Day 203 - Sun 8-4-02 - mileage today 45.3 – MILEAGE TO DATE=8,298.25
From Spicer to Glenwood
NORTHREN HOSPITALITY
Yesterday I think I told you about meeting Robin in Groveland. She and her husband, Don live in Spicer. Spicer is a lakeside resort area about 20 miles from Groveland. The weather has been thunderstorms all day, so we weren’t making good time. Robin was concerned about us staying safely out of the storm and so she invited us to come stay the night. We of course were very happy to have the invite and the opportunity to stay dry. We cycled the 20 miles into Spicer getting there at about 4:30. We knew that Don and Robin had plans for the evening so, we went to a cafe to have dinner and then to a laundry mat to wash our clothes. Robin had said to take cover in the garage until they get home. We took the opportunity to sort thru our equipment and organize our STUFF. Don and Robin came home and invited us in to sleep in a real bed. WOW, it was great. In the morning Robin cooked us a feast. A real Norwegian farmers breakfast with everything you can think of eating. She succeeded in filling up 4 hungry cyclists, not an easy task. We sat at the table enjoying conversation with our new friends until about 12:30pm. We got our gear together and began cycling at about 1:00. NOW, THAT IS NORTHREN HOSPITALITY!!! THANK YOU ROBIN AND DON.
As we were cycling along route 71 we saw the unfortunate painted markings of body parts on this small country road. A circle here that read finger, a mark there that read right foot etc. We found out later that a 41-year-old woman had committed suicide by jumping in front of a semi truck. She had been released from a mental institution 3 days earlier. The driver of the truck was a 23-year-old local farmer who can't get over this tragedy. He still has nightmares.
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE.
In the small town of Belgrade. I was in line at a walk up hamburger stand, when a man asked me if I was familiar with the town. I said no. He said, me either, I'm from California. I said, me too. He said, where in California? I said, Fremont. He about fell over, as he said, me too. Here we are 2,000 miles from home, and in a small town of 563 people. What happens, I run into someone who lives in my hometown. IT'S A SMALL WORLD. Later that day Shiangold commented on the amount of people who wave at us as they drive by. He said, "OH, AMERICA IS WONDERFUL". Little did he know that it isn't just people in cars that are friendly. We were now on route 55, a small country road that follows train tracks thru rolling farmlands. A train approaches us and the engineer blows his whistle and waves at us. Both Shiangold and I really like that one. Not long after that we saw a crop duster. As he was making his approach to spray the corn, we wave at him. He actually waved his wings back at us. Then he pulled up, and circled back around a mile or so ahead of us. Then, he flew right at us, 20 feet off the ground. Just before getting to us he waved his wings and pulled up. I was so excited, I almost wet myself. That was a BIG THRILL. Shiangold Just can't believe us Americans. He said, stuff like that would never happen in Taiwan.
Day 204 - mon. 8-5-02 - mileage today 62.0 – MILEAGE TO DATE=8,360.25
from Gaylord to Fergus Falls
YOU'RE NOW AN HONORARY CUTTER
We were packing up to ride for the day, when a man drove up and introduced himself as John. John was from the local newspaper. His editor got wind that we were in town and sent John to do an interview. We enjoyed talking with John. Later in the day, Shiangold and I were riding along and decided to stop in the small town of Lowry. As we were getting ready to leave Bob walked up to us and asked for an interview. He also got wind that we were in town. Shiangold really enjoyed talking with Bob. Bob had a great sense of humor and he took time to talk with Shiangold. Shiangold is no stranger to interviews. He is well known in Taiwan for his many cycling adventures in America. No other Taiwanese has cycled in America as much as Shiangold. We now have a new cutter amongst us. All of us met in the small town of Barrett. We hung out in front of a convenience store. There was a little girl who kind of hung around with out saying anything. She was obviously curious about us. She would go into the store and bye something and leave. Then return about 2 minutes later to bye something else, and watch us from a distance. She was on her bicycle. We made comment about her riding a bike and how good that was. She really liked that. She left and returned every several minutes about 4 different times. Each time we cheered her more and more. Finally we told he she could be a cutter, like us. I think she liked the attention. For those of you who don’t know what a cutter is, a Cutter is, a bicycle tourist who camps out on long trips. The best thing that happened to me today was, talking with my good friend Beth. I called her and we had a wonderful conversation. I really miss my friends.
Day 205 - wed 8-6-02 - mileage today 11.4 – MILEAGE TO DATE=8,371.65
Fergus Falls Rest Day
Myron's Big Day
We had a rest day in Fergus Falls so that Myron can do some research on family history. Myron rented a car and drove to Maine, Minnesota where his mom’s side of the family used to live. I stayed behind in Fergus. Myron, Chuck and Shiangold found the old homestead. Myron said it was beautiful. Rolling green hills with a million dollar home on there own lake. Myron found old gravesites and much of the old family homesteads. Later in the afternoon I was walking down the street to go to the grocery store when Myron yelled and waved at me from the car while he was pulled over for running a stop sign. After the officer left I jumped in the car and joined the gang for dinner. At dinner Myron ran into two people whom new some of Myron's family. He was very helpful to Myron in giving him stories and background. After dinner Myron had to go back out to Maine to look at the area with his new info. Once again I stayed in town and went back to our campsite only to find that Myron's tent had been stolen. I asked around and found out who had taken the tent. The person that stole it wasn’t around however his tent and equipment was. Myron finally rode up and called the police. We have to say that the police in Fergus Falls were very helpful. To make a long story short the police found the thief and ordered him to return the tent or pay for it. Otherwise he will be charged for the crime. As of now the tent has not been returned. We will keep you informed.
Day 206 - wed 8-7-02 - mileage today 50.0 – MILEAGE TO DATE=8,421.65
From Fergus Falls to Sabin
TAILWIND FROM CYCLIST HEAVEN
We had wind all night. This helped Myron out since he doesn’t have a tent. The mosquitoes stay away when it is windy. It doesn’t look like Myron will get his tent back anytime soon. He will have to purchase one in Fargo when we get there tomorrow. The wind continued all day today. Fortunately it is helping us. It is a sign of things to come. The wind is constant in this part of the country. We cycled the 50 miles in about 3.5 hours. It was a beautiful sunny day riding on quiet country roads. We stayed the night at the fire department in Sabin. Thank you to all of the firefighters for your hospitality.
Day 207 - Thurs. 8-8-02 - mileage today 63.0 – MILEAGE TO DATE=8,484.65
From Sabin, Minn. to Blanchard, ND
WELCOME TO NORTH DAKOTA
Early today we entered North Dakota.
We cycled into Fargo and got another taste of the big city. I can always tell a person who lives in the city by the way they drive. People become aggressive and impatient. The caged rat syndrome. I didn't have too much of a problem but, just watching how people treat each other while driving. Cutting each other off and not being courteous. I don't miss driving in the city. Soon I was out of the city and cycling on a road made just for me. I'm cycling by myself today. Shiangold is with Myron. There is NO traffic on the road. It is warm and sunny with a tail wind. The land is flat and wide open in every direction. I can only think of how the Indians lived in this land years ago with huge herds of buffalo roaming the prairie. Have you ever seen the movie DANCES WITH WOLFS? The land is just like that. We are in camp now hiding out in our tents. There is a thunderstorm with lots of lighting. We are under a tornado warning. People have been told to leave their trailer homes and seek shelter in a more substantial building. I listen to this while taking refuge in my little tent, which I often refer to as a coffin, due to its size. Speaking of tents Myron purchased a new tent today. It is a real nice North face. He thinks he will really like it. We joked with him, it is a good thing he got a tent today. He will defiantly need it tonight. We are camped in the shadow of the tallest structure in North America. It is a 2,063' TV antenna. After the storm past John, Andrew, Josh, and David came by to visit. They are local boys that have cool BMX bikes. They ask about the trip and told me about the local area. Andrew needed his chain tightened so I tightened it and oiled everyone’s chain. I really enjoyed talking to them. They really liked meeting Myron. David really liked Myron’s bike. They are really cool kids. Keep on biking guys.
Day 208 - Friday 8-9-02 - mileage today 50.0 – MILEAGE TO DATE=8,534.65
From Blanchard to Mike and Cheryl’s and Walter too
We had a lot of wind all night. But we didn’t get much rain. Although, when we got up, it looked like it could open up at any moment. We cycled SLOWLY into the North Dakota winds. It took us almost 2/12 hours to ride 15 miles to breakfast. It seems as if the moment we hit North Dakota the wind came at us from the west with a vengeance. At best we can average 6 to 7 miles and hour. We often do much worse. The weather is really unpredictable. It can change on you in minutes. We worked hard all day heading for the Town of Finley for lunch when we were detoured because of ROAD CONSTRUCTION. We were diverted to dirt roads for about 12 to 13 miles. We were getting concerned. The afternoon was wearing on and the weather was worsening. Shiangold and I were deciding what to do when Cheryl called out to us. She said you could wait the storm out here. Cheryl and her husband Mike live in a beautiful home right off the road. Cheryl was out side washing their truck when she saw Shiangold an! d I riding by. Thankfully she invited us to shelter there while the storm passed. We went in and looked at the news it said that a second wave was on the way. I told her about Myron and Chuck being behind us and that they might be coming along. Soon Cheryl was inviting us to stay the night. She and Mike is farmer and run a custom harvesting company. They are used to large groups of hard working hungry people. Mike soon came home and we hit it off great. Both Mike and Cheryl are wonderful down home warm people. They cooked us dinner, in huge quantities, fired up the hot tub for us and had plenty of beds for everybody. We stayed up to almost 11:00pm talking with mike. I hope that when I get home I can be the kind of people that Mike and Cheryl are. In the morning there cooked up a monstrous farmers breakfast. for us. We always hate to leave our new friends. Shiangold and I were talking earlier about the trip. When it is all over and all we have are our memories. It isn’t the beautiful sunsets we see or the majestic mountain vistas we will remember, It will be all the WONDERFUL PEOPLE WE MEET. That is what we remember
Day 209 - Sat. 8-10-02 - mileage today 33.5 – MILEAGE TO DATE=8,568.15
from Mike and Cheryl’s to Glenfield
About half way to Glenfield we ran into Mike. Mike just arrived from California, walking pulling a cart. In the cart Mike has all his paining supplies. Mike stops and paints along the way. He paints mostly scenery barns with tractors and old trucks. Mike just wanders around painting and selling his wares along the way. We arrived in Glenfield and had a beer. Shortly after we arrived Myron walks in. He ordered a Hard Lemonade. It was the first time he had one. He found he really liked them. We left and went to camp. Soon Myron was on his way back to the bar drinking more hard lemonade. After I set up camp and ate dinner. I thought I would go join Myron. But Myron was just returning. I said I was just coming to join you. Myron said, “Ok, I'll go back for another.” Myron doesn’t normally drink, but last night he found something he likes.
Day 210 - Sunday 8-11-02 - mileage today 66.3 – MILEAGE TO DATE=8,634.45
From Glenfield to Fessenden
We decided to try a new strategy today. We decided to get up early to try and beat the wind. But as fate would have it we didn’t need to, we had a tail wind all day. We averaged about 14.3 mph. A real big deal for us. Anyway we will try it again tomorrow. Shiangold needed the tail wind today to give his knee a break. It has been hurting the whole trip. We saw a herd of Buffalo today. It is neat to imagine what the prairie would have been like 200 years ago.
Myron was found asleep in a graveyard today. He will often stop and dose off somewhere. He has been found asleep, along side the road, in a cafe, at a McDonalds and now in a graveyard. I think we should have a, WHERE IS MYRON CONTEST. What do you think??
