Where’s Kman

Dickinson, ND to Reeder, ND
87 miles
16.7 average mph
County 10
Enchanted Highway
Hwy 21
Hwy 22
Rode on the Enchanted Highway. This is a 32 mile stretch or road near Regent, ND that has 7 steel sculptures displayed at intervals along the road. This was a very fun ride today because the sculptures were interesting to look at and the weather was perfect – about 72 and no humidity.

Rest day. Did some hiking in the South Unitr of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The terrain is grassy with sagebrush. There are lots of rocky looking outcropings which are really mainly hard packed dirt. There are buffalo, bighorn sheep, and prairie dogs. The cute little prairie dogs appear top be very social because the live together in colonies consisting of hundreds. There are lots of holes in the grass from which they pop out periodically. As soon as I walked near one to try and take a picture it would start chirping like a bird and then disapear back underground.

Watford City, ND to Dickinson, ND
49 miles
17.3 average mph
Hwy 85
State 200
State 22
Went to the beautiful North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt Natiponal Park today. There are canyons carved by the Little Missouri River and also grassy prairies in the upper part of the park where I saw a herd of buffalo grazing. The winds are very strong here again today. On one stretch of road I had a tailwind and got up to 46 mph on the flats, but later was hit by a strong crosswind and blowing rain that whipped up out of nowhere dropping the temperatures to 60 degrees and almost knocking me off my bike.
My parents drove out from Illinois to meet me here and I will be taking a rest day tomorrow with them and visiting the South Unit of Roosevelt National Park and Medora.

Stanley, ND to Watford City, ND
81 miles
State 8
State 23
County 1806
Rained all morning so I didn’t get started until about noon. I went throught the heart of oil country and was able to get a close up picture of one of the hundreds of oil rigs. There is a constant stream of big trucks comming and going to these rigs (water, pipes, and equipment in and oil out) and they are worse than the coal trucks in Kentucky. I saw some beautiful scenery near the Missouri River consisting of plateaus, grassy hills and canyons. Also had my first flat today on the rear tire. There was a section of road with lots of loose rocks that must have caused it.

Within the past year there has been a huge increase in the amount of oil drilled from the Bakken Formation centered in the Williston Basin and in particular the town of Stanley, ND. Estimates indicate ther may be 3 times as much oil as in Texas. I saw several of the giant oil rigs in the distance today but they were too far away to get a good picture. If I can get any closer to one I will get a picture of one.

Towner, ND to Stanley, ND
107 miles
18.3 average mph
Hwy 2
County 10
Old hwy 2
Had winds from the east today so riding was easy.
Went to the Scandanavian Heritage Park in Minot and so the stave church replica and the world’s largest Dala Horse. As you can see from the picture it was way to big to try and sit on for the picture. I keep meeting other bike riders going east cross country but have not met anyone else going west since I was in Kentucky. Tonight I am at the furthest point north and west in Central Time Zone so sunset is not until 9:50 PM which means it won’t get dark until about 10:30 PM which is way past my bedtime. I am an early bird.

Devils Lake, ND to Towner, ND
79 miles
15.3 average mph
The wind was not a problem today so I guess it doesn’t blow all the time. Really a beautiful day. 72 degrees, sunny, no humidity. I stopped at the Geographical center of North America which is in Rugby, ND. And, yes, I did see I seagull here even though this is the furthest away from any ocean. I guess those birds do get around. Also went to the Praire Village and Museum. In spite of what you might think the museum does have exhibits about prairie life but also a rather eclectic display of collections in multiple buildings. It reminded me a little of the House on thbe Rock in Wisconsin. Very interesting. In North Dakota a number of small towns allow free camping with showers and electricity in the town park. Some of the bike riders who go cross country camp at these parks. That’s where I’m at tonight.

Larimore, ND to Devils Lake, ND
71 miles
11.1 average mph
Hwy 2
The big story today was the wind. I had to pay for the favorable winds yesterday with a constant 20 mph headwind from the west. When I say constant I mean it does not stop blowing, ever. I didn’t go as far as I had planned for the day because I,m hoping it will be a little less windy tomorrow. This is the Second Devils Lake I’ve been at (the other was in Wisconsin). The North Dakota version is quite a bit bigger.

Fargo, ND to Larimore, ND
105 miles
16.7 average mph
County 81
Hwy 2
Had a great tailwind most of the day – about 20 mph from the south. Met a guy named Odin in Fargo at a coffee shop and I think this may be the reason.for the wind at my back today. As you know, Odin is the king of the gods in Norse mythology. I tried fried Canadian Walleye for the first time at lunch today. Very good! I went to an art exhibit at UND (University of North Dakota) in Grand Forks and saw a display of stone sculptures and paintings (including the couch potato – very comfortable) done by a Serbian artist.

Rest day.
Went to the museum in Moorhead, Minn. Which is right across the Red River from Fargo. They have the Hjemkomst (homecomming in Norwegian) Viking ship on display. This is the ship built as a replica of the Gokstad Viking ship unearthed in Norway in the 1800′s and sailed from Duluth, Minn. To Norway in 1982 by a crew of 10 Americans and 2 Norwegians. There is also an exact replica of the Hopperstad Norwegian stave church which.was built in 2000. Also at the Plains Art Museum there was an exhibit of artwork done by Ojibwe artist Frank Big Bear whose work is a colorful mixture of native American and cubist styles.