North Dakota, a Beautiful place to ride!

I had spent more time with friends along the way than I initially planned and by the time I reached mid Minnesota I discovered that I was running behind and decided to modify my route a bit. Originally my plan was to go through South Dakota, (en-route to the Black Hills,) and then take a jaunt through Wyoming (en-route to Yellowstone) before turning north into Montana. While in Minnesota I decided to cut out South Dakota and Wyoming and head directly west along Rt. 2 (I spent the vast majority of the trip riding on Route 2.)

Before I began my ride I remember thinking that the Dakota's would be the most boring part of the trip, I grew up in farm country surrounded by corn and soy bean fields and though these things are pleasant to look at in moderation I wasn’t looking forward to the imagined days on end of boring plains riding. I had envisioned endless flat roads with grass and wheat as far as the eye could see, I also imagined unbearable heat… Like many other times on this trip my preconceived notions proved to be incorrect, much to my pleasant surprise.

Instead of long, boring and flat roads surrounded by fields of monotone colored wheat I instead found arrow straight and gently rolling roads traversing wetlands, 400 acre fields of bright yellow dandelions and amber waves of grain for as far as the eyes could see. I was amazed at the variety of wildlife I saw, and I had no idea that there were so many wetlands in North Dakota. I saw dozens of species of birds along the road, many I’d never seen before. As for that expected heat, the days were very pleasant with an average of around 75F, mostly sunny but with ever present billowy clouds floating and an occasional drizzle or downpour. I will admit that it was a very windy state, but also noticed that I had as many tailwinds as I had headwinds. The wind seemed to blow from the east in the AM and the south west in the PM.

I truly enjoyed the sights along this part of the trip and that surprised me. After the trip concluded I was taken to task by a gentleman I met in North Dakota, he was a little miffed that all I had mentioned about North Dakota (at that point) was the mosquitoes. I understand why he was miffed, every bicycle travelogue I had ever read regarding North Dakota said the same thing; boring fields, straight flat roads and wind, wind, wind. I guess it’s a matter of perspective, but truth be told I found North Dakota to be a pleasing state to ride across, and I look forward to my return to Minot to continue my adventure.

The Red River of the North
My bike felt like a rocket as I rode towards the North Dakota border, I averaged 19mph thanks to a powerful SSE tailwind pushing me along. As I arrived at the border and saw the “Red River of the North” sign that old cowboy song by the same name immediately filled my head, the line “Do not hasten to bid me adieu, but remember the Red River Valley” repeated itself in my head over and over.

It should be noted that the song “Red River” is in fact about the Red River Valley of the North, it was known to be sung by Canadian cowboys long before the wranglers of Texas borrowed the tune, though many Southern friends may still argue the point.

Since I can remember I have always drawn a line in my mind regarding where the West begins, I also know that for some unxplained reason I am and always have been drawn to points North. Even though the Red River of the South is the more famous of the sister rivers and North Dakota is technically considered part of the Midwest I’ve always thought of the Red River of the North as the northern entry way to the west. I felt a little bit like a cowboy as my trusty steel steed crossed over that river of western lore.

The Mosquito Myth is True!
We’ve all heard the stories about mosquitoes swarming people and turning arms, legs and even faces black due to the thickness of a swarm… And the horror stories of being covered with endless itching bumps… Well folks, it’s not a myth!

I pulled into Turtle Creek State Park after a wonderful day of riding and I was very much looking forward to a relaxing afternoon and evening. Because I had ridden so fast thanks to the above mentioned tailwind I was early getting into camp… In my mind as I rode up to the primitive camping sites (which are also much less costly!) I envisioned a hot shower and a cold soda while I relaxed and made daily entries into my journal. But sometimes things just don’t go as planned.

Riding into the primitive campsite area I spied a wonderful spot near the back, I had heard that strong thunderstorms were forecast for the evening so I choose a protected spot. I could hear a creek burbling and there was no one around. Sure it was a little hot, maybe 98F or so and even a little humid but I was sure that wouldn’t last.

I pedaled up to my chosen spot, hopped off the bike and started to detach my gear and lay it out neatly on the picnic table but within 30 seconds of stepping off the bike a very unpleasant thing happened… My arms, legs, neck and face, every single bit of exposed skin turned dark black from a swarm of mosquitoes! In a minor panic I rifled through the side pockets of my panniers searching desperately for my Off, the tent was still in its sack so I couldn’t escape there… It probably took less than 20 seconds to locate and begin applying the Off but it seemed like an eternity. Those darn things were up my nose, in my mouth, in my ears, biting through my cycling shorts, they were EVERYWHERE! After a shower followed by the application of a considerable amount of Deep Woods Off and a stroll to a concrete pavilion I managed to keep the pesky buggers somewhat at bay, I would find out later that any attempt to abate these miniature vampires was a futile effort.

Around 7:30pm a nice young fellow named Tim from Grand Forks set up camp a few sites from me, he arrived in a truck but was riding a touring bike around camp, we ended up chatting and then made a nice smoky fire to chase away the skeeters. He was a nice guy, currently in the Air Force but soon going to dental school.

Throughout the evening we found that our liberal and constant use of Off was no match for the skeeters, worse yet we were in a valley and the 95F+ temps stayed with us into sunset, with that my new friend decided to pack up his gear and head back home to the comfort of air conditioning and no bugs! Throughout the night I laid on my sleeping sheet dripping wet, I tried everything to keep cool and to stop sweating but nothing was going to work… After a restless night I broke camp at 5:30am and headed west.