7-9-10 Day 34: Bismarck, ND for an off-day.
Sorry about no blog this morning, but after a really full day of sight-seeing and a whirl wind tour of Bismarck, I was just beat yesterday and bagged it to bed to prep for the ride today. So let me kind of go over my Friday in Bismarck. Now all I had ever really knew of Bismarck is the little blurbs I get from my Bismarck cycber coaching clients about the weather, and it was usually the winter weather they described to me that made me shudder. So I arrived in Bismarck on Thursday and it was about 88 degrees. Then yesterday the temp was about 88-90 degrees. Not the sub zero place I was always hearing about for sure.
Started the morning yesterday by running a group through a “bricklett” workout, which entailed biking, running back to back for 4 reps. I suited up in my cycling gear at 8 AM and rode the 10 miles to a college track with Laura, Carol and Tammy. For me, I was hoping for a noodle to the track, but being Mr. Coach, I wasn’t going to bitch if they were jamming, and I kind of had an idea that they would be riding a good WU as I usually require on the way to the track – be it my rest day or not! And it was not a noodle – thanks Laura!! So we got to this awesome track at the U of M, situated up on this big bluff overlooking the city and the Missouri River. It’s a stunning setting for a workout on a just fabulous sunny day.
We met Ron, Laura’s hubb at the track and he joined in on the workout. I had a total blast coaching them through 4 very solid bricks of like 2 laps around the U on the bike followed by a half mile rep on the track x 4 times. After the workout I was given a cycling tour of parts of the city of Bismarck. This is a really awesome city, and it really reminded me of something like Boulder, CO, a kind of front range place – except that there are no snow covered peaks looming off to the west, just these big rounded bluffs. The cottonwoods were shedding their seeds so much that at times it looked as if it were snowing out on some of the routes we rode on along the Missouri River.
They tell me that all the new housing right down along the river, the cribs that go for a mill or so, they could very well be involved in a very major flood somewhere down the road. They’re putting in marinas next to some of these developments that are just incredible. It’s quite a beautiful place down along the Missouri, but it could be a real mess with one of those 100-year floods. Ended our cycling tour de Bismarck at the top of this bluff where you could really get a bird’[s eye view of the river and the bluffs on the other side. I mean you can literally see for 10,20, 30+ miles out to the west. Just so massively expansive that it’s amazine. Nope, I ain’t in Ohio no more!
Laura and Ron took us out to lunch at a totally dope place. This was the bomb for sure. Laura suggested I get this hot/cold salad plate, but I just wasn’t sure about that one and ordered a Cajun chicken pasta dish that was great. But I’ll tell ya, when that salad dish came out for Laura and Carol, my jaw dropped. That thing was the king of salads, and I’m not talking lettuce and carrots. Nope this thing had damned near the whole garden on it complete with asparagus and olives. Glad I don’t have this restaurant at home cuz I’d be spending a ton of money there!
My tour de Bismarck continued with Carol taking me to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park to check out General Custer’s barracks prior to the infamous “Last Stand” in Montana, and a Mandan Indian village. Pretty cool stuff. We ended the Lincoln State Park gig by going up to these reconstructed lookout towers on a massive bluff that Custer’s troops used to watch the Missouri River for Indian attacks. The view from the tops of these 3-story towers is just off the charts crazy. And the amazing thing was that Friday was like a dead calm day – no wind out of the west. No wind at all! And we’re up there looking at the miles and miles of Great Plains stretching out in every direction, with the Missouri River and Bismarck far below. You could only imagine what this looked like back in 1875 when the troops were standing up here looking out at the millions of acres of grasslands in front of them. With no wind stirring the hot afternoon, it was just so cool to stand up there and listen to nothing but the birds singing and the crickets chirping. Very cool.
Finished the day with a swim in the Missouri River at a place called Double Ditch. I had thought that wading into the Missouri would be like wading into the tepid Pine Creek of PA in the summer. NOT. No, this pup was cold, and it took me about 2-3 min to get the gumption to go for it and dive in. But once I did it felt wonderful. Got to tell you that this is just a fabulously beautiful area, and way beyond what I was expecting way the hell out here in North Dakota. They tell me NOT to tell people about the place – don’t want everyone moving out here! It’s special, and I can totally understand their love for this area – even in the dead of winter when temps can dip to 40 below.
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