Bicycle Tours

From: Williston, North Dakota
To: Culbertson, Montana
Mileage: 45




Eerily we rode the 25 miles out of North Dakota without any wind? We didn't think it was possible to be in North Dakota, and have no wind!

Short day today, we wanted to get in early because the temperature will hit 100. Our riding distances per day are based on riding conditions (wind, rain, temperature, climbing or descending), accommodations, food, and attractions. Tomorrow might be a long ride because we are heading through the Fort Peck Indian reservation, and have been told by many locals to be careful. [Mary] I've quizzed Noel repeatedly about the need for concern while crossing some of the Indian Reservations, he is not really sure but he has read journals of cyclist that have had bad experiences. So tomorrow we will hopefully ride our 100 + miles with positive energy and our journal entry will be one of a good experience.

As we were leaving North Dakota, we spotted our first Pronghorn Antelope. He was fascinated with SeeMore, first having a stare down contest then running along side (he was running, we were crawling up from a valley). We also encountered our first buggy area on this trip. It seems like there are not enough birds to control the insect population in the most eastern part of Montana.

We will be in Montana for a long time; the mileage marker as we entered the state said 672 (? I think, but I wasn't paying attention). For many miles, our landscape will not change. So far we are finding it very fascinating, and not boring at all. This is cattle/grass/train country. Long trains go by us with the engineers waving and sounding their train whistles. SeeMore is quite a hit; we have been waving to so many people passing us. The most common wave by a North Dakotan is 3 to 4 fingers raised of the top of the steering wheel. We get peace signs from motorcycles, and thumbs up from truckers! All these just add to the enjoyment of the ride!

We passed another group of eastbound cyclist, six riders. We did not stop, just waved and shouted our greetings in passing. We were pretty sure the group and just come from a rest break and were gaining momentum up a hill. We didn't want to bring them to a stop to chat especially the two guys at the back who looked to be the "Chuck Wagon" carrying the most weight.

This afternoon we visited the Montana museum at the visitor center here in Culbertson. It was a very interesting museum filled with artifacts, photos and memoriabilia from the town and surrounding areas since its founding back in the late 1800's. The ladies at the museum were super nice and made sure we had accommodations at the hotel before we did anything else in town (Thank you). Lunch at the cafe this Sunday was a repeat of last Sunday, it seems that when church gets out everyone heads for the cafe. So a word of advice for small town dining, try to beat the rush and get there before church lets out or you'll find that you only get the left-overs.