#acaNoTier New Salem to Hazelton, 79 Miles | To and Through Bismark

Riding Stats

Accommodations

Route Tracker

Dang that was quite the storm last night. Check out the image in the vid at the end of this post.

Today we rode on the southern side of Bismark, one of the biggest cities we have seen in a while.

After enjoying a large first breakfast at a cafe right next door to our motel we were soon on our way to Hazelton on a sweet tailwind.

Again there was some climbing but no I-94 and the rumbles were manageable. And honestly you would not believe how friendly people are if you wave to everyone. If anyone is coming up behind me I wave and many times give them a thumbs up. Everyone is happy.

We again crossed the Missouri River today and I saw what I think might be the most hilarious company name. I saw the truck twice today. It’s a septic tank pumper and the company name is “Turd Burglar”. Seriously. I wonder if they franchise.

We had a picnic lunch stop at University of St. Mary, a Benedictine university just outside Bismark.

Since there were very few services on the afternoon route we cycled up a pretty impressive incline to get water bottles filled in their admin building. Carmelita, also a cyclist, was super accommodating and even introduced us to Sister Janet, the president of the university. Pretty cool way to wrap up a lunch I think!

When we got to Hazelton we stopped at the grocery for a couple items and had a second lunch just outside the store in the shade and guzzled down some cold drinks.

On to the city park to camp for the night. In case you’re wondering about tent set up we’ve included a special clip for you. We sped up the video but have it down to a science and can easily set it up in less than four minutes.

One of the best things about the ride is meeting people and we heard from someone we met early on. Eric and his daughter Luci were cycling from Banff to Boise (and also playing a lot of cribbage) and checked in to let us know they finished.

Can you imagine how Luci is going to answer her high school buds when she returns to school and they ask what she did over the summer?

We had bean and rice burrito bowls with fresh tomatoes for dinner- yum and threw leftovers in a ziplock for lunch tomorrow. Watch for them to appear in Tom’s bike bag.

Since it looks like another storm might be coming we moved our tent under the shelter. Just a little camping trick. You’re welcome. 😊