July 13, 2021
In the shadows
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Today was the last day in North Dakota. The destination for today was Fargo, which is on the border of Minnesota. Fargo was 60 miles down the road. It is also the last time we are riding the interstate. The interstate has been a great route and we will have mix feelings not riding on it any more. We like the directness of the routes and the big shoulder. We will not miss the noise or the danger of riding across exit and entrance ramps. One trick Janet and I have done on the interstate is that when we stop for a quick break we stop in the shadow of overpasses. This is the only place where we can find shade on hot sunny days. Ross does not stop in the overpass shadow because he feels it is one of the most dangerous place on the shoulder because it tends to be narrow. I don’t disagree but we will take that chance to get a bit of shade.
The early morning was hazy. At our first stop the convenience store clerk said that smoke from Canadian fires were expected in the area. It was hazy for most of our ride. It felt like the sun was throwing a shadow on our path. We set a fast pace for the entire day. First thing in the morning we climbed a hill to get out of the valley that Valley City was in. The rest of the day was slightly downhill. The winds were mild in the morning but were increasing in strength by the end of the ride. The winds were mainly out of the south. We had two stops today. The first was a convenience store after 15 miles. The second was a truck parking area on the interstate that had a portable bathroom. After 48 miles we left the interstate for good and took a secondary road and bike path into downtown Fargo. We are staying downtown so that we can go get food at a variety of neat places. We start with a taco place, next is a German place where we get streusel and pierogies and we end up at a bbq smokehouse.
Tomorrow we cross into Minnesota first thing and go south to Fergus Falls. We are supposed to have a 10-12 mile tailwind. We’ll see.
Today's ride: 62 miles (100 km)
Total: 1,839 miles (2,960 km)
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