Bicycle Tours

From: Minot, North Dakota
To: Stanley, North Dakota
Mileage: 57




Headwinds, but only 10mph so not that bad!

Minot was built on a hill, in the middle of hills, so this morning we had to climb out of the hills. These hills aren't bad at all. With the advice of the guys at Scheels, we stayed on Route 2 and will follow Route 2 into Montana. Adventure Cycling has you go south and then west on Route 1804 but there are even less services then staying on Route 2. The highway turns into a 2-lane road about 10 miles outside of Minot, but there is a wide shoulder and very little traffic. North Dakotans are very courteous drivers so we feel very safe.

We met Craig (traveling from Seattle to Akron Ohio) riding his bike when we were about 30 miles from Stanley. Another nice person, out for a long bike ride; he seemed to be in his late twenties. After trading road, weather, lodging, and general touring information (about 30 minutes) we said our goodbyes and good lucks and rode away. After our meeting with Craig, again, I thanked the Rear Admiral for coming with me on this journey. It must be hard to ride a long tour, solo.

Just outside of Minot, the landscaped changed. Very hilly grass lands with ranches. It really made us feel like we've finally arrived in the "west"! Today we saw only one field of corn. We have seen cornfields every day on this trip so we really must finally be leaving the farmland behind. This afternoon again the landscape changed to rolling hills with dryer grasslands, where horses, cattle and barbed wire rule the day. We are NOT in Montana yet, but we are definitely in Big Sky country. We can see for miles and miles and miles (just like song says).

During our afternoon, we toured downtown Stanley (population 982, maybe). Asked everyone we met the same two questions: 1. Were is the best place in town for breakfast? Everyone answer by saying Joyce's cafe. 2. What time do they open up? A varity of answers - 5:00, 7:00, 8:00, 5:30, 6:00, and I don't know.

Our luxurious accommodations this evening are at the Painted Horse Hotel. Another five star hotel which not only features orange carpeting but special towels to clean you guns, boots, knives, pots, pans, etc.