Williston, ND July 5

Williston, ND -- Monday, July 5
I've reached my initial goal of pedaling from Seaside, OR to Williston, ND three days ahead of schedule. As such, I will have the opportunity to pedal 200 miles into ND before my bicycling adventure ends on July 8.
Our ride today was relatively short (45 miles) and excepting a few hills relatively flat. It was an easy ride, especially when I compare it to the riding in eastern MT during the past several days. Although I enjoyed MT, I (we) were sure glad to leave the state.
Our departure from MT was under cloudy and raining skies from a mosquito infested campground; however, we were given a grand send off by Randy and Cheryl (our camping neighbors) as they prepared breakfast for us consisting of eggs, pancakes, links and sausage. As noted in my July 4 post they made the stay at the campground a great, remembering experience.
Today, we also lost the WV teacher who had been traveling with us for nearly a week. He hoteled it in Sidney on July 4 and decided to lay over an additional day to give his butt some rest time. All of the long days of riding had created a few tender spots.
Williston was a great overnight. We were allowed to stay in its city park and use the showers in the community center - all without charge. The city has a big community center and a wonderful city park all of which was very close to a grocery store and laundramat which we took full advantage. We also had our best evening meal yet, BBQ pork chops and grilled vegetables which we prepared on one of the park's grills.
Given that we lost the WV school teacher and had not seen the French Canadians since early on the 4th, we fully expected to be camping alone in the park. We were pleasantly surprise when two independent groups of two bicyclists rolled into the park about 1 hour from each other doing Adventure Cycling's Northern Tier route. This route and the Lewis and Clark route have one common point in Williston. Both groups of riders had a tremendous day doing 135 miles and 147 miles respectively. They we're able to do this because of their relatively flat route which traveled due east for the entire day and aided by a 25 mph tail wind. We were benefited by that same wind for a portion of our ride but not to their extent. Like always, it was great to share stories and meet people with the same passion. I continue to be amazed at how we continue to hook up with like minded souls in the middle of nowhere. This is neat!
Our ride tomorrow will be over 70 miles. It could be a challenging day depending on the wind, terrain, and temperature.