QUESTIONS
We have taken a leave of absence from Montana, and have a small purchase into Western North Dakota! We are overnighting in Williston ND, and are astonished by the 30mph winds which have blown (sideways for us) all day. Tomorrow is a long and hilly day without services for long stretches, so we are hoping the wind dies down a little bit, or changes direction.
Just when I got completely hooked on the Great Falls Tribune's coverage of the Lewis and Clark journals, we've left the circulation area. Too bad, because there is an interesting debate scorching the letters to the editor section about the recent coverage. It's got two splinter issues, the first is the coverage of Sacagawea's illness. The diaries have described her worsening health, even after she was bled and given sulphur water to drink (gee, and that didn't make her feel better?). The newspaper caption speculated that Sacagawea was suffering from a venereal disease, and let me report that there are quite a few readers of the paper who are taking issue with that caption. Then, there's a whole different debate going on between people who think that Capt. Lewis's loyal Newfoundland dog, SEAMAN, is getting the better end of the stick in the coverage. It's entertaining stuff.
But, we're in Minot Daily News territory now, and the banner headline on the front page reads: COUGAR STALKS BIKERS and details a cougar that preyed on some bikers this week. The bikers won round one, holding the thing off after numerous attacks. They've hired a cat killer over in Minot to try to catch the cougar, although the trail is a little cold due to the 100mph winds that blew through there yesterday with a storm. We will be in Minot in a couple of days, hopefully the cougar will not.
People have been so good to us, we are enormously grateful. Often, we are swarmed by questioners---we'll each have our loaded bike, and a group of people wanting to know what we're doing. Everyone has a basic set of questions that never changes: Where are you going? Where did you start? When did you start? When will you finish? How far did you ride today? Then, I can predict a little bit about the way things will go next. If it's a woman, she'll usually put herself in our position and state that she could never do it herself. I always tell her that she could, because I know that feeling and I'm doing it. When the conversation comes to a conclusion, women *always* say "be careful" or "be safe". Without fail. If it's a child, and I love talking to kids on their bikes in these small towns, they have practical concerns, like "do you have a house?" and "what if you get hungry?". If it's a man asking the questions, he often will tell me a story about someone who has made this journey, but a little differently. They'll know someone who rode cross country, but did it in 9 days. Or on a unicycle. Or they rode across on a junky bike and only spent $150. Or they camped every night and foraged for food. I always smile and say, "wow, that sounds like FUN!!!" We ran into a guy in a little convenience store a few towns ago who is in charge of inventory in these quick stops, and keeping them stocked with sour gummi worms and stuff like that. We were practically catatonic from the heat and the ride when he started in with a description of cars, and how it would be easier if we had one. I told him we had one. Then he pointed to the AMTRAK track and said the train goes by every day, and I assured him I knew about the train. Then he asked if we were crazy, and I said "probably". He put down his inventory page and said, "IF you think it's hot today, whew, it's only gonna get hotter!!" and I said, "Really? Hotter than Texas in July when it's 110 in the shade cause that's where I learned to ride a bike...." and he replied, "If you think it's hilly now, believe me, it's only gonna get hillier!!" and I said, "Really? Hillier than the Rockies, cause I just crossed over them on that bicycle..." and he said, "If you think it's buggy right now, boy, it's gonna get buggier!!!" and I answered, "Really? Cause I have 100% DEET in that pack, and they aren't biting through that yet..." Then he suggested that we must be behind schedule because we weren't even half way there yet! I told him that we didn't have a schedule, so I was pretty sure we weren't behind. The best part was the last comment though, when he said that the white panel van in the parking lot was his, why didn't we put our bikes in the back and he would give us a ride! I think his intentions were good, but jeepers. On the other hand, when we were about 3 miles into North Dakota, a car was approaching and began honking its horn then stopped on the side of the road and signaled for my attention. I stopped, and a man who resembled Kurt Vonnegut on a good day yelled out, "ARE YOU RIDING THAT BIKE ACROSS COUNTRY?" and I yelled back over the wind, "YES SIR" and he goes, "OKAY...." and began just spouting out all kinds of tips for the upcoming town, for the roads and routes and places to eat and about the "local fair on the other side of town near the drive in but DON'T leave your bikes there!" It was just pure sweetness, he was so happy to stop us, and share the advice to get us through another town and on to the next. People are thoroughly good, they show us every day.
Just when I got completely hooked on the Great Falls Tribune's coverage of the Lewis and Clark journals, we've left the circulation area. Too bad, because there is an interesting debate scorching the letters to the editor section about the recent coverage. It's got two splinter issues, the first is the coverage of Sacagawea's illness. The diaries have described her worsening health, even after she was bled and given sulphur water to drink (gee, and that didn't make her feel better?). The newspaper caption speculated that Sacagawea was suffering from a venereal disease, and let me report that there are quite a few readers of the paper who are taking issue with that caption. Then, there's a whole different debate going on between people who think that Capt. Lewis's loyal Newfoundland dog, SEAMAN, is getting the better end of the stick in the coverage. It's entertaining stuff.
But, we're in Minot Daily News territory now, and the banner headline on the front page reads: COUGAR STALKS BIKERS and details a cougar that preyed on some bikers this week. The bikers won round one, holding the thing off after numerous attacks. They've hired a cat killer over in Minot to try to catch the cougar, although the trail is a little cold due to the 100mph winds that blew through there yesterday with a storm. We will be in Minot in a couple of days, hopefully the cougar will not.
People have been so good to us, we are enormously grateful. Often, we are swarmed by questioners---we'll each have our loaded bike, and a group of people wanting to know what we're doing. Everyone has a basic set of questions that never changes: Where are you going? Where did you start? When did you start? When will you finish? How far did you ride today? Then, I can predict a little bit about the way things will go next. If it's a woman, she'll usually put herself in our position and state that she could never do it herself. I always tell her that she could, because I know that feeling and I'm doing it. When the conversation comes to a conclusion, women *always* say "be careful" or "be safe". Without fail. If it's a child, and I love talking to kids on their bikes in these small towns, they have practical concerns, like "do you have a house?" and "what if you get hungry?". If it's a man asking the questions, he often will tell me a story about someone who has made this journey, but a little differently. They'll know someone who rode cross country, but did it in 9 days. Or on a unicycle. Or they rode across on a junky bike and only spent $150. Or they camped every night and foraged for food. I always smile and say, "wow, that sounds like FUN!!!" We ran into a guy in a little convenience store a few towns ago who is in charge of inventory in these quick stops, and keeping them stocked with sour gummi worms and stuff like that. We were practically catatonic from the heat and the ride when he started in with a description of cars, and how it would be easier if we had one. I told him we had one. Then he pointed to the AMTRAK track and said the train goes by every day, and I assured him I knew about the train. Then he asked if we were crazy, and I said "probably". He put down his inventory page and said, "IF you think it's hot today, whew, it's only gonna get hotter!!" and I said, "Really? Hotter than Texas in July when it's 110 in the shade cause that's where I learned to ride a bike...." and he replied, "If you think it's hilly now, believe me, it's only gonna get hillier!!" and I said, "Really? Hillier than the Rockies, cause I just crossed over them on that bicycle..." and he said, "If you think it's buggy right now, boy, it's gonna get buggier!!!" and I answered, "Really? Cause I have 100% DEET in that pack, and they aren't biting through that yet..." Then he suggested that we must be behind schedule because we weren't even half way there yet! I told him that we didn't have a schedule, so I was pretty sure we weren't behind. The best part was the last comment though, when he said that the white panel van in the parking lot was his, why didn't we put our bikes in the back and he would give us a ride! I think his intentions were good, but jeepers. On the other hand, when we were about 3 miles into North Dakota, a car was approaching and began honking its horn then stopped on the side of the road and signaled for my attention. I stopped, and a man who resembled Kurt Vonnegut on a good day yelled out, "ARE YOU RIDING THAT BIKE ACROSS COUNTRY?" and I yelled back over the wind, "YES SIR" and he goes, "OKAY...." and began just spouting out all kinds of tips for the upcoming town, for the roads and routes and places to eat and about the "local fair on the other side of town near the drive in but DON'T leave your bikes there!" It was just pure sweetness, he was so happy to stop us, and share the advice to get us through another town and on to the next. People are thoroughly good, they show us every day.
posted by Laurel @ 7:40 PM
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