A Long Way from Nowhere: July 2005

The first real Western feel to our journey. Our attire was a little out of style.

Sharing the road with some heavy equipment

Local Holiday Inn

Beautiful skies out here, slight tail wind today

Don't miss today's post below the new photos!!

7/26 Chilly early morning in North Dakota

Outside John and Sherly's house in Fargo

Breakfast with John and Sherly

First look at the Plains.

Squeezed in the back of Sarah's car, the first
fast ride in a while.

From left to right; Julie, Sarah, Justin, Jenn,
Virginia, Tracy, Emily, and the rest of us.

On the banks of the Mississippi, Killer
mosquitoes.

THe girls house just south of White Earth
Reservation

Eric Making a delightful dinner!

Cogbill's Cabin just outside Hayward WI

Bring on the head winds!

Hello from the plains of North Dakota! The scenery changed rather abruptly once we left Michigan, and for the past few days it has been nothing but extremely flat farmlands, with little town islands dotting a sea of fields. Today we have started to have a few more rolling hills, but nothing that really slows us down. The wind on the other hand, is a different story, but we will get into that a bit later.

After we left our last blog on the banks of the Mississippi we rolled back to the campsite only to find that the mosquitoes were out in full force. If you stood around too long you would find yourself covered with hundreds of them, all very aggressive. The best taste I got of them was during the night, when an unexpected rain shower sent me outside to put the fly on the tent. It was scary how fast they covered my body, and it was really all I could do to get the fly on without serious blood loss. None of us slept well that night, and started off early in the morning heading for a destination unknown.

Megan Fitz had put us in contact with her friend Emily, who is working on the White Earth Indian Reservation, near Detroit Lakes, MN. It would be quite a ride to make it there from the Mississippi in one day, but we decided to go for it. 125 miles later, we rolled into the communal house, shared by 5 girls, who are all working for Winona LaDuke in an effort to buy-back/ re-claim tribal lands within the reservation that had been sold off. They are also working on a sustainable food program in the area (they work on a large vegetable garden and raspberry/strawberry patch which they are hoping to get full organic certification). The produce all goes to locals consumers mostly residents of the White Earth Res. They are also involved in the wild rice campaign whose main goal is to prevent invasive species (genetically modified) and big business methods of rice from taking over the indigenous crop. Needless to say they had a huge burlap sac of wild rice, which we thoroughly enjoyed the next morning mixed with local raw milk, fresh raspberries, and real (Maine) maple syrup. We were all, (especially Party Boy) in heaven.

The first night of our stay, we managed to gather up another round of energy and have a fun evening with the girls, and two of their boyfriends. We sat in their living room and enjoyed a few beers while talking about their respective jobs and future plans. We then took a nice late night swim to cool off before heading to bed.

The next morning we were up early. One of the girls, Jennifer, (a recent Dartmouth grad) was taking part in a local radio show, produced by two men native to the Ojibwa tribe, and she invited us along for a little on airtime. We drove onto White Earth Reservation (Their house is just outside off the Res.) and got a quick tour around, before meeting Paul and Joe, (the radio hosts) at the station. The reservation itself was rather run down, and the rainy day accentuated the matter. Once at the radio station, we met Joe, a historian who had endless information concerning the reservation and the Ojibwa tribe, and Paul, a well-spoken man who plays an active roll in tribal politics and is respected for his healing abilities. They have been running the radio show for seven years out of a less than adequate station room, covering local events, such as upcoming pow-wows, and native politics.

The radio show went well, although we are not sure how much of it was aired due to some technical issues. We were each interviewed by Paul and talked about our reasons for the bike trip, what we were hoping to get out of the experience and what we planned to do with our lives. Paul was very excited for us and discussed the importance of journeys such as the one we are now experiencing. Once the show was over, we all headed over to Native Harvest, a local café and gift shop, and met the rest of the housemates there for an amazing lunch and incredible conversation with both Joe and Paul. They spoke of the issues facing the tribe today, such as fair treatment from the government, protecting their culture and way of life, and trying to rid the Ojibwa people of poverty. Paul talked a lot about their way of healing, much different from western medicine, and the sacred connection that the Ojibwa people have with the environment around them. While this whole conversation was going on, Janice, the manger and head chef of harvest café, brought us out several courses of some of the best food we have had on our trip. We started off with tea/coffee and wonderful frosted cookies. We next moved on to a fresh green salad, with lightly encrusted chicken, and lemon vinaigrette. For the main course we had a rich wild rice soup and deli style ham sandwiches, (the bread was absolutely amazing) and to top it all off, vanilla ice cream with fresh blueberries and raspberries. When the meal was winding down and we were making a move for our wallets to pay for the meal, we were told not to worry about the bill, it would be covered by the café, as it was all a part of the Joe and Paul experience.

The remainder of the day we received a tour of where the girls worked, more information concerning their various projects, and met a few more of the locals. We got to meet Ronnie, the head of the all the sustainable farming on the Reservation, and spent some time with Winona LaDuke’s puppies. We even got to try our hand at the accordion, (Adam has decided to move on from the guitar to this melodic musical machine, hopefully the ladies will follow).

In the evening we were made an amazing dinner filled with tons of fresh (much needed) vegetables and more wild rice. We shared beer and wine in the evening and had a great time singing songs around a campfire under the stars, a very fitting ending to such a cool place and people.

We gobbled down another amazing breakfast in the morning, said goodbye to our new friends and rolled off. If any of you have a chance to read this, Sarah, Jen, Emily, Julie, Virginia, Tracey, Justin, Paul, and Joe, thanks for a great time!

We worked our way Northwest towards the North Dakota border, when once again we met up with some really great people, and this time just out of the blue. We had stopped for lunch in small town along route, when a white bug pulled up along side of us. The people inside inquired how our trip was going and if we had any questions. After a bit of chatting we found ourselves with an invitation to camp in their back yard if we so pleased. We took them up on the offer, excited to meet more people, and peddled the remaining 30 miles of the day into Fargo, where John and Shirley live.

John met us at the door with ice cold water, offered his bike tools and stands for any repairs we might need to make, and a much appreciated shower. We then were invited in for what Shirley described as “pasta”. We were excited for the home cooked meal, which “pasta” did not do any justice. It was a huge, heaping bowl of goodness: whole grain penne pasta with a hardy meat sauce, sautéed vegetables and fresh Parmesan cheese. We cleaned our plates with garlic bread, hot out of the oven. Both John and Shirley have done quite a bit of bike riding themselves, including an extended tour in Western Europe. It was great talking with them about their experiences and what we should expect over the coming miles.

The next morning we were greeted with glasses of orange juice and warm “rolls” from the oven. Once again, “rolls” entailed gooey, local cinnamon buns, smothered in a citrus icing. We were told to eat up, so we happily gobbled down three a piece. After breakfast John strapped on his biking shoes and escorted us through the town, hitting the post office and hardware store along the way.

At the post office we picked up our brand new Cycle Mania jerseys! Thanks so much Dave. They look awesome, fit perfect, and since adorning them have received recognition of our home state. We also received a care package from my Mom. The brownies were fantastic and we are quickly devouring all the bars and other treats.

Once we left Fargo, it immediately began to rain. The wind picked up, (mostly blowing in our face), and it made for some cold, wet riding. Being cold, felt good for a little while, after dealing with all the heat, but it quickly became less exciting when we could no longer feel our feet. We decided to call it a short day in a small town called Page, ND. We found a nice pavilion in a local park, and thoroughly enjoyed its shelter, while the rainstorm continued into the evening.

This morning we woke up to clear skies and a beautiful sunrise over the fields of grain, corn and sugar beets. We now find ourselves at the Cooperstown library, and from here we are heading 40 or so more miles down the road for the night.

In the next few days winds are forecast to shift around from the North to blowing from the West……this is bad news, especially when the winds for Friday are predicted to blow 20 mph plus. Things could get a bit interesting with such strong head winds, but I am sure our now enormous quads and perfectly toned calves will get us to the Rockies. (Rudy will probably cry a little, but we will get him there.)

Hope everything is well with everyone.

Eric, Adam, Rudy and Colin