The Royce Files

At long last the final installment of the bike trip I took in July. N ot sure when I awoke in the Hunter park, but I did and embarked to points north. Points north, you ask? Yes. North is not the way home, but I wanted to add more mileage and the world's tallest structure was just along the way south of Blanchard. The tough part about seeking this tower out is that it is pencil on the horizon and only a few miles removed from the 2nd tallest mast in the world. Yep. The 2nd tallest tops off at 2060. So the masts can be hard to identify especially if you don't know where Galesburg is compared to Blanchard. (answer: Galesburg is SW of Blanchard.) I snapped a few photos and road onward. Moreover, as I now discover, the KVLY mast no longer holds that distinction of tallest structure. Some skyscraper in Dubai beat the tower's 2063 feet by a little over 600 feet recently. So now it is just the tallest mast I guess. However, when I saw the tower it may have still been the tallest s...

The following is the continuing narrative of my North Dakotan bike tour in early July. I stuck around the Sibley Crossing Campground long enough to shower. It was Sunday. A slow day for some. The beach was littered with debris from last night's fun. You could have made a bonfire from it. After the cleaning ritual and packing I set out across Ashtabula. A paper handbill stuck out to me at the campground office the other night. It was for a restaurant that offered a Sunday brunch. The establishment, Kelly's Crossing, was on the other side of the lake at the east crossing. Hunger drove me to take the shortest route on gravel through the wind farm in the late morning heat. The wind turbines seemed to go on for miles. That morning only a few the giants were turning. Because of the emptiness of the range, the wind farm resembled something from a post apocalyptic novel. I was peering upon the last energy reserves of a once great society. Alas, that's not true. The jaunt through t...

The following in the continuing narrative of my solo bike tour in North Dakota in early July. It was July 4th. It never seems special anymore since I am usually on the road to somewhere. Well, last year I was actually at a celebration at a friend's homestead. I even met up with a rock star that evening. Today I met a motor cycle couple from Iowa. They had pitched camp next to me at the campground. We talked a little about biking. They mentioned RAGBRAI , a popular (if not legendary) tour in Iowa from the Missouri to Mississippi River. I had read about it a number of years ago in Outside magazine. We also discussed the flooding in Fargo and in Iowa. After chatting I headed to the actual Pioneer Village next to the campground. This collection of old buildings with associated antiques is quaint and free. There was even a building they called "Louis L'Amour Writer's Shack," which featured artifacts from the prolific author's original hovel for writing. If you di...

Being larger than I expected, I was a bit disorientated once I got into the downtown. The James River, which runs through town, had flooded this spring and dikes were still standing. The James apparently is the longest un-navigatible river in the world . At least that's what the wiki says. I think you could probably canoe many of the 710 miles. I wanted to get a camping spot firest and then look around town. However, I ended up looking for a camping spot not knowing where I would find one. I had originally planned to camp at a primitive place north and west of town but I too scant notes to be able to find it. I tried a city park, McElroy Park. I went further east. No go. I used the Nuvi and it began to take me west. I climbed another hill, passed the Super Wal-Mart, then got directed down a dirt road where I proceeded to wipe out fall over the front handlebars due to the new gravel. I wasn't hurt, but frustrated. I continued down the road until it turned into a prairie road. Th...

This is a section of the continuing saga of the Tour de Valli, a solo journey on 2 wheels in North Dakota that was taken in early July 2009. Stage 5 begins in Valley City. I am unsurprised to learn that the previous evening I slept on a railroad bed. This certainly explains the difficulty in trying to stack out the tent. However, for $7 I am not arguing since it included a decent shower. Valley City is noted for its bridges and so after grabbing a bite to eat at the grocery store I set out exploring on foot. Of the 8 bridges (pdf file) I saw about half. The photo above is the bridge unto the Valley City State University campus (Alma mater of The Champ.) I poked around the empty campus and then pack through the city park. Later in the morning I packed up and discovered another grocery store (Lever's) which was closer than the other. Then looked through the library to find a North Dakota map gazetteer. The overwhelmed library did not. At noon I decided to take lunch at the Pizza Hit...

This stage turned out to be the longest and hotest. Due to not being a direct paved route from Mapleton to Valley City, I needed to head north to get on a western route. It did not prove to be easy as you will see. Got up early. About 7ish. No problems in Mapleton. I suppose the train traffic could be thought as being a problem as it was about 300 yards from my tent. However I have found that to be a sound of security. Still, train traffic was plenty high the course of the night. I found the actual city park on the other side of town. It was tucked in the middle of a residential development. Soon, I met up with the first sign of route problems. The road heading north out of town was closed for construction. And it was impassable. I searched for another road north to no avail. Reluctantly, I headed south to the Interstate in hopes of finding a westbound road. Providentially, there was a paved frontage road on the south side of the Interstate which I took all the way to Casselton. I stop...

Leaving work a little later than I anticipated and not having nearly everything packed, I started much later than I desired. Fortunately the days are long and I had adequate night illuminations on the bike. I also did not get any supper. Still, I strove on west on US-10/94 Bus to West Fargo. I then proceeded north and missed the turn to go towards Mapleton. Fortunately it was not by much. I had never been out this way before but it was some good biking. The weather was perfect and the moon was almost full. Mapleton is a short jaunt from the start but provided an excellent stopping off point for the evening. I doubt could have hustled 40 miles to Arthur or even Tower City. According to my research there was primitive camping at Mapleton City Park. However, I had no clue which of the 3 "parks" they were referring. I set up camp beyond a ball field in some trees and retired for the night. The picture is of the Mapleton School, just a few blocks from my campsite.

This year the tour's goal was to head West. Some may have suspected Medora to be the grand terminus but alas it ended up being someplace else. From the start, finding a western route was difficult. Outside the metropolis, paved roads heading west were rare or took one too far north or south to be of any value on a 5 day tour. With numerous maps I pored over possible routes. The Interstate was out of the question although bikes are allowed on the shoulder. To me that would be boring. Eventually I found a route that took me through Mapleton to Casselton and unto Valley City and then to Jamestown. I printed some reference maps and packed my Nuvi. July 15- Added the map and now realize I could have called the tour "The Hammer" but refrained from wearing the baggy pants.

The gear is the unsung hero on the self supported bike tour. It does its job and that is that. It never gets the plaudits like bike- until now. (Of course let's hope this jump starts manufacturer sponsorship points.) The indispensible gear Ortlieb Pannier- That's right, singular. I only have one Ortlieb I picked up at REI scratch and dent sale years ago. I had another pannier on this our, a Deuter, but I was able to resurrect the Ortlieb after finding the missing part online I had lost years ago. Back in those dark days Ortlieb didn't respond to my cries for the part. I really should get another one because the size and durablity are incredible. Did I mention it is waterproof? Bontrager Bar Ends- I added these to the bike because on the previous tour I must have placed too much pressure on my Ulnar nerve and had 2 tingling fingers for over a month afterward. The bar ends provided a few more hand positions to avoid this. I also got better gloves. Euro Team Cycling Cap- I p...