It was a one mile climb out of the valley that nestled our little cowboy town.  And so it goes for our ride today, non-stop rolling hills.  Clouds remained from the overnight thunder/rain storm, the dampness and overcast keeping it cool at 58°.  We had a mild wind in our face that we hoped would not become a problem.  In less than an hour, the sun started to clear the sky and light the land. Still amazed with the contrast in the Bad Lands; hills that look like every ounce of liquid has been drained out of them, topped with lush pines. Oh, how we miss the pine filled forest and smells of the mountains.  But the Painted Canyon below our road and these hills were fascinating.  Almost immediately as we dropped from the crest of our 2800 foot hill, the fields flattened outnot our roads, however.

Half way through our ride we stopped for breakfast, pancakes bursting with blueberries and thick sliced bacon (Montana and North Dakota do good bacon).  As we walked out of the restaurant a cold wind almost knocked us over.  Our nice break over cakes and coffee gave the wind time to build to the forecasted 20 mph in our face.

Rolling hills and a stiff headwind were a tough combination.  Just as the topography changed, so did our sky.  To our south and in front of us, the sky was a beautiful blue, but to the north, the storm that had kept it’s distance, started moving in.A beautiful combination but we were in no condition to try to outrun a storm.  We tried to not worry about the dark clouds and take in the sights.Fortunately, the front of the storm appeared to move ahead and pass us, thankfully unscathed.

As we reached the edge of town, stopping to check what direction to go for our hotel, we met Dave (originally from Wisconsin, but now in Dickinson). We chatted for a long time about our common interests, biking and volleyball; shame we didn’t meet him over a beer, it would have been a longer conversation.  Another quick stop at the grocery store and Jerry discusses farming and politics with another local.He informed us we had just missed a gully washer; guess we really lucked out on that storm.  By the time we checked into our hotel around two, the temperature had not reached seventy.  Heading in for a hot shower and a rest from our long, hard, uphill, wind-your-face 40 mile day.

Malta, Montana to Dickinson, North Dakota

340 miles.

Time Zone Change.

We walked out to a cold (58°), damp, windy and gray morning.  The fog was so thick you could not see top of the cell towers.   The relentless wind made it that much colder, even as we pedaled up the hills.  We had a difficult time staying warm enough, even the horses huddled together to keep warm..  We took few pictures of the gray morning with our heads bent against the wind; note the tree and wheat are bending too.We had short breaks from the wind in the small towns we biked through, protected by the few buildings that lined the one block streets.  At our halfway point, we ducked into Clara’s kitchen for some breakfast.  It was a no-frills place, but we were happy to be out of the wind.  What we did not expect was the best (and probably largest) omelet we’ve ever had. It was a great stop.  An hour later when we finally got moving again, the sun had come out and it was 15° warmer, the wind however, was still howling in our face.For a few miles after our late breakfast, our course turned enough that the wind was not directly in our face; we enjoyed looking around and the slightly more relaxing ride, even had time to chat with the cows.The sun had totally cleared the sky of clouds and really started to heat the day.  Our last 15 miles was head on into the wind, so we were eager to chat with Max from Vermont as he was sailing by with the wind.  By the time we got to our stop at 2:30, it had reached 91°; such a contrast in temperatures from this morning.

Just about dinner time a storm blew in, complete with hail and a tornado warning/watch.  So we poured a glass of wine and watched the storm from the enclosed patio of our delightful B & B.  The storm passed quickly and we were able to make it to dinner, before the one “restaurant” closed.Not a bad ending to a 53 mile day.

A very crisp (55°), yet sunny morning; perfectly gorgeous. We were looking forward to the NNW wind change, that we were able to enjoy for about a half mile. For five miles we biked directly into the wind, reminding us who was boss.  In the half hour it took us to reach the interstate, the clouds had poured in and we hoped they were not arriving early for the predicted afternoon storm.  We had a 13 mile stretch along the interstate; not really much of a “rush hour” in this part of the country.  We rolled along with the traffic,enjoying the surroundings.The strange “bumps” of the North Dakota land reappearedand continued to intrigued us.Despite the very cool temperatures, it was a gorgeous day.  The colors of the fields were surreal…..way too many pictures, but the vistas were very captivating.We rode the ribbons of roads through the countryside; even with the ‘off the shoulder’ push, we still worked for every numerous hill we climbed.Ten miles before town our course became completely flat.  Crossing the Missouri River for the second time on this trip, our course provided a bike path into the Capital City.  Strange to bike into the capital of the state and find a small town, but then the entire state of North Dakota has a smaller population than Virginia Beach.  Beautiful ride today, not without work for our 57 miles, but so comfortable.  It was 73° when we checked in to our hotel….the high for the day.

It was overcast when we left, but since there was no wind, the 55° did not feel that chilly and it kept the morning cool.  So refreshing to ride not only along a tree-lined street but a bike path for the seven miles stretch out of town. As we came to the end of the bike path, we climbed a hill and said goodbye to civilizationas we headed out to the country.About an hour into the ride, we picked up a mild headwind; not that tough, but takes it’s toll after miles and miles and hours and hours on the bike.  The road was straight, but rolling, non-stop rolling, but the vistas….Fabulous. Today’s ride is what Jerry always refers to (in running terms) as LSD, long, slow, distance, as that is what we did, all day.  We enjoyed the sights as we plodded alongthe Lawrence Welk Highway, yes, had to take a picture as I would not have believed it either.Marck, if you are watching, this one’s for you; we know how much you enjoyed our corn pictures before.Close to 50 miles we came to the only town that offered a re-charge and dragged ourselves in for food and water.  It was a great one hour break.  After lunch we had the country road almost to ourselves.  For 26 miles, we maybe saw a dozen cars and Scott (from Santa Barbara) biking from NYC back home.  We chatted with him until the sun came out and really made the day hot. We had been spoiled with the cool overcast skiesbut the sun offered nice views, too. Our approach into town was over a land bridge, which gave a different look than we’d seen previously.Bobby T. this is the closest we could come to swans, for you.Made it to our Mozy Motel by 4:30; it was a long 75 mile day with eight hours on the bike seat but a good day.

We have a short ride today, so we slept in then pedaled the half mile into town to have breakfast with the locals. Took us about an hour to get out of there, speaking with just about everyone.  When we finally pulled away at ten, we had a clear sky, warm sun and cool breeze from the northwest.  The sky quickly filled with white fluffy clouds contrasting the crystal blue sky.We saw this in the distance and thought it may be a wagon train, but it was just dinosaurs.

Yesterday’s large old growth trees, today gave way to pondsand lakesat the bottom of every dip in the hills.And of course, there was the gorgeous pastureland that stretched on forever.

We meet Kory from Cleveland and M.J. from Cary, NC, doing a benefits of cycling awareness ride, coast to coast; check it out at www.SpokesforGreen.com

About mile 20, we had to turn north for a ten mile stretch; not as much fun as the first twenty, but manageable for the ten we endured.  At 4o miles, we coasted into town at 2:00, famished from no lunch, but in these small towns, restaurants (if they have any) close between lunch and dinner.  We settled for an ice cream sandwich and beer.  Made up for lunch at dinner; real home cooking of ham and scalloped potatoes and more choices of desserts than should be legal.  Think we sufficiently carbo-loaded for tomorrow’s long ride.  A goodnight and Big thank you to our hosts, Jason and Ginny, of The Honey Hut.

Our early start for our long ride this morning was put on hold with the crackle of thunder and the rain pelting on the window.  So we had a cup of cappuccino and blueberry muffin and slowly packed our bags.  When we finally walked out of the door at seven, we were surprised how warm the humid 60° felt.  The storm, still very present but no lightening/thunder, was pushing a lot of wind. We enjoyed riding it’s coattails as we sailed down the road.  The recent storm and overcast skies seemed to bring out the animals.  We watched ducks skipping on the ponds, deer enjoying the cornfields and chipmunks scurrying for cover as we passed.  And the storm presented an ever changing IMax show, with special effects, like rain! We knew it was going to hit us, we just didn’t know for how long or just how bad.  Even the ten minute downpour that finally caught us was tolerable; amazing what a 15 mph tailwind will do to your perspective; wind AND the flattest roads we’ve seen in 35 days.  It was a glorious day to ride.Besides the sky show, we had our regular set of characters like pretty barns, reflective ponds and endless fields.We crossed the James River today, and since we knew no one would believe us, we had to take a picture of the sign.Sometime mid-morning we met Mike, Georgie (his wife and sag-wagon driver) and Quincy (guide dog in-training)from Asheville, NC riding for several causes.  The “boys” were excited to find two 70 year OLD men biking across country.  It was a shame the three of them were heading in the other direction as it would have been fun to share more time together.  Before noon, our skies became crystal clear accented by the billowy white clouds.Fifteen miles before town we had a wonderful fly-down into Little Yellowstone Park, but of course, had to climb back out.  But that hill (1500 foot elevation) and the two hills first thing in the morning was all we had to tackle today.  Even with our later start, we managed to check in by 2:30, five and a half hours in the saddle and 77.5 miles, which includes our mile and a half roundtrip to dinner.  Justin, you would be proud, we had three plates of Thai food….yum, yum!