Day started off pretty calm. Almost no wind. Unusual for North Dakota. Rode about 50 miles and then the wind began to pick up. In my face of course. I have been told that the nice Easterly winds in North Dakota are just supposed to blow me across the state. But so far that has not happened. All the wind I have seen has been blowing toward the West and I am going East. If anyone has any connections with the North Dakota “Wind-Meister” I certainly would appreciate a good word. BLOW EAST. Anyway, I struggled the rest of the afternoon but I finally got to Minot and found a campground. 
I saw some interesting things again. Lots of hay, wheat, fields, and rolling hills. Began to see lots of Sunflowers which are very pretty. There is some type of insect here that I don’t seem to be able to see and they bite me and it does not feel very good. I don’t know what they are. Perhaps they are “No See Um’s”. I don’t like them much.
Saw some more little green snakes and I’m starting to see Oil Rigs now.
About 10 miles out of Minot, the shoulders got pretty narrow and rough and I was tired and slowly grinding my way up a hill toward town. I was breathing pretty hard (I seem to do a lot of that these days) and my mouth was open trying to get some air. An insect of some type (I didn’t really get a good look at it) flew into my mouth and before I could spit it out it stung the inside of my lower lip. My lip swelled up pretty good and it has not felt that great for a couple of days now. Whaaa, Whaaa, please pass the cheese to go with my whine. Anyway, I guess it serves me right. Lori has been telling me for 30 years that if I would just keep my mouth shut more often, I wouldn’t get into so much trouble. Well there you have it. If I would have just listened to Lori once again, I would not have gotten stung on the inside of my lip by some flying creature which will probably give me a bad case of Dengue Fever or something. Whaaa, Whaaa, please pass the cheese.
I have passed up a lot of road treasures in the last two days. Nice bungee cords, two nice new chain hooks, a nearly new tractor wagon pin, tie down straps, a blond chick, tow straps. This trip has been rough.
Aug 22, 2009. Minot to Rugby. 70 miles.
A lot of wind today. Again in my face. I was pretty worn out when I got to Rugby. I am now in the “GEOGRAPHICAL CENTER OF NORTH AMERICA”. I ran out of water about 20 miles before Rugby and finally drug myself into a little town called “Towner” to get something to drink. I was standing outside the door and this elderly lady came out and looked at me and said,” Are you bucking headwinds?”. I said; “yes”. She said “YUK” and without saying another word turned around and got in her car and drove off. I have to say, I do agree with her. Headwinds are YUK. I continue to wait for those nice Easterly Winds which I haven’t seen yet in North Dakota. A local man said the winds almost always come from the North West which would be ok with me, but today they came from the South East all day long. They are going to kill me.
Picked up my first Chick on the side of the road. A nice blond babe. I had her in the palm of my hand but I knew it would make Lori mad if she found out I was picking up girls on this trip (especially blond ones) so I put I put her back on the shoulder of the road and left her there. Someone else will have to give her a ride. I did take a nice picture of her before I went on down the road though. 
I found a nice little camp ground to stay at for $12 and they have a shower and bathroom. The church is 31 miles away and I could not find anyone to give me a ride and I am too tired to ride my bike 31 miles to church and then back again so I didn’t go today.
I lost my reading glasses. That stinks. I think I left them in the gas station in Towner. I went in the store to buy a Gatorade and I saw all these energy drinks on the shelf next to the Gatorade. I was pretty low on energy and I have never had one of those energy drinks so I got my glasses to read the label. Just what makes an Energy Drink? Well the Rock Star Energy drinks average between 80 and 120 mg of caffeine in them and the Monster Energy drinks has anywhere from 160 to 360 mg of caffeine in them. Compare that to a can of Coke with about 35 to 40 mg of caffeine in it. Well I can see why those drinks make you feel something. 350 mg of caffeine would give me a boost I imagine but I didn’t think I really needed the caffeine so I bought a Gatorade and ate a mini BBQ chicken pizza which was miss-marked and turned out to be a Taco Pizza. Oh well I like Tacos too I guess. I think I left my glasses in the store. Dang it.
Several people I know that have ridden bicycles a lot, have told me that if I can just hang in there for 3 weeks I will be ok and will be in good shape and the ride will be fine. Well here is my summary of that idea. I have now lasted three weeks. My legs appear to me to be slightly bigger than they were when I started this trip, but I don’t think it is because I have more muscles in them. I think they are just swollen from all the pain I have caused them. My Rear End I believe is tougher than it was when I started this trip, but it still hurts all day long. Riding a bike for 12 hours a day sitting on a 2 X 4 just does not feel that good and I don’t care how long you take to get used to it. I have seen a lot of men riding with a “Brooks” touring bicycle seat and I don’t know if that feels any better, but my rear hurts a lot. However, it feels better than it did the 1st 2 weeks so I guess that is a good thing.
I think the next time I try and ride across America on a bike it will be a Honda Gold Wing or a Harley or perhaps even one of those little girly BMW’s.
Fields of Green
Sleeping Weasel or something
Later, Dan
About 10 miles out of Minot, the shoulders got pretty narrow and rough and I was tired and slowly grinding my way up a hill toward town. I was breathing pretty hard (I seem to do a lot of that these days) and my mouth was open trying to get some air. An insect of some type (I didn’t really get a good look at it) flew into my mouth and before I could spit it out it stung the inside of my lower lip. My lip swelled up pretty good and it has not felt that great for a couple of days now. Whaaa, Whaaa, please pass the cheese to go with my whine. Anyway, I guess it serves me right. Lori has been telling me for 30 years that if I would just keep my mouth shut more often, I wouldn’t get into so much trouble. Well there you have it. If I would have just listened to Lori once again, I would not have gotten stung on the inside of my lip by some flying creature which will probably give me a bad case of Dengue Fever or something. Whaaa, Whaaa, please pass the cheese.
I have passed up a lot of road treasures in the last two days. Nice bungee cords, two nice new chain hooks, a nearly new tractor wagon pin, tie down straps, a blond chick, tow straps. This trip has been rough.
Aug 22, 2009. Minot to Rugby. 70 miles.
A lot of wind today. Again in my face. I was pretty worn out when I got to Rugby. I am now in the “GEOGRAPHICAL CENTER OF NORTH AMERICA”. I ran out of water about 20 miles before Rugby and finally drug myself into a little town called “Towner” to get something to drink. I was standing outside the door and this elderly lady came out and looked at me and said,” Are you bucking headwinds?”. I said; “yes”. She said “YUK” and without saying another word turned around and got in her car and drove off. I have to say, I do agree with her. Headwinds are YUK. I continue to wait for those nice Easterly Winds which I haven’t seen yet in North Dakota. A local man said the winds almost always come from the North West which would be ok with me, but today they came from the South East all day long. They are going to kill me.
Picked up my first Chick on the side of the road. A nice blond babe. I had her in the palm of my hand but I knew it would make Lori mad if she found out I was picking up girls on this trip (especially blond ones) so I put I put her back on the shoulder of the road and left her there. Someone else will have to give her a ride. I did take a nice picture of her before I went on down the road though. 
I found a nice little camp ground to stay at for $12 and they have a shower and bathroom. The church is 31 miles away and I could not find anyone to give me a ride and I am too tired to ride my bike 31 miles to church and then back again so I didn’t go today.
I lost my reading glasses. That stinks. I think I left them in the gas station in Towner. I went in the store to buy a Gatorade and I saw all these energy drinks on the shelf next to the Gatorade. I was pretty low on energy and I have never had one of those energy drinks so I got my glasses to read the label. Just what makes an Energy Drink? Well the Rock Star Energy drinks average between 80 and 120 mg of caffeine in them and the Monster Energy drinks has anywhere from 160 to 360 mg of caffeine in them. Compare that to a can of Coke with about 35 to 40 mg of caffeine in it. Well I can see why those drinks make you feel something. 350 mg of caffeine would give me a boost I imagine but I didn’t think I really needed the caffeine so I bought a Gatorade and ate a mini BBQ chicken pizza which was miss-marked and turned out to be a Taco Pizza. Oh well I like Tacos too I guess. I think I left my glasses in the store. Dang it.
Several people I know that have ridden bicycles a lot, have told me that if I can just hang in there for 3 weeks I will be ok and will be in good shape and the ride will be fine. Well here is my summary of that idea. I have now lasted three weeks. My legs appear to me to be slightly bigger than they were when I started this trip, but I don’t think it is because I have more muscles in them. I think they are just swollen from all the pain I have caused them. My Rear End I believe is tougher than it was when I started this trip, but it still hurts all day long. Riding a bike for 12 hours a day sitting on a 2 X 4 just does not feel that good and I don’t care how long you take to get used to it. I have seen a lot of men riding with a “Brooks” touring bicycle seat and I don’t know if that feels any better, but my rear hurts a lot. However, it feels better than it did the 1st 2 weeks so I guess that is a good thing.
I think the next time I try and ride across America on a bike it will be a Honda Gold Wing or a Harley or perhaps even one of those little girly BMW’s.
Fields of Green
Sleeping Weasel or something
Later, Dan
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