32.4 Miles Without An Engine

On the third day of our trip I finally got to take my bike off the bike mount (which, by the way, has worked like a charm thus far).  Early Thursday morning I got on google maps at the Knutson house to plan a cycling route into Williston, ND.  I found a place, 30 miles out of town to be dropped off so I could cycle into town where Anna and Dad would be waiting for me.

Despite some detours due to road closing, we were able to get to my drop off point with plenty of daylight left for me to pedal.  I was thankful that we had got out of the flatlands and I actually had some hills to climb.  I pedaled a total of 32.4 miles with an average of around 16 or 17mph (my bike computer does not have an average function).

The road was nice, but the head wind was horrible.  The entire ride I battled a strong wind from the northwest, even going down hills the wind would slow me down.  If that wasn’t enough, there was a very aggressive rumble strip that I had to contend with and I was sharing the road with predominantly  18 wheeler oil trucks—Williston is oil boom town right now because of oil fracking.

Overall, it was a good ride and the icing on the cake was a free shower at the end of the ride!  I walked into a rec center after the ride where it was advertised I could get a shower for $3.00.  I walked through the doors in my cycling tights and florescent jersey, which I’m sure was not the norm in an oil boom town.  The women took a look at me and asked, are you a cyclist?  Upon my affirmative response, she told me that showers were free for cyclist—I think I like Williston!