If I rode today, instead of waiting for prevailing winds, I could keep on schedule. The ride was short, around 36 miles, but faced directional (SE) headwinds that would escalate by the hour. The 13 mph headwind would increase to 15, then 17 then 20, then 23. 

My strategy divided the ride into three parts: the first 20 miles would be a bear, but better than later in the day. I would fight the headwind, but should accomplish the 20 miles in 2-3 hours. The second part of the route involves a sharp left turn, then 8-9 miles with the SE  winds pushing me. It should go fast. Lastly, the route turns right and i'll have headwinds again. If all works well, and I leave early, then I should be at my destination well before noon.

Arising at 5:15 AM, I had time for devotions, packing,and  eating breakfast, still being on the road by 6:45 AM. The headwinds jolted  me immediately, coming at a 45 degree angle. My pace was slow, but not as slow as I thought it would be. One is always faster early in the ride. 

I had mentioned tons of lakes on the map that could not be seen from the road. Not today. Today, they were all over the place. The state clearly made no effort to accommodate the lakes, and put the roads right through them, making two smaller lakes. Some lakes were small already, maybe 3-4 acres, while some may have been 1,000s of acres. But the roads were kept straight. I counted 12 lakes this morning that had a road running through them.

Once I made the left turn, putting the wind behind me, I flew up and down hills. Too soon, for my liking, I was already at the point where I turned right again, preparing for the onslaught of wind. But it did not come. For some reason, the winds lessened, and I arrived in town 4 hours after departure. The high winds did come later, but for that moment, they made it easier on me.

There are no motels here, but a couple have allowed part of their basement to be used by over night bicyclers, on a donation basis. They have a shower, washer/dryer and two beds. There is a picture of Jesus, with an arrow pointing down to a Bible. The inscription says "Life Information".

As I pulled up, three bicyclers were leaving, having stayed the night. One, from Seattle, was going as far as Fargo. Another from Seattle, was going to New York. One, from England, was circumnavigating the United States.  They were leaving for a destination 78 miles away, and it was 11 in the morning. That will be my destination tomorrow, and I will leave much earlier. Of course, I am slow.

This bicycle friendly home is a gift to bike tourers, like myself. The downside is that you do not get to pick your roommates, and that cuts both ways. My image of having this place all to myself vanished, when a lady from Michigan showed up on her bike. She set up a tent. Maybe I will have this all to myself, but the day is young.

The extra effort yesterday resulted in a restful day today. Tomorrow's ride is 78 miles. The map indicates, in bold print, "Limited services.", so I will stock up in the morning.

The good news: I will have a tailwind tomorrow. The bad news: I discovered that my next town, Enderlin, is having their All Class Reunion tomorrow. Once again, there is no room at the inn. Therefore, I plan to stay in a county park 18 miles, or so, west of Enderlin. My 78 mile ride became a 60 miler. On Sunday I will arrive in Fargo. Once I cross the river, I'll be in Minnesota.

Since there is no cell coverage where I will be staying tomorrow night, there will be no journal entries until Sunday. Who knows, if the tailwinds are strong enough, I might zip past Enderlin. Though I am tiring of 100 mile days. We'll see. 

By riding so much yesterday, I had a much shorter ride today. There is supposed to be headwinds, mostly in the 8-10 mph range, but they, for the most part were not direct headwinds. My goal, was to camp in a little town called Hazelton, 50-some miles away. Again, there would be no services along the way, so I would have to pack lunch, snacks and extra water. 

At breakfast, a fellow recommended a place up the street for sandwiches. It was called the Butcher Block. Actually it was a full butcher shop, open at 7:30 AM, which also does some sandwiches. I ordered one. The employees there were fun, and one man said that he was an expert on guessing one's weight. After walking around me, he wrote something down and asked me what I actually do weigh. Truthfully, I did not know. When I left home, I weighed 195, but I have burned more calories than I have eaten. I guessed 190. He had written down 192-196. Not bad. It was great fun and a good send off for my ride.

Shortly after, I stopped by a convenience store and picked up two Danishes for snacks.

The country around here is very pretty. Lots of cultivated fields and pasture. The map showed a plethora of lakes all over the place, but you couldn't see them from the road. Lots of hills, but only a dozen or so held a candle to the 65 hills on June 18th.

Contemplating today's ride, I was feeling pretty good about it. Much slower speed because of the headwind, but good overall. Taking a lunch break, I discovered another town 26 miles further that had motels. I don't mind tenting, but, in this case, I probably would be stuck in Hazelton for two days because of 20+ mph headwinds anticipated tomorrow, while enduring 90+ degree weather. Rather than make a decision, I thought it prudent to see what the body felt like when I got to Hazelton. That makes sense doesn't it?

Long before I got to Hazelton, I was worn out. No motel for me tonight. Finally, 54 miles later, I arrived in town, out of water. I felt like i had ridden an 84 mile ride. Drinking fluids, however, made me feel much better. For some reason, however, I just didn't feel good about staying in Hazelton.

So I took off for the next town, Napoleon, 26 miles away.  Most of it had some headwind, but not direct. I prayed for the strength to do this, and suddenly felt invigorated. Figuring it was going to take me 3 hours, I realized that water and Powerade would be insufficient by themselves. Stopping for a moment I moved all readily available food up to mypockets. I  was going to experiment with eating on the go! I suppose the experiment was a success, but that did not mean it went well. Nevertheless, I finished off my beef sandwich, ate the last of the danishes, and polished off an old banana that I found at the bottom of the bag. When I arrived in Napoleon, 2 hours and 40 minutes later, all the drinking containers were empty again.

My plan, upon arrival was to wait out the 20+ man headwinds tomorrow. Looking at the map, however, it is now only 35-36 miles to the next stop. If I start early, the headwinds are less formidable. Maybe I will try that. We will find out in the morning. 

Planning each day is a function of the information at hand. With the understanding that I prefer a 60 mile ride, the actual mileage will may be more or less, depending on terrain, weather, and availability of food, water, and shelter.

Recently, there have been several days where the miles have been around 100. In the first case, I got caught stranded without services, and had to keep riding until something showed up. In the other, there was a nice tailwind, and I saved a day by leap frogging a scheduled stop.

Today was similar. Hard as it is to believe, today was 101 miles. The logic behind it is that, first of all, I had a 20 mph tailwind. My intended stop was 75 miles, so this was not too much of a stretch. Secondly, tomorrow I will be riding into a headwind. Tomorrow's ride was originally scheduled as a 75 mile day, which now will be closer to 50 miles.

Because of the tailwind, the 101 miles today felt, body-wise, like a 60 miler. 

By 7 AM I was on the road this morning. Instead of following the bicycle map, I decided to stay on I-94 the whole day except for lunch and breaks. As I mentioned earlier, I feel much  safer on an interstate than on many of the other roads the route puts me on. The shoulders are wide, typically 8-10 feet, they're clean, and usually have a rumble strip just this side of the white line to warn an inattentive driver, and warn me too. The grades (steepness) on the interstates are much less than country highways.

One new thing that I noticed today is that I am finally starting to eat more. And the body is making it more clear when it wants to be fed. All the mornings of a queasy stomach seem to be gone. Karen and I joked that I was having morning sickness.

Exiting the freeway for lunch, I rode into a quaint town called Glen Ullin. My map said that there was a restaurant in town. True, but it would not open for another five hours. Had a sandwich at the grocery, then back to the freeway. An hour wasted.

My goal for tonight became Bismarck. Yet, having experienced sticker shock with the Dickinson motels, it seemed prudent to stay in a little city across the river from Bismarck, called Mandan. The first motel I called had a room for $45. Perfect.

Tomorrow, after riding 50 miles into a headwind, I will be camping in the city park in Hazelton. My map says it has a restaurant. I hope it does. 

Due to issues with the providers of this Web site, there were three days of journal entries that were missing. That is no longer the case.

Entries for June 15, 16 and 17 are now available for reading.

Will McMahan 

Today was supposed to be a simple ride to Medora, North Dakota, of around 65 miles. Then tomorrow would be a short ride into the city of Dickinson, of around 35 miles. I think the Lord had something else in mind.

Sleeping soundly, I was suddenly awake. The clock said it was exactly 5:00 AM. That was my first clue that He might have other ideas about today. Despite the early rising, it wasn't until 7:30 that I was on the road.

The route today was primarily on I-95. Most bicyclers steer clear of interstates, but I love them. The shoulders are wide and very clean of debris. There is a rumble strip to alert drivers if they start to drift, and the noise alerts me also. Additionally, the vehicles tend to draft the bicycler a bit, giving him an extra mph or two. The vehicles' speed does not bother me. In Montana, drivers were going 70 mph on two lane roads with no shoulders. The interstate is much safer.

I suspected that I was supposed to ride all the way to Dickinson today. It would make for a long day, and close to 100 miles, but I just kept pedaling. I arrived at my original destination, Medora, by mid afternoon.

Medora is a town worth re-visiting. Clearly a tourist destination, it has all sorts of outdoor  activities and attractions. It also has a bicycle shop, which I needed. Last night I discovered that my air pump was broke, so I had to pick up a new one. It also gave me an opportunity to air up both tires while I was there.  

Brent Hunter told me of the time that he and his wife, Linda, were bicycling, and she was exhausted. He said that there is only 20 more miles to go, and she could do 20 miles anytime  with her eyes closed. She agreed and finished her ride. Every time that I am tired bicycling, I recall the story, and count down the mileage to 20, not to the finish. I know that if I could get the mileage down to 20, then i'll be able to get to the end.

Finally pulling in to Dickerson, I started calling numerous motels, looking to stay two nights.  They were full. Why didn't I call earlier? Yet Comfort Inn had space. All I needed to do was figure out how to get there. Thirteen hours after leaving this morning, I was in a motel room unpacking. 

It just seems crazy that I put 103 miles on the bike today. Feeling much better than the 99 miler five days earlier, and much, much better than when I did those 65 hills two days before.  The only odd thing is that I am not hungry. That will change by breakfast.

Okay, Lord, i'm here a day earlier You planned. What do You have for me to do? 

Last night, very tired from that day's bicycling, I was sure that today, Sunday, would be a day of rest. Before retiring, however, I checked the hourly weather projections. These projections give projected hourly temperstures, likelihood of precipitation, and wind direction/speed. Hmm, would there be headwinds tomorrow?  At 6 AM, yes. At 7 AM, yes. At 8 AM, no. What? Is the wind changing?

A definite yes to that question. By noon, it was not only going to be a tailwind, but projected to exceed 20 mph. This information changes everything. With a strong tailwind, I should be able to cover the 50 miles to Glendive in 4 hours or less, despite the initial 10 miles of climbing.

This means I can attend worship and Sunday School, have a quick lunch, and still get to the next location without additional wear and tear on the body.

Church was wonderful. Lunch was brisk. Temperatures had dropped into the mid-70s. As predicted, the ride went fast. Tailwinds are funny because one doesn't feel them. The bicycle goes faster, and in a higher gear.

Well before 4 PM, I pulled into Glendive, today's target.

Tomorrow I will be North Dakota. To me, of greater importance is to arrive in the city of Dickerson, which will be the following day. It will be a day of rest, after 8 days of cycling. Several of those days were unusually taxing, so a day off sounds good.

Happy Father's Day! 

This was a day I was dreading. It looked like 68 miles of hills. To further complicate things, there was supposed to be a headwind, which would slow me down. It was also supposed to be very hot, close to, or over, 90 degrees. Finally, there were no services between my town of departure, Jordan, and the terminus, Circle, MT. About halfway through was a rest area, with bathrooms and water. 

I accumulated food for breakfast and lunch, along with snacks and Gatorade.

Up before 5 AM, I had devotions, ate, packed, and was on the road by 6:45 AM.

The headwind was immediately apparent. This was going to be a long day. Then the hills started.

Two days earlier, on the 99 mile ride, I had sustained a sore spot on the upper inside of my left leg. This is worrisome, because the legs are almost non-stop pedaling, and a chafing sore needs to be dealt with carefully and quickly. If it gets worse, then the entire ride stops until it is healed. Yesterday, I tried multiple band aids, but there had to be a better idea. I bought some Vaseline, and decided to apply it on the sore spot 3 or 4 times during the day.

Once underway, I changed my mind, and decided to apply it often. Since the hills were coming fast and furious, I would apply it after every 4th hill. That is why I started counting the number of hills.

Between the headwind and the hills, the ride was going very slowly. Finally, five hours after I left Jordan, I pulled into the Rest Area. Several things were clear: this was going to be a long day; I could not believe  the number of hills or coulees that I had ridden over; I was very tired and very dehydrated. There was no way that my water bottle would be sufficient to the end of  the ride, especially as the temperature closed in on 90 degrees.

So I did the next best thing, in the Rest Area, I went from traveler to traveler to see if anyone had extra water I could buy. One group was willing to load me up with as much water as I wanted, but water is also heavy. With many more hills to climb, I settled on two  bottles of water. They refused payment.

You just cannot imagine how dis-spiriting it is to finally get to the top of the last hill........., and see 4 or 5 more.  Then 4 or 5 more after those.

I began to wonder if I would finish. So I stopped and prayed for strength and endurance. Jesus, in II Corinthians, promises that in our weakness God will show His power. Since I was feeling weaker and weaker, this might be a good time to fulfill your promise Lord. And He did. There was no burst of energy, just enough to make it over each hill.

About 14 miles before getting to Circle, I realized that I was through the tough part. The road sloped gently downward, with only a couple of hills to finish.

Around 4 PM, I reached my motel, 68 miles and 9 hours and 15 minutes after departure.

The total number of hills was 65! (Technically 63 hills and 2 coulees)

Tomorrow, a 50 mile ride to Glendive, may instead be a rest day. I want to worship in the morning, but there is supposed to be major tailwinds in the afternoon. If so, I will take advantage of them. The following day I will be in North Dakota.

A sleepy blessing to you all. 

Sleeping in a tent takes time to get used to, so, since this is only my second overnight in a tent this trip, I did not sleep well. Of course it was chilly when I woke up. A typical driving force to get up for a man my age, is the need the bathroom. The lack of that need spoke to the possibility that I may be dehydrated.

After devotions, I started packing the panniers, rolling up the air mattress and sleeping bag, and attaching them to the bike. The tent came last. With the ground cloth still damp, I thought it a good idea to let it dry out, while I checked to see if the proprietor was back. She was.

She showed me several items that could be heated up to eat. I chose pizza. And 3 milks. And coffee. Aah.

On the road, it was exactly like yesterday afternoon. Hill after hill, but finally the town of Jordan. This town had  lost power last Friday, the same night of the thunderstorm and hail when I was camping in Augusta. Jordan was without power for over 3 days. Fortunately, they have it now.

The motel allowed me to check in early, thankfully. I walked through the town, had lunch, picked up supplies, and finally, to the relief of the townspeople, I showered. 

How can some bicycler tourers go for days without bathing? Yuck. Getting the accumulated dirt and sweat off feels so much better.

Tomorrow is the next new challenge. 68 miles of the same grind: hill after hill after hill. Very sparce amenities, so I will have to carry lunch. It is supposed to be hot. What is there to look forward to? Its completion.

The good news for today, besides the fact that it was only 32 miles, is that I finally passed the 1,000 mile threshhold. It is less than 25% of the way, but it is a tangible landmark, hopefully the first of many.  

Today's ride to Winnet should not be hard. There was a climb going out of Lewistown, for 8 miles, then a downhill grade for the balance of the ride. The climb might take a couple of hours but the rest will make up for it.

At 7:45 AM, I left Lewistown.

The climbing started soon, but it was a gentle climb, one that could be made in a higher gear for an extra couple of miles per hour. Occasionally, I would have to gear way down, but not often. There were several "chain up" areas, indicating that the climb to the summit was about to begin.

Suddenly, I was over the top, and going downhill...fast! Only an hour had passed, and I was already over the harder part. And, man, was I flying. I was averaging 18-20 mph. When I took a break 25 miles into the 53 mile ride, I understood. I had a tailwind assisting me. A 10-15 mph tailwind is significant.

I arrived in Winnet before noon, and not feeling tired. Hmm, what if I went further? What lodging possibilities were there? Every extra mile ridden today was one less mile for tomorrow. Aha! There was a Bed and Breakfast/campground 23 miles further. It was a mile off the road, but if they were too expensive, I would camp. The only problem was that I only got a recording when I called, but I was determined to land there and likely camp.

Several miles from the B&B was a rest area. I refilled my water bottle, just in case. The constant hills were tiring, but I was surprised how good I felt. Finally I reached the driveway. An old faded sign, barely legible, announced it. The drive was gravel, and was okay until it went up steeply. Too steeply. I would have to walk the bike up that hill, so I checked my map, and found another place to camp up the road. Turning around, I went back to the highway, heading further east.

The trouble is that I had ridden over 70 miles, and this new location would put me over 90 miles. The map said they offered food, which I am sure would be welcome.

The rest of the ride seemed interminable. Every time I crested a hill, there was another one or two. Just when I thought I must be getting close to my destination, a highway sign announced it was another 7 miles. I was getting dangerously close to 100 miles.

Finally, I saw it down the hill on the left. Sand Springs was really just one builing, and it was closed. Now what? I am out of water and the next place to stay is 32 miles up the road, too far in my weakened condition.

First of all, it did not look like the store was closed petmanently. I had arrived after it closed for the day. Secondly, my bicycle map said that camping would be behind the building. I walked behind, picked a spot, set up set up the tent, left a not for the proprietor that I would settle up in the morning, drank several bottles of water, and retired into the tent.

Strange as it may sound, I was not hungry. I had several freeze dried meals along with a backpacking stove, but I did not want to chance a fire in the stiff wind , especially when I was unsure if it was okay to even be there. Besides the idea of food did not appeal to me.

So I ate two Power Bars, and settled in for the night. During devotions, I pondered how God had strengthened me, and enabled me to ride for 99 miles today, 40 of which was a grind. Thank you, Lord. 

There are still a number of days left in Montana, but, by my reckoning, there are two back-to-back days that will be very taxing. In three days, a 75 mile trip to Jordan will be very difficult, with few places to get food or water. The next day would be 68 miles, with similar terrain: up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, etc. After that things will get easier.

Unlike in a vehicle, a bicycler has to pay close attention to overnight accommodations or camping, and access to food and water. Thus, in plotting out a reasonable short term itinerary, today's ride will be only 39 miles, then a 53 miler, then two tough days of 75 and 68 miles, respectively.  It was the terrain, not the distance of those last two days that were of concern.

After the scare of being caught in a violent storm yesterday, I am very happy to have only 39 miles to contend with today. It should get me into a major town, Lewistown (with a population over 5,000) fairly early. Another thunderstorm is expected in the evening. It would be nice to not have to deal with it.

It felt cold this morning. For the first time this trip, I donned winter clothing for the day. Heavy woolen socks. Long sleeved undergarment. Head band to cover the ears. Thick, heavy winter bicycling gloves. Rain jacket and rain pants. This was a case of rare good judgement on my part. Yes, it rained part of the time, but I was very comfortable.

The scenery is changing again. The trees are back. This is beautiful country with lots of rivers and streams.

Lewistown, as a municipality in the area, had all the stores not normally found in most towns, such as Albertsons grocery. Since I got into town early, I went into Albertsons and purchased some bananas and Power Bzrs.

Tomorrow is a 53 mile ride to Winnet, then two grinding days. I hope it goes well.