 Nothing was moving in Berthold at 7:30 AM on Sunday |
 |
I got up early, but because I hadn't yet changed my cyclocumputer
clock to Central Daylight Time, it wasn't as early as I thought. At 7:30,
I reached the restaurant in Berthold to find that it wasn't open on Sunday.
I quickly realized that no food source was open in Berthold on Sunday morning.
| Nothing was moving in Berthold at 7:30 AM on Sunday |
|
It was a gorgeous morning with no wind. I took off in my big
gears and cranked away toward Minot--25 miles to the east.
A few miles east of Berthold, I saw a lazy man. He drove his car about 250'
from his house to his mailbox to get the Sunday paper and backed up back
home. Now maybe he was handicapped and I shouldn't jump to conclusions,
but he sure looked lazy.
At the 1/2 hour mark, I'd ridden 8.3 miles--much better than yesterday.
The road became a four lane divided highway and the shoulder vanished, but
it being early on Sunday morning, there was little traffic.
About 5 miles from Minot, I came upon a woman doing a solo training ride
to Berthold. I asked her about breakfast options in the area. She suggested
the Homesteader, right on US-2 near Minot. I did indeed eat breakfast at
the Homesteader--very good. By the time I left there was a 45 minute waiting
line to get in the restaurant (it must be the only good breakfast restaurant
around--very popular). I rode on an urban-style expressway (US-2) to Broadway
Street. I'm sure glad it was Sunday as this was clearly the main thoroughfare,
equivalent to riding I-496 into Lansing, Michigan and getting off at Cedar
Street. I followed the Adventure Cycling map to Val's Cyclery. I don't know
what I was thinking, but I had hoped to find a mechanic at Val's to look
at my rear derraileur cable (sticking), but Val's (like any bike store I
know of) is closed on Sunday. My eye was sore, so as directed by the Physician's
Assistant at Ray, I decided to go to an emergency room in Minot. I was looking
at a map, when a motorist -- Rick -- stopped, parked his car and approached,
asking if he could help me.
He said he was a bicyclist and saw me looking at my map. He directed
me to UniMed Medical Center, a nearby hospital where emergency room personnel
treated me immediately--lancing and draining the "hordeolum" and
giving me Tobramycin drops for the infection. The procedure was quite painful
and my eyelid was bleeding into my eye and down my face for a while (it
feels relatively normal now - Monday).
From the ER, I started riding the Adventure Cycling route hoping
I'd see a restaurant. I stopped at a grocery store on 6th Ave. NE, and was
directed to a restaurant that turned out to be closed on Sundays. I then
discovered why Minot is famous for having something like 30-40 distinct
neighborhoods. You can't get from one place to another due to the winding
nature of the Mouse River. I got thoroughly lost and ended up back by the
hospital, but never found a restaurant in about 45 minutes of riding. Next
thing I knew, I went over a bridge and asked at the same grocery store I'd
asked at before for another dining suggestion. This time I was directed
to Subway on Broadway. I ate a sub and decided to ride up toward the airport
(healthy climb) and the aviation museum. I never found it, but as I was
riding near the airport I first decided to stay in Minot at a motel and
then saw that the wind was from the west, so decided to get back on the
route.
Minot is a nice little town .The population is about 30,000. Even the less
affluent looking neighborhoods seemed well maintained. The lawns and flower
beds looked nice. The people seemed friendly as all North Dakotans seem
to be.
It was 3:00 PM. I had spent several hours in Minot (since breakfast at 9:30),
but was finally headed east on the AC route. At the first town I came to,
Surrey, I stopped for Gatorade at a convenience store, where I ran into
Rod and Kelly, who'd ridden there from Seattle on their Cannondale tandem
and were headed home to North Carolina. For the first time in 10 days in
the US, on AC routes, I'd finally run across somebody going my way. They'd
come from Stanley, so had already ridden over 80 miles, but the wind was
from the west and we all decided to keep going (there was no place to stay
in Surrey). We were doing pretty well for a while and pulled into Granville
for a short rest, apple & banana stop. It was a nicely laid out town:
neat lawns and gardens, and a nice old stone building.
 garden off US-2 in Granville |
 old building in Granville |
As we left Granville, we had gone no more than a mile, when black clouds
filled the sky and the wind became a cold headwind of monumental proportions--we
estimated 35 mph. Very soon it became apparent that Rod and Kelly (2 power
sources on one bike with equal wind resistance) were far stronger than I.
They pulled steadily away from me as I struggled with the headwinds. After
about 1/2 hour, I lost sight of them. They told me later that they stopped
at a campground halfway to Towner wondering whether to stay there, but because
they had no food, decided to continue on to Towner, which the AC map indicated
had all services. Meanwhile, I stopped to fix my Trek cyclocomputer sending
unit (which had slipped) and fell further back from Rod & Kelly. I didn't
give up. I was bound and determined to make it to Towner and get a motel
room. I swore at the wind and banged away furiously at my pedals, refusing
to crumble in the wind. There was a big storm ahead (Rugby got 2-1/2"
of rain that afternoon) and we were getting the brunt of the wind. I got
to Towner after 8:00 PM. The 6 unit motel was full. I camped out in the
city park (free) along with Rod and Kelly. No restaurant or bar was open,
so we ate pizza for dinner at a gas station/convenience store.
79 miles.
 North Dakota |
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© Ed Noonan 1996, 1997