Rugby to Minot, ND - day 24

Total mileage today was 71 miles - started out with about temps in the low 50's with threatening skies - as we got closer to Minot the winds settled down and we had blue skies.

Day 24 of biking since we left home. We have not taken a day off yet but we look forward to spending a few days with Matt and his family in Custer Park next week. We will spend that time relaxing so we are ready to finish the other half of this adventure. Overall we have averaged approx. 58.3 miles per day which we are very happy and surprised about.

We headed out from Rugby this morning with a northwest head winds and dark clouds above. About 6 miles out of Rugby we came upon 10 miles of road construction. We were on hwy 2 which is a 4 lane highway that had a wide bicycle shoulder. However due to road construction they shut it down to 2 lanes with no bicycle shoulder. After a mile or so we were able to go onto the old lanes that were under construction - we dodged roadblocks but that was better than dodging semi's and cars going 65 miles an hour in a 40 mile an hour zone.

Our bike early strategy did not serve us very well today. As when we got done with our continental breakfast there was about a 20 to 25 mph crosswind out of the north that bogged us down for the first 20 miles to our first rest stop. We stopped for breakfast at Towner and there were the usual good old boys there to BS with us. Kathi asked one guy if this is where the farmers came for breakfast. One of the guys answered "no, all the big rich farmers wear big white hats and drive into town for breakfast - the guy next to him was wearing a white 10 gallon hat and everyone looked at him and broke out laughing". I love this place!

About 5 miles from Towner we came across a biker that was riding a rans recumbent and pulling a bob. He was biking from the state of Washington to Rochester, New York to celebrate his 70th birthday. He also stated that we were the first bikers that he has met going west so he was anxious to talk to us and hear all about our trip so far and we also enjoyed hearing about his experience. It seems that the people that are doing a bike tour get so excited when they see someone else attempting it. (So do we)

From there the rest of the day was pretty uneventful - thankfully the wind let up a little to about a 15 to 20 mph crosswind to our final destination in Minot ND. On arrival in Minot we stopped at a Subway for sodas and started checking on hotels...big problem, everything is booked solid for the forseeable future because of a construction boom in an oil field recently found in the area. We did luck out however and found a place to stay for tonight and one in New Town for tomorrow night. However, we will have to bike close to 80 miles tomorrow to get to our next hotel. There is a big oil boom near this town so we will have to bike a little further each day in order to get a hotel.

After checking into the hotel we went over to the laundromat and did laundry and returned a few calls. Please know that we are having a wonderful time and enjoying biking every day. If we do not get back to you via phone or respond via email it is because we don't have cell phone service or internet service. After biking all day there are days that it is all we can do but get our blog entered to keep everyone aware of where we are.

Our friends and family are very important to us and we miss you all! However, this adventure is something we put on our bucket list and something that John and I are both excited about completing!

Happy trails!

Total mileage as of today is 1400 miles