Wheelsucker Blog - Week Four

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Monday 2nd June 2014

Rest day in Minot today. Had a lay-in to 7.30am. Looked outside and it was raining and didn't stop until mid-day. Receptionist made some reservations for me, so that put my mind at rest. In Wolf Point there are lots of oil men, they are "fracking" there, so taking a lot of the rooms. Also booked up for East Glacier Park because there is limited accommodation. Going to give the bike a good clean then go and have a burger. Picture of my hotel room.

      

My Hotel Room



Tuesday 3rd June 2014

Williston, North Dakota. 125 miles. Average speed 14mph. Left at 5am. Thermal jacket, gloves and shorts. Saw sign saying 51F. Then became quite misty, this lasted for about 40 miles. Also lots of road works going on. They were resurfacing and made the hard-shoulder very narrow and at an acute angle. This made it very difficult to balance properly, especially with the extra 30lbs I'm carrying in the pannier bags! Stop for breakfast in a place called Stanley, 54 miles, by then the mist had cleared and roads were better. Sun came out, so short sleeved top for last 20 miles. Saw my first oil well today. Quite a few works camps alongside the road, and lots of big lorries carrying all the fracking equipment. Arrived at Super 8 hotel at 4pm.



Oil Well

 Wednesday 4th June 2014
Had a restful day in Williston. Researched as many hotels and motels as I could to the west coast, because I might not be able to pick up wi-fi when I'm the Rockies. It's been another hot day, but the wind has picked up quite badly. Looks like it could be a hard day tomorrow. Looking at the map I see it climbs over 2000ft, just a little tester before the Rockies. Thought I'd show a picture of the hotel I'm staying in. I've used about 10 of these Super 8 hotels already.

My Hotel - Super 8

Thursday 5th June 2014

Wolf Point, Montana. 97 miles. Average speed 11.3mph. Left Williston at 7am into horrendous traffic of pickups, big lorries and road works. Thermal top to breakfast stop, then short sleeved top rest of day. Turned into a really hard day of roller coaster hills and a full-on headwind. Last 23 miles was a gradual uphill to 2000ft into the wind at 8-10mph. Highlight of day was passing into Montana and a new time zone. I'm now 7 hours behind UK time.

Wolf Point, Montana

Friday 6th June 2014

Malta, Montana. 119 miles. Average speed 13.6mph. Left Wolf Point at 5am this morning to try and get the miles before that horrendous wind came up again. Quite chilly today, had thermal jacket on all day. Stopped for breakfast at Glasgow and lunch at Saco. The wind was kind to me and the hills manageable. The picture shows a group of dinosaurs on the hillside outside Glasgow. Took 10 hours today, but easier than yesterday.



Dinosaurs on the hillside outside Glasgow

Saturday 7th June 2014

Havre, Montana. 90 miles. Average speed 13.9mph. Left Malta at 6am trying to miss that wind. Sunny but very cold. Full winter gear on. Easy going roads. Wind picked up but fortunately in my favour. Encountered roads works over the last 3 miles. There'd taken the surface off, it was like a dirt track. I'd been riding beside a railway line for about 20 miles when I took this picture. The train was about half a mile long.

Railway Line

Sunday 8th June 2014

Shelby, Montana. 101 miles. Average speed 12.4mph. Left Havre at 6am. Again very cold and sunny, wearing full winter gear. Stopped for late breakfast in a place called Chester. Met two fellow bikers but they were doing c2c in opposite direction. The hills were long and then the wind hammered me for last 40 miles. Lots of Native American culture in these parts, so I took this picture. Saw the Rockies in the distance today, still lots of snow on them. They look massive!