Day 36/37 – July 18 and 19, 2015 – Glendive MT – O Day
Glendive MT to Medora – 65 miles
Bumble Bee – Audrey:
We found the problem that caused my flat. It was a metal sliver of a retread tire that slowly made its way into the fancy German tires and punctured my tube. Gregg and I patched it in our hotel room. We crossed our fingers that it would hold.
The rest of the O day we spent relaxing in our hotel room and going to a very special “scary” Dinosaur Museum just across the street from our hotel. I was really excited to go to something touristy. Well we were in for a big surprise, this museum was not really a museum, it was an attempt to indoctrinate us. It was a biblical based explanation of dinosaurs and history based on a creationist philosophy. It was pretty scary, history based on a 4004 yr history. A Noah’s flood story of history. Gregg will probably have more to say about it.
We then went just next door to a delightful and totally free museum about, yes dinosaurs, and pioneer settlements of the area. It was great. There we met 2 women who were traveling West by tandem bicycle. They gave us some tips about where to stay and what to do as we head East. They were taking it slow, as they too were retired.
So we set out early today since we wanted to make over 60 miles to Medora, a tourist town at the edge of Theodore Roosevelt National Park where we wanted to spend an extra day riding our bikes into the NP. It was a great day of riding with mostly frontage roads and a crossing into our 5th state North Dakota. As we headed out I noticed that my tire had lost a significant amount of air – it was down to 30 lbs where normally it should be at 70/80 lbs. We stopped on the Interstate and I pumped it up. Luckily it held for the rest of the day but my fear was that the tube didn’t hold the patch, which concerned me. There was a bike shop in Medora. I thought maybe we could get there before it closed and I could get a new tube (even though I had a spare I thought it would be prudent).
About 25 miles in we got to Wibaux MT where I had hoped to visit the Beaver Creek Brewery. I have been drinking that local beer for about 100 miles. It was pretty good. For about 150 miles before that I was desperate, no micro brews, it was either the usual Buds, Coors, MGBs, or I found the better alternatives were Ranier and Corona. Well, unfortunately the Brewery in a town of about 300 was only open from 2-8pm, it was 11am. Bummer. There was only one other establishment, a family cafe. It didn’t look too good but we though we could get a cold drink and a snack. Well, inside it still looked kind of sketchy. They told us the only thing they were serving was an ALL YOU CAN EAT buffet. Ok, let’s try it. It was the best home cocked food we have had in over 500 miles, or ever on this trip. She made delicious fried chicken, smoked knackwurst with sautéed cabbage that was truly German tasting, corn, potato salad, mashed potatoes with gravy and chocolate cake, and banana cream pie. It was great. What a delight. Thanks you Wibaux! Next time we will stop for the beer.
Well that was our last Montana stop. Hello North Dakota! I still can’t believe I have ridden my bicycle all the way to North Dakota!!. Unbelievable! As soon as we entered this state the countryside drastically changed, buttes, flowing green prairie land, rolling hills, and a sky bigger than Montana’s. The roads were great to ride, we counted about 6 cars in 30 miles. They were in perfect condition too, no pot holes, or weather cracks. Great riding.
We got to Medora in good time, about 4pm, had a beer and were shocked at the tourism of the place. It reminded us of Solvang or Temecula, it was a bit surreal. Since I knew they had a bike shop, we visited. Gregg was skeptical that they would have the tubes we needed. But low and behold, this was the best little bike shop on the prairie. It had everything. The couple running it were also cool, seemed like they would have fit in Portland OR more that somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Got a tube and had Laurel install it. They couldn’t find any problem with our patched tube but, hey, I thought better safe than sorry. They were a delight and I would recommend them to any and all. Worth a stop at the Dakota Cyclery in Medora ND.
No place to stay we thought we would try a recommendation from the two ladies we met at the museum. They said go to the Custer Cottages and “Woolly Wagons”. The Woolly Wagons are sheep herder wagons with beds in them. Primitive but she had nice little showers attached to the garage, towels and firm mattress. Just a couple dollars more than RV park next door where we would have been sandwiched between massive RVs in our little tent. I thought it was a better decision to take one of those for a couple of nights. It’s different, a bit novel, let’s see how we sleep. Tomorrow we hope to explore one of our ‘out of the way’ National Parks and maybe a few bison? Badlands? Let’s see?
Gregg~Bear
The riding today was special. Its also a kind of surprise for me. I had expected North Dakota to be a harsh dry climate. I was so ignorant. We rode through a lush praire that in parts, was going back to its roots. We passed ranches with no cattle and fences full of holes. Eventually, almost all signs of civilization dissapeared except for the road and rails that parrelled the road. We passed very few veichles of any kind. We had a nice, but not strong tail wind helping us along. The temerature of hot but not too hot. We arrived in Medora on a mental high. Our feet hurt a bit, we wanted a cold drink soonest, but our spirits were high.
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