Eastern North Dakota

In the last three days I've ridden from Rugby to Minnewaukan, and then to Pekin, and finally on to Cooperstown. The weather has been beautiful, but the wind consistently has been blowing from the southeast and this headwind has culminated with a 30 mph headwind today. The wind is pleasant and cooling, though it saps my speed and reduces the amount of progress I can make each day.

The wildlife continues along the roadside. North Dakota has an impressive duck population and I've discovered that they employ two techniques of evading a threat: Typically they fly, leaving a wake as they fly mere inches above the water, often with their feet appearing to walk on the water as they go, heading to a safe spot in the center of the lake or pond. But I've also noticed a few that simply dive underwater, presumably staying as long as they can and eluding the predator.

The cows also take a variety of approaches, frequently viewing me cautiously as I pedal silently by them. More than once I thought of Orwell's Animal Farm as the cattle cast conspiratorial glaces over their shoulders as they suspiciously gather in a small corner of a large field. I wonder what sort of revolution these sly and cunning creatures are plotting... On other occasions, though, the local herd was startled enough that they charge off in their own impromptu cattle drive. In once case, they were in a long thin grazing area hemmed in by farmlands on one side and the road on the other, so I road a couple of hundred feet with a stampede of anxious cattle thundering to my side. Cattle aren't the most athletic creatures and they quickly lose steam as I cycle past them.

The most recent wild creatures that I've encountered are aggressive, ill-mannered dogs. While not seeing any canine threats for the entire journey, in the last two days I've been chased by three dogs. I have a clever three tier scheme for handling them, including (a) pedaling fast; (b) squirting them with water; and (c) as a last resort, I have the postman's friend, an anti-dog spray. Fortunately, I have not needed to employ that last deterrent quite yet, but as I have jaws snapping at my heels, it's nice to have in reserve. Some dogs just get awfully wound up by a juicy cyclist riding by. (Of course, in my opinion, there aren't bad dogs, only bad owners, but the negligent owners are never around for me to squirt them.)

The most notable feature of North Dakota, as in most of my ride, has been the generosity of the locals. Everyone has been so nice to me. Not infrequently, when taking my occasional roadside breaks in the vast stretches of country roads, drivers will stop to see if I need assistance. Last night, Les, the grandfatherly owner of the inn decided to show me around: He showed me rising lakes that had immersed a few unfortunate farms, and took me to a local bar for dinner. As the elections approach, we tend to divide the country into red and blue states (and make disparaging comments about those states of our less favored color), but the truth is that we have good, well-intentioned people across this country and we have more in common than we generally give ourselves credit.