May 29th, 2007
My trip is now under way, instead of starting in Minot as planned the weather forced me to change plans and take the train 120 miles further west to start in Williston. The weather forecast for Minot over the first week of my trip called for temps in the lower 40's to mid 50's, stong westerly winds and rain, rain and more rain. The forecast turned out to be right on the money!

If all goes well I plan on stopping in Williston on my way back and riding from Willistion to Minot to finish up that part of the tour, I'm sure the weather will be better in late June.

After a long train ride I arrived in Williston at 11:30am on Wednesday to a 43F temp, 20mph NW winds and rain. I spent the night in a motel since Thursday's forecast called for much less rain.

At 6:30pm I was heading out for dinner and I met a fellow pulling into the hotel on a loaded touring bike, when I shook his hand it felt like I had stuck my hand in a bucket of ice water, he and his daughter had rode from Stanley, ND, (a little over 70 miles) in the rain and cold and very strong headwinds. I considered waiting and asking them to join me for dinner but based on the way Jerry looked I knew he'd be spending a long time in a hot shower!

It turns out that Jerry and his daughter Bridgette are riding from Duluth, MN to Glacier NP, Bridgette had just finished college and is starting a job in late June so Dad and daughter are taking a last great adventure together! The 3 of us rode together from Williston, ND to Glascow, MT.

My first day out was cold (43F - wind chill of 30F) and we had a very strong headwind, the hills were a bit harder to climb than I remember them to be but at the start of any trip the first week or two are always tough. Having company turned out to be a blessing, climbing what seemed like an endless number of hills was more enjoyable with company, I'm sure the effect was purely physchological since we had a quartering headwind and couldn't draft on each other.

Continued on the Montana page…

May 15th 2007
For those of you who followed my 2005 Cross Country trip, you know that I ended the trip in Minot, ND, 1400 miles short of my original goal…

Here we are 2 years later in May 2007 and I am preparing to complete my ride! I'll be starting my ride near the end of May and will be riding from Minot, ND to Anacortes, WA Check back soon!

Gary