Day 26. NORTH DAKOTA Dickinson
75 miles 2.671 feet
It was tricky finding breakfast in small towns on July 4th. I started out with Cheerios and coffee from the Comfort Inn supplemented with bread from last night's dinner, thinking I'd find better options in the next biggest town to the east: Beach ND. But not much there either. I postponed eating till reaching Medora, a tourist destination near the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Along the way I stopped in Sentinel Butte ND (population 61) and bought some snacks. There were 2 very friendly men in the small store and after pleasantries one of the 2 mentioned he would be in Seattle soon to start an Alaskan cruise. So if even a very small town contributes to Seattle's tourism industry it is a good sign.
I was very happy to enter North Dakota after 16 days since entering Montana. North Dakota is about half as wide and the route is a straight line west to east in contrast to the zig-zag route through Montana.
In Medora a man whom I recall seeing in a dune-buggy-like vehicle for dirt roads saw me on my bike and commented, "That looks like a lot of work." We were near the entrance to the Teddy Roosevelt park; one of his favorite quotes is "Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." So what prizes does biking across the country give to me?
And that's the short list.
So my response to the man's comment was "Yes, it's a lot of work but as in life, hard work has rewards." He answered that he didn't think he could do it—not that he didn't want to. (I know better: he could.)
Most people, and this includes myself for the other times I've crossed the country, fly or drive. And those driving use interstates. I have a new perspective on our interstate highway system observing I-94 from a bike. It is in great shape, meticulously maintained. This means that each crack in the pavement is filled with tar, the grass at the side of freeway is mowed regularly, rumble strips are carved out of the pavement, overpasses are constructed. It costs $7 million per mile to do this in rural areas, and $11 million per mile in urban areas. The 10 miles I rode on the freeway after lunch are about the annual budget Seattle spends on bike safety. So as a nation we spend a lot on freeways which are heavily used and a key part of the fabric of America. There are alternatives such as making comparable investments in rail but we are not yet ready for that as a country.
I'm passed on the road by a lot of pickups. The best selling vehicle in North Dakota is the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 which is not cheap: MSRP "from $36,800" with double cab (pictured at the station website) is $40,100. Since the median income in North Dakota is $41,128 this is a sizable expense. (fuelconocmy.gov lists 19-26 mpg so also expensive to operate) There is a lot written on why pickups are so popular but the finances show just how important pickups are to many people. This is from the perspective of someone who lives in a city with a temperate climate in an urban setting and things are very different in North Dakota.
After Medora I stopped at the Painted Canyon Visitor Center to view the panorama of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. it is spectacular, with multicolored layers of eroded canyons and grassy canyon bottoms. With the help of another tourist with binoculars I spotted a bison sleeping in the grass. This scenery deeply affected Teddy Roosevelt and changed his life. There is a great book on his early life, "Mornings on Horseback" by David McCullough (recommended to me by friend Henry Lowe) that describes the dramatic transition in Roosevelt's life that his time in North Dakota brought about.
I continued on the up and down ride to Dickinson ND, an oil boom town with lots of visible new housing. My motel is near the interstate and after some effort I found an open restaurant for a Fourth Of July dinner: Applebee's.
Tomorrow I go east; how far depends on the wind.
It was tricky finding breakfast in small towns on July 4th. I started out with Cheerios and coffee from the Comfort Inn supplemented with bread from last night's dinner, thinking I'd find better options in the next biggest town to the east: Beach ND. But not much there either. I postponed eating till reaching Medora, a tourist destination near the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Along the way I stopped in Sentinel Butte ND (population 61) and bought some snacks. There were 2 very friendly men in the small store and after pleasantries one of the 2 mentioned he would be in Seattle soon to start an Alaskan cruise. So if even a very small town contributes to Seattle's tourism industry it is a good sign.
I was very happy to enter North Dakota after 16 days since entering Montana. North Dakota is about half as wide and the route is a straight line west to east in contrast to the zig-zag route through Montana.
In Medora a man whom I recall seeing in a dune-buggy-like vehicle for dirt roads saw me on my bike and commented, "That looks like a lot of work." We were near the entrance to the Teddy Roosevelt park; one of his favorite quotes is "Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." So what prizes does biking across the country give to me?
- A chance to see the country close up, at slow speed. I've seen a badger, a grizzly, many deer, birds of all kinds, lots of small towns and byways. On a freeway, Hemingway says in Travels With Charley', "it is possible to drive from New York to California without seeing a single thing."
- It is very satisfying to make progress on a bike across such an enormous continent.
- I think it is good for my health. I'm exercising as never before, and am probably as fit as I'll ever be.
- It is fun.
And that's the short list.
So my response to the man's comment was "Yes, it's a lot of work but as in life, hard work has rewards." He answered that he didn't think he could do it—not that he didn't want to. (I know better: he could.)
Most people, and this includes myself for the other times I've crossed the country, fly or drive. And those driving use interstates. I have a new perspective on our interstate highway system observing I-94 from a bike. It is in great shape, meticulously maintained. This means that each crack in the pavement is filled with tar, the grass at the side of freeway is mowed regularly, rumble strips are carved out of the pavement, overpasses are constructed. It costs $7 million per mile to do this in rural areas, and $11 million per mile in urban areas. The 10 miles I rode on the freeway after lunch are about the annual budget Seattle spends on bike safety. So as a nation we spend a lot on freeways which are heavily used and a key part of the fabric of America. There are alternatives such as making comparable investments in rail but we are not yet ready for that as a country.
I'm passed on the road by a lot of pickups. The best selling vehicle in North Dakota is the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 which is not cheap: MSRP "from $36,800" with double cab (pictured at the station website) is $40,100. Since the median income in North Dakota is $41,128 this is a sizable expense. (fuelconocmy.gov lists 19-26 mpg so also expensive to operate) There is a lot written on why pickups are so popular but the finances show just how important pickups are to many people. This is from the perspective of someone who lives in a city with a temperate climate in an urban setting and things are very different in North Dakota.
After Medora I stopped at the Painted Canyon Visitor Center to view the panorama of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. it is spectacular, with multicolored layers of eroded canyons and grassy canyon bottoms. With the help of another tourist with binoculars I spotted a bison sleeping in the grass. This scenery deeply affected Teddy Roosevelt and changed his life. There is a great book on his early life, "Mornings on Horseback" by David McCullough (recommended to me by friend Henry Lowe) that describes the dramatic transition in Roosevelt's life that his time in North Dakota brought about.
I continued on the up and down ride to Dickinson ND, an oil boom town with lots of visible new housing. My motel is near the interstate and after some effort I found an open restaurant for a Fourth Of July dinner: Applebee's.
Tomorrow I go east; how far depends on the wind.
Open or closed? The door was open so I walked in and eventually someone appeared to take my money for my groceries.
One of the 2 men in this very small town grocery was going to Seattle in a few weeks to start an Alaskan cruise.
The North Dakota oil boom is obvious near Dickinson.
The wave like topography is reflected in my trip elevation profile. Each trough means a low gear climb.
The blue dot is me and shows how the thunderstorms missed me by chance. They were traveling from the upper left to the lower right and I was moving left to right.
