Author Archives: scottluria

Dickinson to Amidon, North Dakota Friday, July 30,2021 My good buddy Frank sent a link to a great webcomic called xkcd (worth checking out if you’ve never seen it) when he saw where I was headed next. It’s a map of the many US towns named after more famous places. Yup, it’s true, today’s rideContinue reading “Sweet New England”

Glen Ullin to Dickinson, North Dakota Thursday, July 29, 2021 This will be my final day on the Adventure Cycling Lewis and Clark Trail, and it gave me a sweet sendoff. Bittersweet, I guess, since I will not be following their routes again for some time. I woke up early, saw I had a favorableContinue reading “Hidden gems”

Bismarck to Glen Ullin, North Dakota Wednesday, July 28, 2021 OK, let’s see if we can get this party restarted. I’ve licked my wounds long enough. Got out by 6:30, threaded the streets of Bismarck, and crossed the Missouri for the last time; now I am really entering the West. Blessedly, things were easier today.Continue reading “Once more unto the breach”

Bismarck, North Dakota Monday-Tuesday, July 26-27, 2021 Yesterday marked exactly 100 days on this ride. Presidents are often evaluated on how they did in their first hundred days, and I did some evaluating too. 4461 miles, so averaging 44.6 miles per day, even including all of the zero days and other diversions. Some challenging moments,Continue reading “The first 100 days”

Stateline Resort to Bismarck, North Dakota Sunday, July 25, 2021 I have a little sleep monitor on my Apple Watch, which measures my hours of total and deep sleep. Curiously, I had my deepest sleep last night, in a hot tent with a cooling breeze. Something about air-conditioned rooms interferes with restful sleeping for me.Continue reading “Sink the Bismarck? Bismarck almost sank me!”

Mobridge, South Dakota to Stateline Resort, North Dakota. Saturday, July 24, 2021 Again, the residual of the storms meant that I didn’t get going until after eight. That’s too late when there’s this much heat and sun. The hilliest part was in the beginning when it was relatively cool, but by the time I hitContinue reading “So North Dakota”

Gettysburg to Mobridge, South Dakota Friday, July 23, 2021 I had wanted to leave before sunrise this morning, but it was raining so I didn’t actually leave until 7:30. The rain had stopped and cleared the haze somewhat, and I got a better picture of Lake Oahe. Despite the heat and the challenges I’ve mentioned,Continue reading “It could be worse”

Pierre to Gettysburg, South Dakota Thursday, July 22, 2021 At the end of my “zero day” in Pierre, I got a personalized tour of the city in Tami’s Corvette! (a gift from her mother) She drove me by the state capitol …and a number of life-sized statues of the former governors of South Dakota ThereContinue reading “Oa-who?”

Lower Brule to Pierre, South Dakota Tuesday-Wednesday , July 20-21, 2021 The opening line to the movie 21, about an MIT professor who trained his students to count cards in Las Vegas. In my case, that chicken dinner was no winner, and I could only choke down a few bites. So it wound up beingContinue reading “Winner winner chicken dinner”

Chamberlain to Lower Brule, South Dakota Monday, July 19, 2021 I thought it was Churchill, but it was actually Arnold Toynbee who said “history is just one damn thing after another”. I love that quote, just as I love history. Today I crossed my second Missouri River dam, the Big Bend Dam, which impounds LakeContinue reading “One dam thing after another”