Saturday, June 9, 2018

Day 42 – Wahpeton,ND to Enderlin,ND

Date: 09.06.2018
Altitude: 416.7 ft (127 m)
Distance: 70.23 mi (113.10 km)
Total Altitude: 70954.7 ft (21627 m)
Total Distance: 2844.51 mi (4577.88 km)


Back on the Northern Tier route. In contrast to my original plan, I didn't go up all the way to Fargo today and instead continued on the the Northern Tier route right away. If I would have gone to Fargo today, I would have had to go back on the same route a few miles tomorrow, on my way to Enderlin, so I decided it makes more sense to go to directly to Enderlin today.

The day started out cloudy and with some fog in the morning but it cleared quite fast and the sun came out. After the sun came out it became a really warm day and there was no shade throughout the day, so the the ride wasn't as comfortable as the last few days. Actually, I didn't really enjoy the ride today. The first part was okay, but after a while the route switched onto gravel roads/unpaved roads. Because of the storm last night parts of the unpaved road where still pretty wet and muddy and in some places I didn't had a chance to avoid the mud. After a few meters through the mud my tires didn't move anymore, because all the mud was stuck between the tire and the mudguard. It probably took me 15 – 30 min to get most of the mud out and get going again. Still my bike and shoes are still quite muddy, I really need to find some place tomorrow to clean my bike and get all the mud of the bike. The route would have stayed on back roads (most of them unpaved) almost all the way to Enderlin, because of the mud problem I decided to use the state highway. The Northern Tier route would have used the state highway anyway. Unfortunately the highway didn't have a shoulder or only a really narrow one and there was quite some traffic. So cars passed me quite narrowly and I just didn't feel comfortable on the highway, but I had to stay on the highway for about 30 miles until I reached Enderlin. The scenery along the whole route today was quite monotonic, with a few exceptions. I mainly went through farmland and didn't pass through any town the whole day. So I really need to take enough food and water for the day with me. I guess the next few days will be similar and there won't be that many services along the way either. I still hope I will enjoy the next day's a bit more.


Conclusion for the day:

Try to avoid unpaved roads after a heavy rainfall. It is no fun to ride through mud with a fully loaded bike.








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