Season 4 Episode 13. Discover the Spirit.

Season 4 Episode 13. Discover the Spirit.

8/16 Wibaux, MT to Medora, ND, 37 miles. Plus 22 miles in Theodore Roosevelt National Park 1,921’ climb. 

We woke today to our worst air quality yet. The index was in the “orange” zone and our destination a short 37 miles away, Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP), was in the “red” zone, indicating unhealthy.

So we started cycling masked once again. As I warmed up, I could feel my sweat under the mask from my upper lip area drip into my mouth. I wondered if this could prevent or postpone dehydration. 

Our 4th state!

Riding on the gravel of I-94, having it to ourselves as the eastbound lanes were under repair, and yes, riding behind a “Road Closed” sign, but this time with permission of the crew who said there is no shoulder on the detour route so we should go this way until the next exit.

Haystacks series continued.

Today’s destination was Medora, the small and completely touristy, but cute nonetheless, gateway town to TRNP.

We rode into a headwind to Medora, so were relieved it was a relatively short ride. We dropped most of our cargo and 3 of our 4 panniers at our hotel so we’d be lighter while riding in the park. This was an important consideration especially since when I asked the park ranger if it’s safe to cycle through the park with the buffalo, or should we bike ahead to the town of Dickinson and rent a car to come back to visit the park by car? The ranger said “it’s safe, but just make sure you can ride at least 35 mph as that’s how fast the buffalo can run”. Now even going downhill, I barely make that speed. Without panniers, a speed burst of 18 mph would be a stretch. Since Heather worries about almost nothing, and compared to her, I worry about almost everything, we went ahead by bike. We’ve cycled through several National Parks before, so we know we love the feeling of experiencing a park from the ultimate “convertible” vehicle, open on every side, that is, our bikes. 

Fun fact is of 63 USA National Parks, TRNP is the only one named for a person.

[As an aside, given the severe funding crisis facing our Park Service while there is record park tourism, it makes me wonder how many years will it be until we see the commercialism of naming rights for National Parks? Imagine Arches National Park in Utah as the Golden Arches National Park- how many millions served? Sports arenas and stadiums (stadia?) once had individual names that were commercial free and sacrosanct but we’ve seen that come and go, so isn’t it a matter of time until we see names like The Gap Grand Canyon - is there a bigger Gap? Or Warren Buffet Bryce Canyon?]

The thousands of prairie dogs scurrying between their tunnels or standing sentry at their mound entrance are quite the sight. They are similar to the marmots in Jasper NP in Alberta.

We see many mounds above ground that are all connected by elaborate underground tunnels.

I knew that Badlands National Park was in South Dakota; but I did not know the badlands as a rock formation with their layers of sediment from ancient rivers, were also in North Dakota.

Then we found what we set out to see most of all - bison or are they buffalo? It’s so confusing as people here use the term interchangeably. Although I’ve learned technically buffalo are Asian or African, and bison is the correct term, I will use the term buffalo. After all, the song goes “give me a home where the buffalo roam” not where the bison roam.

Yes I can read.

35 mph is the only thing I could think of.

In Wibaux in Eastern Montana and in North Dakota, there are reminders that there was once a French influence here in these states that were part of the Louisiana Purchase. It’s easy to forget the Louisiana Territory, covering the middle of the country, extended as far north as current Canadian provinces.

Pierre Wibaux was a cattle rancher from France. And Medora was named by a French nobleman for his wife. 

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8/17 Medora to Hebron, ND 77 miles. 2,819’ climb.

Painted Canyon section of TRNP was a few miles into the ride.

Today was fairly difficult riding for 60 miles directly into a headwind, and the first 40 masked due to smoky air quality. 

Evidence of North Dakota’s oil production with sporadic wells set on farms. It’s one of the top state producers.

I stopped to talk with some folks about the harvest parade going on. Love the slogan of this septic service.

Dickinson State University

It may have been the most difficult day to date due to wind and my rear end soreness, but also on account that we rode completely separate for the day. This was because our hotel destination in Hebron had a weird check-in policy of be there by 5:30pm or come back at 9pm as nobody is there in between. I said it was weird. With a population of 788, it was the only option. So as Heather is a faster rider and needs to or wants to stop less, she forged ahead to try to make the 5:30pm deadline. All the more challenging as we would lose an hour crossing from Mountain to Central time shortly before Hebron. She made it by an hour.

On the other hand, I relieved myself of that deadline, and enjoyed TRNP, my parade conversation, checking out the university in Dickinson and a much needed hour long lunch off my bike at the Dakota Diner where the waitress Carly sat down in the booth and told me her life story how she grew up in the area, moved to NC but got pregnant so moved back to be near family. 

Carly also loaded me up with double biscuits!

There was also only 1 place to eat in tiny Hebron, the Pizza Pantry. I made it there 20 minutes before the ordering deadline to closing. The pizza was amazing. The owner Amber was delighted when I told her we were from NY and her pizza was A+ and could make it in NY.  

Amber’s ice cream dessert wasn’t too shabby either.

As Hebron is nicknamed the Brick City, she offered us a souvenir brick to take with us. It felt like it weighed 2 pounds. Heather immediately said no thanks. I hemmed a long time before realizing I just could not cycle with that another 2,000 miles. I did ask her if she’d mail it to me:) And when I get home will probably call her to do just that.

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8/18 Hebron to Bismarck, ND  68 miles. 1,614’ climb.

This was the third day in a row of strong headwinds right in our face until the final 7 miles when it got more urban, and buildings blocked the wind. 

If the wind wasn’t demoralizing enough, we encountered a road that was indicated online as paved, but was dirt and gravel in reality. Aside from an uncomfortably bumpy ride, it’s less safe as it is easier to fall, and with the strong wind even harder to ride.  After about 4 miles of it, we found a 2 mile detour that put us onto I-94 for a stretch that was a relief with a super smooth shoulder. 

I didn’t have the mojo and struggled most of day! This wind is something we did not or could not train for. With 5 miles to go, I was gassed and thankfully a “gas station” appeared. 

That station being a DQ and a oreo blizzard is possibly the best high octane fuel for my engine. It got me to Bismarck. We checked out the historic old town area for dinner at Jimmy V’s where it was karaoke night. No future American Idol winners lurking here.

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8/19 Bismarck to Medina, ND 77 miles. 1,491’ climb.

As we left town, we visited the state Capitol building and I don’t know if I’ve seen a state Capitol before that was not more of the traditional classic look, typically with a dome. This building looked more like a Soviet era edifice.

The monument with a pioneer family and the wheel representing how they traveled resonated deeply with me. I thought much about this for the rest of the day: the similarities of travel by wagon and by bike, the limited distance one could cover in a day, the challenges of geographic barriers like mountains and rivers, the difficulties of weather - heat that cracks your lips and burns your skin (I don’t think they had Blistex and sunscreen back then), and wind that makes you work at least twice as hard.

Once we started pedaling east, it was another day into a killer headwind. 

It is not so much the 10+ mph of the wind, it's when the gusts of 20+ mph nearly stop you. 

With the slower speed, it adds 2 hours of riding to the day. Which is 2 hours more on my sit bones, 2 hours more pushing on pressure points, 2 hours more strain on knees as it feels like climbing, and 2 hours less of recovery and healing at night.

At various times I looked at our speed and just hoped to finish before dark. 

I told myself I need to remember how miserable I am right now the next time I think of doing this. (To our friend Gail - yes, miserable.)

And none of this is in the way of complaint. We appreciate the incredible privilege we have of being able to undertake this adventure. It’s simply an account and the reality of the daily lows and highs along the way. 

I leaned heavily on riding for the Reeve Foundation for inspiration and motivation. I thought of Lenny and Ernie for whom we ride in honor, and others we have met through our Reeve association. I thought of Alan, Eric and Ron. I thought of Stu who we met on the trail in Washington. And I pictured them literally rolling beside me and with me. Although I wasn’t moving at my average speed, and it was much slower, it was still progress. It was still moving forward. And that was uplifting. 

I’ve worn a Team Reeve wristband since our first ride in fall 2021. I pulled it out from under the elastic of my jacket sleeve so it was on top and I could see it. I needed help. 

If you could plan a trip knowing in advance which days the wind would blow with you or against you, you would plan very different mileage accordingly. You would ride 100 miles or more on days with a strong tailwind, but only 40 on days into a headwind. But you don’t know in advance, and life is not like that either.

This was now 4 days in a row of punishing headwinds. I hit my low of the trip. I think the decision to forego days off was part of this. We made an important decision. We would ride 2 more days to Fargo, and take a rest day 3 days earlier than was planned.

We were in Medina, population 266, and not the nicest of places so we were not staying longer here. 

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8/20 Medina to Valley City, ND 65 miles. 1,137 climb.

Thankfully today the wind turned from a headwind to a crosswind from the south, with the odd gust in our favor.

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8/21 Valley City to Fargo, ND 63 miles. 389 (yes 389! Flat!) climb.

Today wind gusts hit 27 mph and again thankfully mostly crosswinds. Occasionally, we had a stretch of half a mile to a mile of turning right into those gusts. At least it was the flattest day we have ever ridden! The Red River Valley, on the eastern edge of the Great Plains, is one of the flattest places in the world. Our good fortune!  

On the North Dakota license plate, the motto is Discover the Spirit. Oh, we discovered the spirit alright, the friggin wind spirit. But it didn’t break us. It just bent us. And whatever doesn’t kill you supposedly just makes you stronger. Or so we hope. We are in Fargo, ND, about halfway to NY and hope this low point is indeed behind us as we enjoy a great recharge and we ride across the Red River from here into Minnesota. 

Please honor our friends Lenny and Ernie, and anyone you know affected by paralysis by donating to the Reeve Foundation at Heather & Mark Ride for Reeve!

Copyright Mark Segal 2024.