Day 20, Saturday, July 19.
Hope, ND to Roland, MN
Daily Mileage: 112.88 miles
Total Mileage: 1,879.2 miles
Daily Time on Bike: 8:29 hours
Average Speed: 13.2 mph
Maximum Speed: 23.7 mph
We started packing up camp around 7AM this morning, once again with mosquitoes all over the tent. We had breakfast at the Hope Café, and when we walked inside, the farmers that were all sitting around a table started talking to us. The waitress/cook took our order without letting us use menus (I’m pretty sure that’s because they didn’t have menus as opposed to her being rude and not letting us have them). We usually ordered the exact same thing for breakfast each morning and were able to judge the value of a particular place by the price of the eggs—here, they were the cheapest yet, $0.50 each. The breakfast was reasonable, tasted good, but it looked like I had cooked it.
Outside of the café we met Greg, an English teacher from Hartford, CT, and learned quite a bit about him as we rode the first ten miles of the day together. He’s a poet and is writing poems about his trip across the country. He and his partner (a word he used frequently) were also writing a book together. David and Greg talked about their views on a variety of subjects and then we were gone. We ended up stopping in Erie, ND, a small town in the middle of nowhere. I used the restroom and then we got some food and drink (candy and a Coke of course). To avoid the terrible mosquitoes we sat inside of the community center. When we finished eating, we played a little piano—something I hadn't done since we started the trip, and something that didn't sound quite as good as it did before I started resting on my hands and wrists for three weeks straight.
Next thing we knew we were catching up to Greg again. When we finally passed him we noticed the North Dakota headwind had finally died down. We sailed into Argusville, where we once again ran into Greg. I had to tighten a spoke, and David had to use the restroom. We were only a few miles from Fargo so we continued our pursuit. We had to cross into Minnesota and back into North Dakota before getting to Fargo. When arriving in Fargo we got directions to a bike shop and the Olive Garden. The bike shop was incredibly hip, so much that we want to order shirts from their store when we get home. We ate at the Olive Garden until we could eat no more. I think we were pushing the dress code though, but hey, in the words of Greg, that’s why being a tourist is so great, you can just leave and never see the people again.
We rolled out of Fargo around 7PM and made it to Hawley where I made a couple of phone calls trying to set up our Minneapolis plans. After fighting off the mosquitoes we started again in full rain gear—our third attempt at the RAAM. About ten minutes down the rode David got really agitated. Bugs, no light, and now tiny frogs flooded the street and hopped against our legs. We high-tailed it to the nearest town and found a church. Luckily there were a couple of women from the church in the parking lot who gave us permission to camp in back by the cemetery and use the restrooms inside. We left the bikes outside and went inside to cool off in the A/C and eat some chips. After a while we went back out into the night, braved the mosquitoes and set-up camp.
Daily Mileage: 112.88 miles
Total Mileage: 1,879.2 miles
Daily Time on Bike: 8:29 hours
Average Speed: 13.2 mph
Maximum Speed: 23.7 mph
We started packing up camp around 7AM this morning, once again with mosquitoes all over the tent. We had breakfast at the Hope Café, and when we walked inside, the farmers that were all sitting around a table started talking to us. The waitress/cook took our order without letting us use menus (I’m pretty sure that’s because they didn’t have menus as opposed to her being rude and not letting us have them). We usually ordered the exact same thing for breakfast each morning and were able to judge the value of a particular place by the price of the eggs—here, they were the cheapest yet, $0.50 each. The breakfast was reasonable, tasted good, but it looked like I had cooked it.
Outside of the café we met Greg, an English teacher from Hartford, CT, and learned quite a bit about him as we rode the first ten miles of the day together. He’s a poet and is writing poems about his trip across the country. He and his partner (a word he used frequently) were also writing a book together. David and Greg talked about their views on a variety of subjects and then we were gone. We ended up stopping in Erie, ND, a small town in the middle of nowhere. I used the restroom and then we got some food and drink (candy and a Coke of course). To avoid the terrible mosquitoes we sat inside of the community center. When we finished eating, we played a little piano—something I hadn't done since we started the trip, and something that didn't sound quite as good as it did before I started resting on my hands and wrists for three weeks straight.
Next thing we knew we were catching up to Greg again. When we finally passed him we noticed the North Dakota headwind had finally died down. We sailed into Argusville, where we once again ran into Greg. I had to tighten a spoke, and David had to use the restroom. We were only a few miles from Fargo so we continued our pursuit. We had to cross into Minnesota and back into North Dakota before getting to Fargo. When arriving in Fargo we got directions to a bike shop and the Olive Garden. The bike shop was incredibly hip, so much that we want to order shirts from their store when we get home. We ate at the Olive Garden until we could eat no more. I think we were pushing the dress code though, but hey, in the words of Greg, that’s why being a tourist is so great, you can just leave and never see the people again.
We rolled out of Fargo around 7PM and made it to Hawley where I made a couple of phone calls trying to set up our Minneapolis plans. After fighting off the mosquitoes we started again in full rain gear—our third attempt at the RAAM. About ten minutes down the rode David got really agitated. Bugs, no light, and now tiny frogs flooded the street and hopped against our legs. We high-tailed it to the nearest town and found a church. Luckily there were a couple of women from the church in the parking lot who gave us permission to camp in back by the cemetery and use the restrooms inside. We left the bikes outside and went inside to cool off in the A/C and eat some chips. After a while we went back out into the night, braved the mosquitoes and set-up camp.
(Photo: The "Welcome to Minnesota" sign.)
