Jackie’s avg speed: 8.3 mph
Scott’s avg speed: 10.6 mph
Weather: 55 degrees, north/northeast wind 10-12 mph 

Val’s Cyclery opened at 09:00 so we waited until 10:00 to give the mechanic enough time to tune up my bike. Brake and derailleur tweaks, new chain, and a bottle of technical lube came to $99 including tax. Many bike shops will give special priority to touring cyclists, a benefit we certainly appreciated.

While I was paying, Rory Schell, Val’s son who now owns the shop, talked about selling bicycles during the boom that peaked a few years back. He spoke fondly of his father who had been through a false boom that never got off the ground because the technology had not yet been developed to extract the oil. He said his dad always warned him to ignore false promises of easy money. When his own business sped up a bit with the economic bounce some years back, he stocked his inventory 25 bikes at a time, which was the minimum to get free shipping. A competitor in Bismark bought a huge inventory that he was stuck with when the pace of growth slowed. Rory had been selling at just the right pace and rode the wave down to pre-boom demand just fine. 

At Bearscat Donuts I bought some donuts by the same name, basically huge chocolate cake donuts cut into quarters. They kinda looked like the name sake. They would be good high calorie fuel for the 46 miles to Towner. At 11:00 we were finally on the road, our latest start yet. Slackers.

Rory’s mechanic did a good job. My bike rode like a dream, albeit with the heavy weight of reality on back. The north/northeast wind held us in check, but we knew the drill. Go slow when you must and fast when you can. When we had down slopes and minutes of less wind, we switched gears to make up some time. Still, it was 14:00 when I spotted the Granville water tower, just 23 miles east of Minot. The sight of these towers always gives us a little boost because they signify a town. And towns generally have amenities for the road weary. 

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Lori RabyDid you ride in the ditch to spite the sign?
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5 years ago

Jackie McKennanNo, that’s an opportunity missed. Should have got a photo of us by the sign breaking the rules.
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5 years ago

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Granville was scrubbed and neat as a pin. In the 2010 census the population was 241, and those residents obviously took pride in their town. We didn’t see any “pink houses” like John Mellencamp sings about in his ballad of the same name, but that tag line came to mind as we pedaled around.

The Memorial Diner had good reviews online, so we decided to try it. The inside was decorated with war memorabilia and photos of local veterans. The food was home style, like grandma used to make way back when. Scott ordered the special, hamburger patties on white bread with mashed potatoes and gravy, and canned apricots for dessert. I had a cheeseburger with potato chips. The cook and waitress had aprons tied over their jeans and moved vigorously around the cafe. They and the other five patrons were all in their 70s. One woman sitting at a table with menfolk got up and helped the waitress serve food. This is a small community where everyone chips in. 

The waitress asked us where we were headed. When I said we were going to camp in the Towner city park, she said, “You can camp here, too.” The ride had been pretty hard so far, so that was tempting. Nevertheless, we had “miles to go before we sleep.”

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Our pace was slow, we reached Towner after 18:00. A swarthy bearded deputy sheriff was directing cars that were coming onto Main Street from Highway 2. He looked like an Iraqi and spoke with the unmistakable North Dakota accent. (Fun fact. North Dakota leads the country in the number of resettled refugees per capita). A fun-run to raise money for the Towner-Granville-Upham school district was just wrapping up. As the small towns in rural areas lose population, student enrollments decline so districts band together to save resources.

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We parked our bikes and walked up the main street for some food. We didn’t need much, so we ordered the nachos with brisket at The Bearded Moose. The brisket was really good, definitely worth trying if anyone comes through here. As we were finishing up, some of the hungry kids and their moms came in for dinner.

We set up the tent and performed our nightly ablutions in the public rest room. Clean enough, with toilets and cold water sink. This time, I had called ahead and spoken with the municipal clerk. Towner welcomes campers in the city park free of charge, but the town will accept donations. 

The moon was almost full and almost visible behind gauzy clouds. The slight breeze kept our tent dry inside, no condensation from heavy breathers exhaling humidity. The overnight low was in the 30s, so no worry about insects either.