Day 44: North Dakotan Schadenfreude

Hazen, ND to Killdeer, ND

Stats!
Miles biked today: 60.0
Total miles biked on trip so far: 1734.0
Max speed: 30.5 mph
# of time zones crossed: 1 (we are in Mountain time tonight!)
# of minutes the "45 minute wait" took at the Cenex gas station: 1
# of 18-wheelers encountered per mile of riding: 9 (our guess is appx 550)
# of 18-wheelers that threw rocks at us from 70 mph: 12 (ouch!)

Right before I woke up this morning, I had a dream where I was actually waking up at my parents' house. I got up, put on jeans and a cute shirt, put on makeup, fixed my hair and went downstairs. There I found my whole family plus Dean's family. It was a beautiful day and we were all just hanging out on the back deck, talking. It was really nice.

Then I woke up, and I was in the "Roughrider Motor Motel," the least fine establishment in Hazen, North Dakota. I greased up my padded shorts, put on my cleanish bike top, slung my dried out hair into a ponytail, and once again climbed on the bike, sore butt and all. SIGH.

After yesterday's debacle, we really needed a perfect bike day. We didn't get it, but we did get a major improvement on yesterday. I'll take it!

What I've found interesting, is the devilish gleam in the eye of many a North Dakotan when delivering (often totally incorrect) bad news to us, with a note of gen-u-whine sympathy in their voices. Today alone, we heard:

"Oh, Killdeer, huh? Terrible hills out there."

"The wind is going to be really, really bad today."

"Killdeer's an oil boom town. You'll never find a place to stay, not even a place to set up your tent."

"Oh those tractor trailers are horrible on route 200 by Killdeer!"

"The place is so busy that if you even want to just buy something at the gas station, it's a 45-minute wait."

"If you want to avoid Killdeer you'll have to go the long way, because 22 is washed out."

"Oh, if only I could take you there in my pickup. Too bad I'm working."

"Killdeer is an oil boom town, so it's really expensive."

All of this was said in just a little bit too kind of tones, as if to say, "You poor things," but I got the feeling everyone warning us of woe was really enjoying themselves.

We left Hazen expecting a terrible day (after a few conversations with locals), and by the time we were 25 miles into the day, we were sure we'd have to do at least 90 miles to get past horrible Killdeer, with nowhere to stay the night and no food to eat. That is, assuming the tractor trailers didn't mow us down first or the wind didn't blow us over.

The first 30 miles of the ride were an absolute delight! The wind wasn't exactly with us, but it wasn't against us, and we rode along at a nice clip. We stopped for lunch at the Saddle Sore Saloon (so appropriate!) in Golden Valley. We had a lot of fun with that.

After those first 30, the wind picked up (side wind) and we had a harder time getting up the hills. It's true that it was hilly for North Dakota, and the hills were steepish, but they were all pretty doable. And is was windy, but the wind wasn't a headwind, so that was okay. And there were a ton of tractor trailers, but they gave us room. The ones that spit rocks at us couldn't help it, but those rocks sure did sting!

We decided to get to Killdeer and at least try to get some food since there were no other nearby towns, and try to figure out if there was a place we could stay. The very moment we got into town, we saw a campground with free spaces, which is where we're staying. Dean went to the (dreaded 45-minute wait) gas station to get us Gatorades, and came out a minute later. We set up the tent, had some lovely showers, and went to get promptly served and reasonably priced dinner.

Anyway, tomorrow we hope to get about another 60, but as ever it will depend on the weather and terrain and such. The laptop is losing charge and we don't have a strong signal, so I'll have to upload pics tomorrow, and be grateful that we could even post tonight!