Van Hook Bay of Lake Sakakawea near New Town
A familiar foe showed up on day 4 - a tough headwind. Generally, this year I found the cycling conditions easier than those I remember from 2020. 2020 featured never-ending heat and it seemed more than a fair share of headwind. Thankfully, I was spared from the heat this year, but on my final ride for 2023, my route consisted of 7 miles north on 1804, and then a left turn and 17 more miles to the west on ND 23. The weatherman predicted gusty winds of 20 mph out of the northwest.
Just before the turn on ND 23, I rode through the town of Parshall, which is the home of the Paul Broste Rock Museum. I was given a personal tour by the curator, who happens to be a little lady of 88 years. Broste built the museum in 1964 and lived there for 8 years. Then the museum was managed by his friend, a gentleman that was the husband of the curator. Broste was a gentleman farmer, self educated, and a wizard at lapidary. The museum was his life's dream work. Most of the rocks displayed in the museum were picked up from the local area, although Broste traveled the world to pick up some of the specimens. He fashioned a machine which would cut and polish stones into perfect spheres. I've never seen anything like this. The photo below is the largest sphere he crafted and weighs in at over 300 pounds. Amazing and beautiful. The museum houses around 680 of the spheres he made included in the imaginative displays. This place was definitely worth the time. The curator and her daughter are concerned about the future of the museum though, as they are not getting the needed financial support from the city.
Returning to the bike, my final progress this year would be 17 tough miles along busy ND 23. There were a fair number of oil wells along this route. (As a matter of fact, Adventure Cycling, whose maps I've been using for the Lewis & Clark route, decided to alter the route when the oil boom began in North Dakota. The true Lewis & Clark route, which is highway 1804, was now considered to not be a suitable bicycle route, because of heavy truck traffic connected to the oil boom. The new route travels some 100 miles south toward Dickinson. However, I decided to remain true to the original route, and take on the trucks and oil wells. Had I taken the southern route, I would have not seen much at all of Lake Sakakawea, and not returned to the river until deep into Montana.) ND 23 offered wide open views; one was over 8 miles. The wind was tough, and the final 6 miles had a lot of road construction. The road construction did make for some dangerous areas, and I was very careful to stay away from the traffic lanes, as much as possible. Finally I passed the Van Hook Bay, which is the widest area of Lake Sakakawea, over 10 miles wide here. The final miles of the route provided the nicest views of the Lake for this year. Finally I passed the New Town sign which provides the finish line for this year!
Summary:
Distance: 49 Miles
Forward Progress: 24 miles
Time: 5:28.54
Max Speed 27.5 mph
Ave. speed: 8.8 mph
Lowest elevation: 1884 (only 24 feet above lake level).
Final summary for 2023: 4 days of travel: 175 miles. Forward Progress: 82 miles.
A very short train showed up at an opportune time - Van Hook Bay
A windy look down the road; 8 mile view to the west
A 300 pound perfect sphere of granite gneiss
Oil wells along ND 23.
Finish line for 2023!
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