Bicycling the Lewis & Clark Trail
Mandan, ND to Fort Yates, ND
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Distance Cycled: 51 miles
Vertically Climbed: 1,665 feet
Average Speed: 13.4 mph
Hi there. Barb and Scott get to write the story today. We woke up really early and went to the Hotel's restaurant for a good and filling breakfast. After breakfast, we got on our bicycles and rode down a huge hill that went half way through town. It started out to be a beautiful day with mid 50s and sunshine. We found a bike path and rode on it for a couple miles. The rest of the day was spent going up and down, up and down and up and down some big rolling hills. We stayed on highway 1806 all day long. By the time we got 15 miles out of town we were all hot and had to remove our cool weather clothes because the temperature quickly rose to the 70s and then the 80s. We saw live buffalos, lots of dead snakes on the side of the road, corn fields, wheat fields and the backs of the heads of the other riders in the group. We went up the hills between 5.5 to 7.5 mph and flew down the hills at 22 to 28 mph. Needless to say; going down the hills is much more fun than going uphill. We rode the whole route in a little over 4 hours, but we stopped every 10-15 miles to rest and eat snacks. The picture was taken as we rode up the very last hill, which seemed like the steepest hill of the day.
We are staying at the Prairie Knights Casino and Resort tonight. It is a big hotel and casino at the top of another big hill. We could see it for miles. However, the hotel doesn't have any washers and driers for us to use and also doesn't have a swimming pool or hot tub for us to soak our tired legs in. We had reservations for 2 suites for 8 adults, but when Jan and Ken and George and Jane checked in, they found that the second room in the suites had 2 cots in it. We decided that wouldn't do, so each couple has their own room tonight. We ate lunch in the buffet restaurant. Boy, they sure had a spread. We ate several different salads, green fluff, salmon, ribs and big bowls of ice cream. They even had all you can drink chocolate milk. We will probably eat dinner there, also.
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