Richardton, ND to Mandan, ND; 70 miles, sunny, 10 mph East wind, and 70-80’s
Another beautiful day for cycling. While I experienced my first sustained day long head wind on the trip, it was more like a breeze and no big deal. The route mainly followed old highways that parallel I-94 with very little traffic and good pavement. There was one last 12 mile stretch on I-94 to avoid a stretch of gravel road. This is the last stretch of Interstate for the ride and I won’t miss the experience. The ride was hilly with long 100-200 foot climbs and descents that made the miles go by. I do have to comment further about rumble strips (deep groves in the pavement). I acknowledge and appreciate the safety rationale for vehicles. Not that I’m complaining but they can be a pain for cyclists. Yesterday I learned that ND deploys cross lane rumble strips on back roads before stop signs like Iowa. I learned that after a good shake when I didn’t see the first one I encountered going downhill. ND spares no expense, there are usually five sets of the things before a stop sign. On I-94 today the rumble strips were perpendicular to the driving lane on the shoulder stretching across almost the entire width of the shoulder. There was just enough space left to squeeze by at the edge of the shoulder. If the photos look a little repetitious, well that’s the plains. It is actually very green and beautiful land to ride through.
I don’t stop that often to take photos so I refer my readers to the SAG driver’s Facebook posts for a more comprehensive collection of photos (Sally Kuehl).
