Welcome to North Dakota

Tuesday, June 17 (Day 32) 

Distance: 91.5 miles

Average speed: 11.9 mph

Max: 33.3 mph

Total: 1932 miles

Weather: sunny, 10 mph tailwind

I sadly left the bike trail this morning and dawdled around the city for a few hours grocery shopping because I didn't want to arrive in Fargo too early. 

Once I finally got going, I was soon joined by a man named Mike who was out riding for fun. He saw me going in the other direction and turned around to ride with me for a while. I was quickly mesmerized by his story. 

When he had just graduated high school, he was the passenger (and not wearing a seatbelt) in a car driven by his friend who had been drinking, which somehow got into an accident and rolled over multiple times, throwing Mike out of the car. He needed brain surgery, and they had to shave his head. It was so bad that they kept his hair for his mom, because if he died they could give it to the funeral home for an open casket. 

Well, he made it but sustained permanent brain damage, which affects his short term memory. He told me he doesn't really remember high school either. He had some vision impairment at first so he couldn't drive is car to work and bought a bike. He rode 85,000 miles within a 35 mile radius of his city before he thought maybe he would start touring, and then rode in all 50 of the states for different charities, mostly on organized supported rides. He rode every day for 21 years. He wrote a book about it called "Finding Purpose in Being a Brain Injury Survivor".

Last year, in his city (of all places), a car didn't see him and turned in front of him. He hit his head and broke his leg, and hasn't really been bicycling outdoors since then. He stayed with me for 15 miles, and it was his longest ride since then. It was incredible talking to him!

Then it was back to the road.

There was a traveling house that got everyone off the road, not just cyclists.

I also saw buffalo, but they were too far away for a good picture. I mostly went through farm land and a few more lakes.

Late in the afternoon, I was on a road that had differently paved lanes and shoulders.

I was going about 13 mph and riding in the lane and decided to ride on the shoulder. On my way over, my wheel got caught in the groove between the different types of pavement and I had a pretty nasty fall. I had an assortment of new scrapes and my head and neck were hurting from hitting the road. I was also unsuccessful at finding my rear view mirror... Again.

I stopped for a break later on and found that my helmet was badly broken.

I felt (and still feel) fine though. I continued to my warmshowers host for the night, Rick and his family. I did cross the border into North Dakota, but there was no sign.

Rick and his family welcomed me heartily and with an invitation to a warm shower! Their family is visiting but in spite of that Rick invited me to stay. He and his wife have done a few bicycle tours as well, but they are both physical therapists and he finds it hard to take much time off of work.

So tomorrow I will be venturing further into North Dakota, and looking forward to it! With a new helmet and mirror, though, and a more wary eye for nasty grooves that are looking to catch the wheel of a bicycle.