Day 26: Custer, Red Dirt, Coal and Oil

Day 26: Tuesday July 1st, 2014.
Beach, ND to Dickinson, ND.  63.9 miles.

Waking up in Beach, I think Tim and I were the only two guests at the hotel that were passing through. All of the vehicles in the parking lot were work trucks with various company logos on the side (oil, engineering, pipeline, etc). The other long-term guests of the hotel were here for the oil boom. They were young, single, male, here to make a quick buck.

We packed up and headed around the corner and across the train tracks to a breakfast spot.  At the front counter next to the "Please Wait To Be Seated" sign, a stack of newspapers, "The Bakken Weekly". On the front, "North Dakota Hits the 1,000,000 Barrel Mark".  The Lewis and Clark bicycle route used to run through Williston, and then follow the Missouri River to Minot. But, the heavy truck traffic in and around the epicenter of the oil boom has proven to be very dangerous for bicyclists, and finding a place to stay in that area is nearly impossible.  Speaking with our waitress about this change, she added, "Honey, most of those big rig drivers up there don't even have their certification to drive those trucks."  

Despite the fact that we were now on the safer route further South, our morning ride still encountered many oil tanker trucks along the way. They, and other big construction vehicles were plentiful.

Tim and I decided to ride another day together. Although, I had my sights set on Dickinson, which I suspected was a bit farther than he wanted to ride. A bigger town, it would provide the services I needed for a day off. I could tell right from the start that my legs were tired, the expected result of 390 miles pedaled in 4 days. 

We were prepared for more rain, as the sky looked as though it was primed. But, it was a mostly dry and cool day. Winds had shifted to a southerly direction, and thus weren't going to help us along as they had been. 

The first town we came upon was Sentinel Butte. A few houses and an old corner gas station, now abandoned, were the primary infrastructure here. But, Sentinel Butte holds an interesting piece of history. On June 2, 1876, General Custer and a portion of the 7th Calvary passed through here, organized to quell the hostile Sioux, and moved on to the banks of the Little Big Horn River in Montana where they perished in a famous battle 23 days after their visit to Sentinel Butte. 

Our ride took us deeper into North Dakota, and the badlands topography.  Dirt roads stood out with their bright red hue. 

We passed through the town of Medora, a master-planned "old" western town developed in the 50's, now nestled within Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It was full of character, and tourists. Little artisan shops lined the streets. Tim noticed an ice cream shop and said, "Hey, do you want to stop for some ice cream?"  Silly question!  I had the rocky road. Yumm! 

While not planned, this would be the last time I see Tim, with the exception of his shrinking figure in my side mirror (yes, I have a side mirror).  As we rode of from Medora, with rocky road in the gas tank, I was feeling energetic and there were a series of rolling hills in front of us. I slowly pulled away from him. Most of the ride was along Old Hwy 10, adjacent to a set of busy train tracks. 

The westbound trains were empty. The eastbound trains were loaded with coal and oil. 

The badlands landscape became more colorful and dramatic the further I rode. 

As I made my entrance into the larger town of Dickinson, oil tanker trucks were more and more common, eventually passing by me once every 1-2 minutes. 

The finished product of all this commotion was apparent on the landscape as well, even within the town of Dickinson. 

About two miles outside of the downtown area, I turned off Old Highway 10, crossed the train tracks, and entered the Patterson Lake park and campground. The lake was beautiful, but the campground was just so-so. 

Sleeping alongside the train tracks next to a road crossing the tracks proved difficult as train after train passed by moving oil to the East. The horns were blaring all night.  But, at the same time, there was something intriguing about all of this action that I was determined to learn more about in my day off tomorrow in Dickinson. 

While Dickinson has been around for a long time before this current Bakken Oil boom, the center of activity was close enough that this larger town has become a natural choice to support related and direct activities in this "Land of Opportunity".