63.8 miles, 715′ of climbing, 1015′ down (1324.6 tot) – to read from the beginning, click here.
We had coffee & breakfast at the Days Inn, and we stocked up and ate a good full meal before we headed out. Again, we were leaving without knowing exactly what we were doing that night. Dana invoked her dad’s motto: “It doesn’t hurt to ask” and called a campground in Fargo that had already told us they were full, and left a message that pleaded for a “squeeze in.”
During a quick stop at Wally’s for a new bottle cage for Dana and other asundries, Dana got a call back from Kylie that someone had cancelled and a spot was available and best of all, it was free, since it already was paid. Thanks Bill Miller! Happy we had a place to stay that wasn’t an hour ride away from our destination, we headed NW to the “moderate hills” as Google Maps called them. They were very easy hills with 1-3% grades as the road paralled a rail line, and the hills were over by mile 20, and the rest of the ride was a 0.5-1% downgrade. It was also another beautiful day and though we were on roads the whole way, traffic was light and respectful of our presence. It was also a quick ride as we averaged 13+ mph and Dana wanted to get to the Lindenwood park before Kylie left for the day so she could thank her in person.
All was well until the last mile when we got to the trail bridge over the Red River of the North and the gate was closed and the bridge deck hoisted high above the river. The Red River was almost to it’s banks and floods often, thus the “drawbridge.” We were kinda screwed in that the detour to the next bridge was about 5 miles and it was getting close to Kylie’s clock-out time. I looked at the map and told Dana if we took the interstate for 1.6 miles, we’d be almost at the park. Could be a hairy ride, though, and Dana replied, “I’m not afraid to ride on the interstate.” Alrighty then. Off we went to ride the shoulder. When we got to the ramp, there were construction and lane closed signs. That proved to be a bonus for us as we lifted the bikes up on the 12″ slab of concrete to the bridge that was being resurfaced. It was Saturday, so no workers around and we sailed across unaccosted by the whizzing traffic, and within minutes we were at the campground checking in and getting a Kylie photo-op.
I also texted our warmshowers host and asked if we could stay Sunday night instead and he gave a thumbs up, so tomorrow is all set up, too and we will be indoors since they’ll be back from their trip.
Leaving the campground to find a happy hour, and free of the burden of the panniers, we had a little collision — I turned left while Dana went straight and she fell over and banged her knee and hand. However, Timex Girl, got up, wiped the blood off and dismissed the swelling palm and sallied on.
After a couple of pain-killing cocktails at the Alibaba casino hotel, we headed into Fargo. We walked around enjoying the very active downtown scene. At dusk, we started to head back to the campground. That’s when it started raining. Not a lot, but just enough to get us wet. Since earlier we had looked at each other and the blue skies and said, “Let’s skip the fly,” our tent and sleeping bags and pads also got wet. We put the fly on, shook out the pads and sleeping bags. We put the bikes under a nearby shelter and Dana checked the weather — no more rain. So, we went to bed a bit damp . Lesson learned – always put the fly on when leaving the tent. Tomorrow, more Fargo exploring.
