-15 mph. Not good bicycling weather.
At breakfast, two men sitting behind me asked about my ride. The one said
he had a GT bike and had participated in cross North Dakota rides, so knew
what I faced. He suggested that I ride US-2 instead of ND-1804, the route
of the AC map because 1804 was quite hilly. Some women at a nearby table
commented that 1804 was under construction. The AC map notes that there
are extremely limited services between Williston and New Town--70 miles.
I heard from a number of people that the young Indian (Alaskan Indians are
called "Natives", but I'm told that the rest of the Indian people
prefer to be called "Indians") people on the reservation were
not real friendly to white bicyclists. I had a headache and for some reason
my right eye was bothering me. Headwinds, rain and the prospect of 70 miles
without any potential for relief or early termination clinched it. I was
going on US-2. There were more small towns and bars along the way to Minot
than on the AC route.
I repacked everything in my panniers because of the rain threat, making
sure it was all protected by OneZip bags. I got some clear plastic wrap
from the motel kitchen to cover my Trek Radar cyclocomputer that had shown
sensitivity to rain. I had also purchased some cement at a hardware store
yesterday, which I used to seal the wire connections to the cyclocomputer.
It seemed to work.
I started out at 10:20 AM, stopped at a grocery store for a couple each
of apples and bananas and headed north along US-2's frontage road. At about
2 miles from town, there was a drive-in movie theater.
I hadn't seen a drive-in theater in years. This one is still
running. The Frontier Museum is located at 3 mile. I rode onto the grounds,
only to find out that the museum was closed for remodeling,
After the museum, the frontage road ends, so I was forced onto
the 4 lane divided US-2. The shoulders were at least 8' wide, so riding
would have been nice if it was nice (not rainy or windy).
This wasn't a day for good progress. I stopped further up the road at the
9-Mile Bar to use the restroom and ended up explaining my trip to the owner
and his 2 customers. I was only averaging about 7 mph when I was pedaling
and far less if elapsed time was included.
At 14 mile, the 4-lane ends and the road (now 2 lane) turns sharply east,
but good shoulders remain.
The rain stopped, but the winds, which had been coming from the north, seemed just as bad now from the east and the terrain was one of long rolling hills: 2-4% grades for a mile or more at a time.
By the time I reached Ray it was about 3:00 (average only 8.1
mph) and I was only about halfway to Stanley. I stopped for lunch at the
Northside Cafe in Ray. While there, my right eye was hurting and I mentioned
it to a couple of ladies who talked to me about my trip and they suggested
I see the doctors at the clinic in the Ray Mall (who just so happened to
be in town today). I had been having trouble with my right eye for a couple
of days, so I decided to go.
At the clinic (Tioga Medical Center) I registered with receptionist Deneille
and saw Physicians Assistant Cheryl.
Cheryl said I had a stye and prescribed some antibiotic ointment,
regular washing with soap and water, and suggested I hold a warm moist washcloth
against the eye several times per day (keeping it moist in a zipper bag
and warmed by the sun). They suggested I stop at an emergency room if the
eye continued to bother me for more than a day or two. Grit and grime from
the road probably caused the infection. There is no pharmacy in Ray, but
the clinic arranged for a parent picking up a prescription for their kid
at the pharmacy in nearby Tioga (13 miles) to pick up mine and bring it
back with them to Ray. I sure do like the people of North Dakota.
By the time I got done at the clinic, it was about 5:00, and 36 miles against
the wind to Stanley was no longer practical and I had a headache from the
eye swelling, so I checked into one of the 2 motels in Ray ($21 cash only).
I picked up some Gatorade at the grocery store (in the "mall")
and went back to the Northside for dinner.
While I was eating, they were carrying on some sort of bingo game in the cafe and adjoining bar (over a loudspeaker) and quite a few local folks were participating.
After dinner I updated the website, but there was no telephone in the room, so I had to wait for another stop to upload my work. I went to bed early.
36 miles.
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© Ed Noonan 1996, 1997