#acaNoTier Hazelton to Gackle, 66 Miles | Prairie Dinosaurs, a Turtle Rescue and More

Riding Stats

Accommodations

Route Tracker

You know you’re getting the hang of things when 66 miles is an easy day.

We’ve been on the road now for 30 days and completed 1,784 miles. We took an official day off back in Whitefish, MT when we rode only to the grocery store and back but other than that we’ve been riding!

The morning started in Hazelton where we had our usual quick breakfast of oatmeal, walnuts and craisons and coffee. Pushups, planks and prayers done and we were headed to Napoleon for a second breakfast.

The 25 mile ride was sweet although a bit foggy at first, with tailwinds, scenery (especially by the water) and very little traffic. Once in Napoleon we found a bakery that had the most amazing pastries.

After checking weather we knew we were in for a favorable day of riding with tailwinds most of the day except for a 12 mile stint of headwinds which was going to be tortuous.

Our day included prairie dinosaurs aka multiple models of antique threshers all lined up in a row and down the road just a tad there was even a turtle to rescue.

At one point we took a break to pay homage to the wind gods with a wind jig to go easy on us on that 12 mile section. The wind jig and Tom’s motivational talk worked! It only ended up being about seven miles and not that bad. (Another tech glitch – vids are oriented correctly when played)

Then this happened:

But then…

As we neared Gackle we found recent tornado damage from the storms just a few days before. Sometimes it seems farmers can’t get a break.

First stop in Gackle was the Tasty Freeze for lunch. Then we were off to find the cyclist hostel we’d heard so much about.

Easily found, we were in for a treat because anything a cyclist might need was provided: bed, shower, laundry, access to all kinds of supplies, etc.

Jason and Ginny are hostel hosts and also in the family bee farming biz. Jason’s dad also is a co-owner of the athlete food, Honey Stingers. Tasty and good for endurance athletes!

We’ve planned out the rest of our rides in ND, weather permitting, and it looks like we’ll be in Minnesota in just three days!

Boo yah!