Eastern MT and ND is Soooo Boring

Ok, Im sorry to all those who live in and love eastern MT and ND, but really, there isn't much out there. I left Billings after a couple days off from riding. It was great to take a break, but Billings was a bit lame.  A sprawled out death maze full of insane drivers would be the best way for me to describe it.  So I wasn't too sad to put it behind me.  The next few days were spent heading East along the interstate.  I stopped in Custer, Miles City, Glendive and a few other towns along the way.  Not much to say about 'em, really.  Miles City seemed pretty OK.

There were a few fun moments.  I stopped in Terry MT at a bar to refill my water.  The people inside started asking me about the ride and when I told them what I was doing they were so impressed they gave me $20.00!  My first Sponsor! That felt pretty good.  So if any of you are ever in Terry MT, get yourself a drink at the bar-- good people there! 

It took about four days to ride from Billings to the border or ND.  Then another four days across ND.

One of my worst days of the entire trip was riding from Glendive North up to Williston along highway 16.  Just about everything that happened to me was bad.  I woke up with terrible back pain and feeling a bit sick.  I drank some mediocre coffee in a cafe and planned my route.  By the time I set out the wind was blowing strong from the North, so I had a good headwind to contend with all day.  And of course, the shoulder was quite narrow and the traffic was terrible.  A lot of oil trucks, the drivers of which do not feel it necessary to move over for cyclists.  But whatever.  Add to that a couple miles of construction to ride through, dodging semis, dump trucks and steam rollers, but again, whatever.  I stop to get some water and looking ahead to the NW and I see rain clouds forming.  I decided to press on, hoping that I can get to the next town (Sidney) before the rains hit.  Of course it is slow riding because the wind is still blowing.  I'm about five miles from Sidney when the downpour hits, and I am soaked.  Then it lets up a little.  Then it hits me again, this time just two miles from town.  I arrive right when the rain stops for good.  awesome.  I rest, eat a little and decide to press on, but of course the wind is still blowing.  So I ended up camping in Fairview MT, right on the border of ND.  Shitty day, I suppose, but they are bound to happen.  The next day I turned east, only to find that the wind shifted and is now blowing out of the east.  Awesome.

But overall, I kicked ass in North Dakota.  Crossed the whole thing in four days!  I stayed in Tioga, Minot, Rugby, and of course, Grand Forks.  But it wasn't much more exciting than Eastern MT.  Highway 2 was fairly dangerous West of Minot due to the oil traffic and the tiny shoulder, but I survived.  Minot looked like a war zone with entire neighborhoods abandoned due to the flood.   The highpoint of ND was definitely the last day.  I finally had some luck with the winds: about 30 mph blowing straight out of the west!  I rode the 153 miles from Rugby ND to Grand Forks in just over seven hours.  It was pretty incredible.  Most of the time I was cruising around 25 mph on level ground.  Great fun!

So here I am in Grand Forks.  I am going to take a much needed break, eat some much needed pizza and drink some much needed beer for a while before heading out again.