It’s A Small World

In the vast emptiness of the Dakotas, it is uncommon - bordering on rare - to see another living, breathing human being. For Claire’s introduction to my trip yesterday, we covered a bit over 75 miles. During that ride, we passed through two towns (and around a third, but more on that in a bit). Those two towns had combined population of about 1750 people. Neither had a place to eat. The town of New Salem was about 25 miles into the day and, after some effort, we did locate a grocery store where we could get drinks and use the bathroom. After about 15-20 minutes, we pushed on to Glen Ullin. It was another 23 miles down the road and seemed like a good time and spot to eat lunch. We spent about 13 of those miles riding on I-94, it being the only paved road. Not my favorite stretch but, unfortunately, not the last time we will be riding on that highway.

Along with a lack of people out here, there is a corresponding lack of asphalt. As we approached our exit, there was a sign that said “Glen Ullin Next 3 Exits”. Certainly one was bound to have a diner. We got off at the first exit and rode the last few miles into town, only to find that the one and only place with any food at all was the Dollar General. These stores are abominations that have overtaken small-town America like locusts, driving out locally owned stores, and like many of their large compatriots (think Wal-Mart), are depriving these towns of any vibrancy. In this case, the Dollar General had a few aisles of food, all pre-packaged. No fresh food at all. It had a frozen foods and deli section that was completely empty. It had peanut butter and jelly but not a single slice of bread. But, like many of the convenience stores, it had unending amounts of junk food. Ultimately, we each grabbed a couple of drinks and made a lunch out of beef jerky, squeeze applesauce and the little packages of crackers with the cheese filling. We took our stuff around the side of the building to the shade and sat down on the concrete to eat and that’s when it happened.

Another cyclist rolled in to the parking lot and saw us. He was a young guy, probably 24 or 25. He came over and noticed right away the gym shorts I had on over my bike shorts. He said “Bates College, I went to Colby”. For those not familiar, Bates (a school of 1,800 students) is where Claire goes to school in Lewiston, Maine and they have two big rivals, Bowdoin and Colby. All three schools are within about 45 minutes of each other in Maine. As our conversation progressed, he (Bennett Allen) told us he had recently met another Bates student riding cross country in the opposite direction. Turns out the person he met is on the rowing team with Claire. Then Claire took a shot and asked Bennett if he knew of this other person that had recently graduated from Colby. Of course I wouldn’t be writing about it if he didn’t know the older sister of Claire’s best friend at school. This is not the first time in my life I’ve had a random encounter with someone and come to discover that there was some commonality in our past, but it still amazes me when it happens. This is certainly the most bizarre place it has ever happened, in the dead (or dying) town of Glen Ullin, ND, sitting on the ground outside of the Dollar General. And to think it likely wouldn’t have happened at all if there had just been a restaurant in town.

Bennett rode with us for the rest of our ride yesterday. We were enjoying the company and conversation and after about 13 more miles, came to the town of Hebron. The road bypassed the town and we opted not to veer off and head to town. We had a good rhythm going and we only had about 15 miles left. That was a mistake. I had previously told Claire that I never passed up an opportunity to stop and get a drink. Had there been a store along the highway, we certainly would have stopped, but after a quick consultation, we decided to just go ahead. About 15-20 minutes later, we were regretting our decision. We still had water and snacks so that wasn’t the issue. It was the missed opportunity to get out of the saddle for a bit and rest. The road got a bit more hilly in the last stretch and we were getting to the heat of the afternoon. We made it to our destination, Richardton, ND, where we had a Warmshowers stay lined up. We parted ways with Bennett but our hosts weren’t quite ready for us when we arrived, so Claire and I looked for a place to sit for awhile. Not surprisingly, the cafe in town was closed - permanently - so we found a drug store, got some lukewarm drinks, and found some shade for about an hour and a half. It was worth the wait, though. We had a great meal and a wonderful stay with Joel and Sasha Mayer and their daughters Anna and Masha. We played games and took a walk to a stunning abbey in this most unlikely of places.

I have a hunch this business is about to take off.

Forget about the world’s biggest ball of twine. We have now seen the world’s largest Holstein - Salem Sue.

Apparently these guys are very territorial and they guard the fence lines, keeping coyotes away from the herds.

The view from behind the abbey. Actually quite stunning and a better picture if we’d been there about 15 minutes earlier

Claire (left), Masha (right), Anna (front)