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Day 13

 

Wibaux, MT to Dickinson, ND


93.3 miles / three different venues / 4,300 feet of elevation and all at an afternoon temperature of 98° (yesterday’s start was 36° / todays finish was 98°!

 

Today’s ride was an eclectic trip with three different venues beginning with Steve Miska’s childhood ranch area, then to Theodore Roosevelt National Park (Medora) and to complete, we rode on frontage roads going into Dickinson.  All three venues delivered for one of the best rides in either RAA I or RAA II – a great day!


We began riding in Wibaux, MT, where Steve spent his adolescence summers working on his family’s ranch.  From Wibaux we rode across the Montana / North Dakota boarder to Beach, ND where Steve was born.


Steve dropped us off, put a new “state sticker” on the van’s back window and then went to see his family’s ranch / farmland.  (Some of the area we rode through early today is part of General Custer’s Trial before Little Big Horn.) 


After about 25 miles of wide-open frontage road biking we portaged about 10 to Medora National Park (Theodore Roosevelt National Park) for a 62 mile loop.  The expansive views of the countryside in this park were awe inspiring.  This park, in stark contrast to the lush green views we saw in Glacier National Park, showed high desert-like vistas and vastly different fauna including Prairie Dogs and Buffalo!

 

As soon as we turned the corner into the park we encountered a “Prairie Dog community,” consisting of thousands of Prairie Dog mounts and their inhabitants.  On bicycles we were able to get up close (all from the roadway) to the Prairie Dogs and as they spied us the squealed with delight as we passed.


After about 20 miles of only seeing Buffalo from a great distance, we remarked that it would be nice to see a Buffalo closer up.  No sooner than we said this, we turned the corner on a hilltop climb and we saw that Steve and the van were surrounded by a herd of Buffalo!


As we inched forward and as the Buffalo herd was walking in and among the vans, trucks and autos on the roadway, we talked with several of the auto’s passengers.  At one point a female passenger asked me, “Is this your first time in the park?”  I told her “Yes, and that we had hoped to see Buffalo on our trek.”  Her response, “Don’t turn around too quickly, there is a large male right behind you.”  I asked, “Really?”  Her reply, “Yes.”  I said I think they are attracted to the red in my jersey – she said, “I hope not, this is a red convertible …!”


After about 40 minutes in and among the Buffalo and cars, we headed back up the hill to return to the park entrance.  When we completed this loop, we portaged to a frontage road about 30 miles outside of Dickinson.  This 30 miles took us just under two hours as the heat was an oppressive 98°!

 

The BBQ we enjoyed later at JD’s was all the more special regaling the day’s events.  As I said, a near perfect day on our bikes in North Dakota!


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