Believe it or not, this is the North Dakota Capitol building
After a rest day, and finally a good night of sleep at Don’s Motel at Linton, ND I was ready for a long pull today to Bismarck. My route was a simple one, 41 miles north along US 83, followed by 21 miles west to Bismarck. No towns along the way, in true ND fashion. A nice cool morning to start, the first twenty miles were uneventful. I just wish I had gotten an earlier start, and got more miles down the road, because suddenly at around 10:00AM the winds began. Winds which did not letup for the rest of the day, from the northwest, at 22 mph. This was just bad luck; wind from the north or wind from the west would’ve been ok. Northwest meant no break for 40 some miles. The wind would gust up to like 30 mph in some places. This was the toughest wind day of the entire vacation. The next day, the wind reversed and came out of the east which would’ve been an awesome tail wind. I guess I just got to Bismarck one day too early.
Along the way on Highway 83 I passed an unusual sign which turned out to be a memorial for five men who died in a car accident. I looked up a news clipping on the internet; the story is that the accident happened about 2:00AM. Two cars had a head on collision. One car with three occupants were carpooling home after the night shift from their jobs in Bismarck. The driver of the other car crossed over the centerline causing the crash. It was a reminder to me that it is vitally important to remain conscientious about safety at all times, and that it is late in the day that mistakes are most likely to happen when the brain is tired.
Eventually, I did reach Interstate 94, the same road near my place in McFarland. I had two options for the last 21 miles to the west to Bismarck. One was a frontage highway which parallels I-94, the type of road I’ve taken to good advantage in other places on the trip. The alternative was 2 miles further, right on the shoulder of I-94. Some of the western states permit bicycles on the Interstates, riding along the shoulder of course. This decision may seem to be a no brained, to take the frontage Highway, Actually I took the Interstate, even though it was longer. Can you figure out why?
My average speed along Highway 83 was around 6 miles per hour. It takes a good long time to travel anywhere at that speed! Along the frontage road, Bismarck was still three and a half hours away. The advantage of the Interstate was the drafting effect I would get when semis and large RVs pass by.
My gamble paid off: the drafting improved my speed to about 8 mph. I got to Bismarck about 45 minutes earlier than along the frontage road. So math to the rescue!
Miles: 62
Average speed: 7.2 mph
Max speed: 16.7 mph
Look closely: this was a welcome sight
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