Day 35. Battle Lake Rest Day

Yesterday wrapped up with a thunderous bang as we were pounded with thunderstorms and heavy rain throughout the night. I was awake forever. The bright glow of lightening through the tent walls is truly remarkable.

At 6:30 we woke to yet more rain. After consideration we decided we were taking a rest day. It is Sabbath and our 27th wedding anniversary (on June 27th). We lay down again and did not wake until 1:38 pm. We were exhausted. The rain stopped, the sun came out, and the temperatures were cool as we gathered up our snacky lunch and sat by the lake. There was a Walleye fishing tournament this morning and we watched as a lake full of fishing boats waited their turn to get pulled from the water onto their trailers. One fellow took it on himself to help everyone else out. He seemed to enjoy guiding the trailers into the water and hooking the boats to the trailers.



Battle Lake

This lake and town gets its name from a 1795 winter battle between the Minnesota Sioux and the Chippewas (a band of Pillagers as they were locally known by the French traders). There was a Chippewas who was intent on fighting the Sioux. They tracked down the Sioux as they were moving camp and mistakenly thought they were fleeing so joined in the chase. Three lead warriors chased them right into a large lodge camp where preparations for a war party were underway. One was killed, a son of the leader. The others ran back with a warning to the smaller 30 warrior Chippewas party and they fell back to a position they could defend knowing they were fighting to the death. The leader and his three sons ultimately were the only ones to stand the ground and they lost their lives but not before making a good account dispatching far more Sioux than their 3 lives. Battle Lake is named for this, a battle among the natives.

The Lake Regions

Here in Otter Tail county there are more than 1300 lakes. During this hot muggy weather the lakes seem like lakes from other areas. They even have snapping turtles. The setting is pleasant; clear water lakes surrounded by deciduous trees and grasses. It is good to remember that winter here really sets this place apart. Heavy snows, frigid temperatures, hard frozen lakes, and adaptable people who set up virtual cities on the lakes to ice fish. Some of these shelters are moved onto land to locations that serve as summer cabins.

We are supposed to have a nice tailwind tomorrow. We will see. The winds were very strong today. It would have been tough to ride against. We have observed that the panniers on our bikes catch the wind and either improve our speed in the case of a tail wind or really work against us in the case of a headwind.

Looking at our maps, it appears we have about 2200 miles yet. We are not quite halfway to completing the 4322 mile route then. This week we completed 405 miles for a total of 1851.5 miles in 35 days. We have taken a couple of shorter alternate routes that should shorten the trip some.

A Conversation

Two bicyclists approach each other on the high plains road. A road running east to west. The westbound rider has a tailwind the eastbound a headwind. The eastbound rider looks at the westbound rider thrusts his fist in the air with a loud Arrrghhh!!. The westbound rider sits up, thrusts both arms into the air and yells Yeah!!!! They pass.

Cheers from the road...

~Pete

Day 34. Battle Lake

We arrived here after a tough day of riding. Last night we got in at
dark covering 89 miles, could not find a camp or lodging and ended up
at a site with a space but no approval to camp there. We quietly
pitched our tent and called it a night.

Waking late we quickly packed up only to find Alicia has a flat.
There was nothing obvious so we pumped it up and rode into Cormorant
for breakfast. After breakfast it was low but not flat so I went
ahead and fixed it.

So. 10:30 and we've gone nowhere with southern headwinds to look
forward to.

We did fight the headwinds all day and covered only 52 miles. Again
no camp spot or lodging. I finally found a place at Battle Lake Motel
where we camped out back. The folks are great.

On the way we lunched at a fun cafe in Pelican Rapids - a nice little
town.

Below Is a picture of a church in the countryside.

Map snap

For those who are trying to follow us, here is the map to come for
the rest of the day. Cormorant is on map B. We are taking the
alternate route that cuts across Minnesota.

Day 33. Fargo then Cormorant

We are now in Fargo after a quick 32 mile ride from Arthur. It was a good ride. Hot again. No clouds. Wind mostly at our back. :)

Fargo is a nice little town (90,000). We went to the bike shop and topped off bike supplies and are now sitting in the Atomic Cafe having lunch and imbibing in free WiFi. Cell coverage is again strange here. What is with AT&T, I wonder?

Here is a pic taken at 4:41am from our tent in Arthur. It was cool.



We ran across Margaret again today. We had just stopped at a gas station and grabbed a drink and when we got back to the intersection she was there talking with a west bound cyclist about route alternatives. Earlier we ran into a girl and two guys headed west. They started May 2nd from Maine. It is so fun to meet fellow cyclists. Everyone always goes out of their way to stop and share experiences. It's great.

Some Cool Barns




A Collection of One Room School Houses

Day 32. Pekin to Arthur

What a day. 102 miles. That makes back to back centuries (100 miles
is a century). We started out planning to stop at Page at 79 miles,
but accomodations were slight and we kind of wanted to be closer to
Fargo so we could get there early tomorrow and spend a few hours
rounding up supplies and visiting the library. We are 31 miles from
Fargo here in Arthur.

The picture below is one of many interesting barns we have seen.
North Dakota is really pretty in the Spring.

Day 31. The road to Pekin.

17 - 19 - 20 - 25. All speeds we cruised at today. We flew before the
wind. Exhilalerating! 56 miles from Rugby to Devils Lake by noon.
At 86 miles in Lakota we turned south on Highway 1. Then we had
side winds. There were a few hills too and our nice average dropped.
Still, in all, a great cycling day - even fully loaded.

We covered 105 miles today. We decided to continue on highway 2 and
drop down on highway 1 rather than follow the route. We saved 25
miles and actually caught up again with two of the riders who rode the
last two days from Rugby. This isn't a race though it is nice to see
the rest day really helped.

Starting out, we saw some really interesting cloud formations. We
dodged a few storms and got hit bh a couple as well. The rain passed
quickly. I did get wet though it wasn't that uncomfortable.

The weather cleared after lunch.

This is a view of the roadside heading down 1.

Day 30. Rest Day in Rugby, ND

We are enjoying our rest day here in Rugby, ND. I think my hunt for all things ancestral went well. Found almost all of the gravesites I was looking for and also found my late great-grandmother's home, and my late great-aunt's home. We enjoyed a nice lunch at an authentic 1940's soda fountain called "Rockin' Relics". We went to the spot in Rugby that is the actual center of North America. It was "discovered" or realized in 1931. Just a block beyond that, was the "Northern Lights Sculpture.

Rockin' Relics Soda Fountain


Northern Lights Sculpture


Rugby, ND The Geographical Center of North America


The "Fellowship of the Road" continues, while we were eating dinner last night, two bicycles pulled up to the restaurant and inside came Michael and Jean-Marc. It was nice to see them again and catch-up on all things road, weather and trip related, so once again we were all in the same town.

Late Great-Grandmother's Home


While Pete is napping I will relate to you an experience we had earlier this week: In the morning, last Wednesday, on our way to Wolf Point, MT, we were on a road that did not have shoulders and was busy with semi-truck traffic when a loud motorcycle passed us and stopped at a side road about a quarter of a mile ahead of us, as we got near he waved us down. Pete got there first and the gentleman gave Pete a huge LED, red, blinking, reflector light, to put on my bike. He said it would help make us more visible and since it was LED the battery wouldn't run out for a long time. We thanked him several times and put it on my camelback. After we left we never heard the motorcycle start up again nor did he ride on past us. Curious about this, I mentioned it to Pete and he recalled the very same thing. We just looked at each other, could it have been an angel? Dear reader, I will leave the conclusion up to you, but we are convinced it was, as for the next several days we were on those narrow roads with bad or no shoulders and the worst semi-truck traffic due to oil exploration in western North Dakota. We thank God for His loving care and protection of us each day.

My turn for a nap!! - Alicia

Day 29. Rugby, ND

We have arrived in Rugby. This is another location with a lot of family on Alicia's mothers side.

Rugby is the geographical center of North America. So, we must be halfway between the coasts. Yea!!!! So the question is: "Why does the route show 2800 miles to go when we have completed 1500?". We are searching for shortcuts! :)

Pete catching much needed nap at our camp yesterday in Surrey



We had tough side winds today which later turned into head winds with skys threatening rain. We rode well though keeping up decent speeds despite the wind. We are getting stronger.

We ran across Margaret again today as we approached the town of Towner for lunch. She has not been following the Adventure Cycling maps and has stuck with highway 2.

We have found that staying on 2 for another day will save us 20+ miles.

Tomorrow we rest.

~Pete