7-6-10 Day 31: Devil’s Lake, ND to Fessenden, ND: 66miles in 5:54 hours. Rt 2 west to Rt 20 south to Rt 57 west to Rt 281 south to Rt 15 west.
Whooo. What a day, and I mean awesome scenery and sunshine on the plus side, and just incredible headwind on the negative side. I am one whipped puppy! And I just did 66 miles.
Got an early start at 6:30 AM out of Devil’s Lake and rode into the middle of town and picked up Rt 20 south. The wind was already pretty stiff out of the west. Now Rt 20 bicects Devil’s Lake, running right down dbl shoreline. As soon as I hit the section where the road has lake on both sides …..WHAM ….the westerly just demolished me as a brutal crosswind. Was funny, but on the west side of the road the lake was just whipped up into a frenzy, with wave pounding into the rock barriers as if I were riding along the ocean. On the east side of the road the lake was dead calm. Crazy looking for sure. That crosswind had me creeping along at 6-8 mph, just straining to make headway. Felt like gale force winds for gosh sake.
Then I jcn with Rt 57 west and it got even worse. It was truly punishing dealing with those lake winds as a headwind. That lasted for about 2 very long miles. Then the road kind of hugged the shoreline a bit instead of having right out there in the middle of lakes, and the intensity of the wind was lessened just a tad. So I suffered through that lake section and then continued west as the road left the lakes and up onto a bluff. This lake region is very beautiful – wooded areas surrounding with just awesome lakeshore as far as you can see. This area is all Indian Reservation – Spirit Lake Reservation – and it’s very sad to see some of the squalor and poverty that exists just off of the lake. Some of the homes are pretty much just shacks and shanties.
Again, the wind from the west was pretty stiff despite me being completely off of the lake. About the only thing I can relate to those lake winds are the winds that whip off of Lake Erie in the winter – just as stiff, but not cold. Finally got to Rt 281 and went south, where the wind was a crosswind again. At least there I could pedal at a reasonable 13 mph. BUT…I was in this massive truck corridor where I was being passed by these massive gravel and grain trucks, sometimes 3 at a time. My berm was meager but at least I had a couple feet. And most all of the drivers were cool about going way out of their way when passing me. They were about all the traffic on the road – very little cars in this section. And as I got on that road, I was thinking; “wow, what kind of road did I get myself into?” The scenery on the other hand was like out of the movies, just this massive, wide open stretch of landscape unfolding in front of me. The road was rolling up and down these big hummocks, and along the side of the road were cattle and bison farms. This was the West for sure. Riding alone as I am in a setting such as that kind of made me feel very insignificant. I mean it’s just so massive and expansive, and then there’s little old me pedaling down the road – just a bug on the pavement, a speck on the landscape. A very humbling feeling indeed.
So luckily the truck traffic really ended when I passed these massive gravel pits just before the town of Sheyenne. Once I got through Sheyeene, I was really just enjoying the truck-free ride on the small little berm. Got a good rhythm going despite the crosswind and made some time to the town of New Rockford where I decided to take a coke break. Now my plan for the day was to just ride to Carrington for the day since the distance between towns out here is a pretty major deal in planning where you end the day. So I went into a little convenience store for the coke, and a guy was kind of checking me out. Asked how far I was riding, and I gave him my shpeal. Turns out he’s a rider – has 8 bikes! I like this guy! Anyway, he asked my itinerary so I got out the map and ran my routes past him.
He warned me about going 281 south into Carrington due to the severe truck traffic I’d run into once I make the jcn with Rt 52 and go west on Rt 52 as I work my way to Bismarck. He says 52 is a major truck thoroughfare between Fargo and Minot – and it has no berm. He instead suggested that I take Rt 15 west to the town of Fessenden and overnight there. Said there is a B&B and a small motel. Hey, I’ll take a cyclist’s advice anytime over my desktop intinerary! And that’s the thing about making a route sitting down at your desk and just kind of mapping it out with google maps or mapquest – you just don’t have any info on the berm, the traffic, the condition of the roads. So this gentleman’s advice was well taken.
We talked for a bit more, and he kind of talked in envy of me for doing what I’m doing. I get a lot of that, but on a tough day, a gnarly day where you’re spilling your guts out there trying to make headway, I wonder if they truly grasp that facet of something like this. Oh yea, it’s romantic, and it is very romantic at times, but let me tell you, there are days where you really earn your keep! And THAT is the challenge of doing something like this – enduring those tough days. Those are the ones you remember when all is said and done!
He wished me well and I shoved off, down the road two miles and then right on Rt 15 west. And I knew that this would add 12 miles to my day, in addition to putting me into the eye of the tiger for 24 miles at a time of the day when the wind just is at it’s greatest force. As soon as I made the turn – BANG – right into the headwind. The road was flat, flat, flat, but I could only muster 11 mph at my best. I’d have to stand up and shift down every half mile or so just to stretch my legs out and just to help my poor lower back. It was just crushing at times when the wind would kind of gale, forcing me down to a mere 8-9 mph. There were mile markers on the road and I really had to try NOT to look at them so as to make the time go by without being a marker watcher, and having the time just go in slow motion.
Now the landscape was so flat, and the terrain was so low that these mile markers just stood out like telephone poles, so I’d always see them up ahead, but try not to look at them with the mileage numbers on them. Every once in a while I’d see a number and then have to start playing the game all over again. Those 24 miles went on for over 2 hours! What I had endured in the morning, coupled with this 24-mile stretch just had my legs screaming for mercy. And I mean I was spinning, not mashing, but even spinning was a chore. The last three miles I was looking at the mile markers for sure, I was done, finished, spent, ready to get the hell off of my bike. Got to the city limit sign, past a massive grain complex in the middle of town, and then, like a mirage, there it was – AJ’s Motel. Like a little oasis in the middle of the desert. I’m home!
Again, another efficiency, and just a tad over thirty bucks for the night. Inside the office was off site beer and liquor sales, and I bought an ice cold sixer of Killians right then and there. I have Versus on the cable so I cracked a beer and watched the end of the 3rd tour stage. Took a shower and then pulled up a chair outside me room and just relaxed in the sun. Wow, I mean I was just hammered. So later I rode just several blocks into town and got a pizza at the local pizza parlor – Rosa’s. Got a 14 incher and just barely finished it. Great pizza in a wonderful little town. Very friendly folks out here. Back now in my efficiency and watching rebroadcast of the Tour.
I’m shooting for McClusky, ND tomorrow, about 60 miles, and then Bismarck, another 60-70 miles, for Thursday where I’m really looking forward to meeting several of my cyber-coaching clients, in addition to an IM athlete, Carol, who I’ve met before at one of my indoor cycling classes a couple of years ago. This will be fun to have a bit of company for a day or so. Never been in Bismarck and I’m looking forward to seeing the city.
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