CANDISC 2016

And so it begins... this CANDISC could quite possibly be my very last as the vast world of adulthood and college beckon. Dramatic. I've always been known for the dramatics I suppose. This morning was rough. Our 6:30am wake up was not at all pleasant and I do wish I could have opted out to sleep a few more hours. The only saving grace in this, however, is the sleep I was able to get while riding in the van the previous day. So I unceremoniously (and groggily) pulled my things together and prepared for our first day of riding. Once everything was thrown in the van, we were off to deposit our luggage on the truck and assemble the quad (previously a quint). As one can imagine, this caused many an issue. To start, we had to retrieve our welcome packets from the ride directors because they were all sleeping when we pulled in the previous night. Ride coordinators Dick and Melissa were glad to see us and offered warm welcomes as we missed CANDISC last year after 8 years running from scheduling conflicts.

Once we made it back to the van, we began to assemble the bike and had a few minor moments of terror (did we take the right section out?) and discovered that our chain lengths were not correct for the quad. With some quick thinking on Dad's part, and a very gracious truck driver who waited until we were done so we would have our luggage in the next town, we were able to solve the issue and head out. A few lingering people stopped by to say hello and shared how much they missed us last year. We would later see many returning faces, several new riders, and some of those we expected to see were strangely absent.

Stop number one was at the gas station for breakfast of grapefruit juice and a biscuit with egg and bacon and cheese. Next stop: the motel room to make sure we didn't leave anything. Final destination: Hazen, ND.

When we got started we knew we were in for a bit of a windy day. At 10:01am we departed Garrison and sure enough, the wind was strong and only gaining strength as the hours ticked by. The temperature was nice, however, and the roads relatively friendly but not a rider in sight. We passed over the lake and made a right to go west a ways where a sag was located. They were almost packed up when we arrived so after hopping off and resting for a few minutes, we were back on the road. I had forgotten how nice North Dakota really is; there's a peaceful serenity about the landscape with rolling hills and open sky and wildflowers lining the road. It's these types of rides where you can really collect your thoughts and just think, about anything really.

The wind was far more favorable heading west and we began to roll along pretty well, until we turned and headed south again. As the day went on, the flatter road turned to rolling hills. Bee boxes were far more frequent and the sunflower fields were always close at hand. Glittering gold on a hillside is one of the most beautiful things you can see, right? I'm rich in ways the wealthy could only dream and it's the little things like sunflowers that have made me see that.

We ended up stopping when we turned west yet again, just to get off the bike. As per usual, I was the kickstand and steadied our trusty steed whilst we rested for a moment. We started to see more and more riders as we got farther into the ride. More bee boxes lined the roads and we were soon in the middle of a swarm. That could be a slight over exaggeration but I really, really do not want to deal with stings nor those of us who react very poorly to bees (see previous ride stories).

The sag at the final turn south was right between two sunflower fields and needless to say, we did not stop. I doubt this was because of the bees but more like we had stopped not that long before so we were fine, in theory. However, the last stretch was the most difficult and we were beginning to run out of water. We kept climbing and climbing and climbing and at some point I began to wonder what it would be like to breathe at a normal, steady pace again. Towards the top of our continuous climbing (lots of stair stepping), we pulled off for a moment just to take a break. I was ready to sit down for a long while at this time but bravely continued on. Thankfully, a descent of sorts was in our future, though the quad does not go downhill into a headwind well. I can't imagine what other riders had to deal with on their single bikes.

We climbed back out of the hole we fell into, all of it gradual but continuous grinding on the pedals. At last, the final descent into Hazen was before us. We were able to take a butt break (confetti canons go off and cheerleaders come out of the sunflower fields) on the final stretch in and immediately pulled into a gas station for some much needed lunch. Subway it was but I was far more concerned about drinking the cold water supplied out of the soda machine. My sandwich was questionable at best but food is food at the end of the day.

We checked into our motel and grabbed our luggage before taking showers and vegging out for awhile. We wandered back towards the school for a beer garden that had $4 canned beers, none to the liking of those able to drink but they took what they could get. We walked back towards our motel, across the highway, and down the bike path in search of a bar that was supposed to be open but to no avail. Cennex pizza would have to do. They ran out of green olives (how??) so onions replaced them on our pizza and a ridiculous amount of time later, we had a pizza too big for us to finish that was ok, but not great. Natalie ate ice cream afterwards but I did not. Oh, the injustice.

We made it back to the motel finally and worked on a few things, caught up on the Olympics, and got ready for the next day.

Dinner on the way to North Dakota	Padre y yo
Dad had no time for a haircut before he left...	...Julie became a professional barber
The final result	Nice fur coat, Dad!

Sunscreen assistance	Final Trim
Sunflower fields forever	Garrison Dam
All in a row now	Someone's tired
Food!	We're a bit exhausted
Pizza!	Please don't feed the bikers

We packed up the gear this morning and dropped the bags at the truck, sans helmet because we were a bit lazy. Breakfast was at the Cennex with mildly disappointing, but not unanticipated, breakfast biscuits/croissants. We made it back to the motel and took yet another roll of toilet paper for the collection (this makes two) and loaded up on the bike.

The first stretch of the ride was a crosswind heading west on a road frequented by many trucks. Thankfully, there was a rather large shoulder to be on that wasn't completely falling apart. The wind was a bit strong but the traffic gave us a draft of sorts as we climbed up... and up... and up. But there were a few downs in there as well. We turned left to head south to Buella (Bueller...Bueller...Bueller) and lo and behold, on the left was a quick shop and just down the street, a Dairy Queen. Intrigued, we went to inspect this establishment only to find it did not open for another hour and a half. With slightly damp spirits we embarked on the next stretch of the ride.

Needless to say, I don't remember a whole lot of the next stretch beyond lots and lots of hills, burning legs, and the occasional sunflower field. The traffic was light but the road construction was crazy. Bridges at the bottom of hills were under construction so we rode on gravel to get around the cranes and other equipment. The very first hill out of town was absolutely killer but we did not succumb to the granny ring just yet. We powered through and made it to the top with lungs collapsing (at least on my part) and legs burning. From there, the road seemed to continually go up. The headwind was so strong that on a downhill of any kind, the bike would slow down if we were not actively pedaling. We passed bike after bike but still felt as if we were not making any progress. At one point, multiple construction vehicles were driving towards us on the side of the road and threw clouds of dirt into the air, not bothering to wait until a group of riders went by. While these people were highly inconsiderate, we managed and passed through the cloud, much to our displeasure. More hills followed from there and these were not small, cute, little rollers. These hills were of another breed and looming just ahead of us. We began to ascend yet another climb when a mouthful of explicative words exploded from our captain due to an unfriendly bee puncturing his face with a stinger. Now, I'm all for saving bees but while we as a human race wage war against insect kind (if the bees die out humans have six years to live, apparently), we as a quad do not. Thus, we did not appreciate the bee that made the attempt to put our captain out of commission. We pulled over briefly and Dad went ahead and took a Benadryl or two.

Sag... sag... where for art thou? We were getting tired. Our legs hurt. Our butts were not in agreement with us. It had been a long time. And yet, no promised sags stop. One of the support vehicles kept passing us and stopping to pick up people until at last they could not fit another bike on the trailer. At this point, I was nearly out of water and our patience was wearing thin. We eventually pulled up next to it as they spoke to another rider and Dad heatedly questioned why, in the world, there was no rest stop. I genuinely felt bad for the guy but at the same time, 22 miles later was a bit ridiculous given the terrain, wind, and a promised rest stop at mile fifteen that was nowhere to be found. We were able to get some water from him before heading onwards. The wind seemed to lighten up just a bit after we refilled and a few miles ahead an official CANDISC stop appeared. There were so many people resting and laying down in the grass from fatigue. The last section of the ride was far more enjoyable and the hills were not quite as severe.

We finally rolled into town and got Snickers ice cream bars thanks to the temperature heating up quite a bit. With the promise of a motel, we loaded up to go across the street to find out that we did not have a motel. Defeated, we went back to setup camp before heading over to the local restaurant and devoured two bar pizzas and various beverages.

On the way back to the school we made a pit stop at the Cennex for ice cream and a bag of chips. Not the baked "healthy" kind, mind you.

We vegged in the school for a little while before going outside to listen to a local group sing various songs ranging from country to Christian to oldies. It was quite interesting, let me tell you.

Everyone headed off to bed and I finished up my writing for today with the help of an outlet on the side of the school while Dad, on his computer, was trying to figure out how to pay my college tuition, shortly due.

Waking up in a tent was not quite as bad as I thought it might have been. I went camping with some friends this summer so I should be used to it by now but alas, the ground is hard and my will is weak. We packed up camp and headed over to the Cennex for breakfast this morning. One of Dad's bee stings swelled up his neck so he resembled a bull frog. It was quite entertaining but we're still praying he doesn't have another encounter.

It was a bit chilly when we started out and just down the road we found out the computer on the bike decided to stop working. Never fear, we had the handy Garmin to rely on.

The first stretch of the ride did not have much wind, which was a welcomed surprise after the windy ride yesterday. The landscape was far flatter as well so massive climbs were not present. Sunflowers were also absent from this stretch. The ride to Heron was relatively short and we passed the sag without much thought. There were a few hills just after but we weren't huffing and puffing all that much. The time seemed to fly by on the road today as well, with the help of an average over eighteen miles per hour. We did get off around the 30 mile mark and ate some of the sag food the Legion was selling. Chocolate chip muffins never tasted so good.

We continued to fly down the road and noticed the terrain increasing in elevation and then quickly decreasing on downhills. There were a few tough climbs for sure but none were like the previous day. The fields had hay and wheat but not much else. We did see the same personal sag vehicles over and over again throughout the day, which was annoying at times but you gotta do what you gotta do, as they say.

Dickinson provided lunch for us at the 51 mile mark. I saw a Pita Pit restaurant and decided for the group that was where we were going to dine. As we pulled up we found that they opened in another hour, thanks to the time change into Mountain Time. Little Caesars next door it was... only to find they, too, opened later. Plan number three was the Shell gas station across the street where we had a burrito (Julie), turkey sandwiches (Dad and I), and a turkey sandwich, minus the turkey with string cheese (Natalie). At the gas station Dad also switched out the battery on the computer sensor, which was quite the interesting task with removing the coin cells from obnoxiously secure packaging.

The last stretch went by relatively quickly but I was ready to be off the bike for sure. Unfortunately, where the riders were staying was down a massive hill while we had to turn around and climb to reach our motel. The owners were not friendly to say the least and put us in the second building at the back so we were facing away from the road. The second building wasn't even occupied beside us, I don't believe. The lot wasn't even gravel, it had such big rocks so I don't believe it even classifies as such. They did not have a washing machine that was for guests, they wouldn't let us use theirs, and she tried to deter me from even hanging our bike clothes outside. However, there was a laundromat we visited across from (you guessed it) a bar. I have never tasted such good pulled pork in my life. That was most likely due to having eaten pizza for three days.

We were thankful for a motel tonight, despite the hardships, as a storm was moving in.

Time to turn out the light for tonight. We're on mountain time so more sleep. Yay!

Waking up in a bed this morning was so nice. We dined at the Cennex for breakfast before making our way out of town towards our destination. We flew down the hill towards the start of the route and immediately passed three cyclists with an exclamation of "we're not last!" Needless to say, the hill on the other side wasn't difficult to crest. The first part of our route today had many rolling hills on the way out of town. We turned right and then made an immediate left and lo and behold, we were on westbound Interstate 94 . The terrain immediately changed from hills to the Badlands and I'm sure the tailwind pushing us down the road only aided in the transformation of the landscape. We decided to pull over at the visitor center halfway to Medora (a measly 10 miles) to take a picture of the painted canyon that was Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The landscape dropped off into a valley with rocks that towered from the floor in clay of beige, black, and red obstructed only by the hair in my face due to the wind.

The next ten miles into Medora were downhill for the most part, just as I remember from our previous tour through the Badlands in 2008. We flew down the hill on the interstate to the exit at the very bottom. This section of the ride wasn't as scenic, as it was an interstate, but the buffeting wind made it interesting when we flew down the road. With the strength it took to fight the wind as captain, Dad must be able to dead lift a llama.

The downhill to Medora, just off the exit, was super steep and quite long. We bombed down into the town, ignoring the speed limit sign indicating twenty-five miles per hour. A convenience store was on the left and so we stopped to grab half of a sandwich each before we took on the park loop itself. We discovered, just as we were about to head out, that the headset on the quint had gotten loose and so we decided to make a detour to the bags to find a Y wrench. We made an attempt to stake a claim to put our tents and loaded back up on the bike, despite the apprehension from Dad about doing the loop on a quad.

We picked up a map from the visitor center and began the ascent into the park. If anything the first hill was an inclination of what was to come. Huffing and puffing, we made it up the first hill and down the other side, over the interstate to the other side. We passed the outlook at the top and on the way down the cars were stopped, as a herd of buffalo surrounded the road. We were able to sneak by, luckily with the cars and made it to the intersection of the loop. Believing the counterclockwise loop was more intuitive than the other way around, we embarked in the same direction as we had 8 years ago on the triplet. The hills through the park were extremely steep, and at times 11% grades. We did not have the gears (25T large cog) for some of the climbs but we did our best with what we had. Already on a steep slope, we went around a corner to reveal a wall of a road and made the executive decision to get off and walk to a section of the pavement that was not as steep. We got back on and rode the insane road until we had to get off again but the view was beautiful. The rock formations were like castles surrounded by moats of prairie grass in various hues, protected by buffalo.

The CANDISC unmanned sag half way through the ride was much welcomed by the time we arrived. The descents had been nerve wracking (there was a lot of wind), my legs ached for obvious reasons, and cold water was a must at this point. We recharged with some Gu and cool (but not cold) water on the curb.

The road from there flattened out a bit (ha flattened, yeah right) but the climbs for the next portion we could roll into easier and we made it up without too much of a cry. From there, a massive hill loomed in front and we ended up getting off because it was one tough sucker. Wild horses were on a bluff to the right, creating a majestic back drop to our courageous ascent up the climb, even if it was off the bike.

The downhill on the other side was even better, as you can imagine. We made a left to finish up the loop and found ourselves riding though a herd of buffalo that were spreading out across the street. Yikes. Buffalo started crossing the street behind us as well as in front and we were effectively trapped until a few cars came along. A very nice lady in an SUV said she would let us walk next to her vehicle as we passed the buffalo and a truck agreed to drive on the wrong side of the road next to her so we would be between two vehicles. The plan was formulated until the guy driving the pick up suggested we just put the bike in the truck. And we did. Sort of. We all climbed in the back and put the front wheel of the bike on the tailgate and towed the bike to the lookout just up the hill. That was the most interesting way to get through a herd I have ever seen.

The hill that followed was long... and steep... and brutal. But we made it. I was beginning to doubt us a bit.

The rest of the ride back to the entrance was hilly and grunt educing but we made it, luckily. Suddenly the hill we initially went up didn't seem quite as bad.

We immediately went to the quick shop and drank four PowerAdes, a green tea, and ate a bag of chips between us.

Camp was set up, showers were taken, and we hitched a ride into town with a CANDISC bus with ride organizer Dick behind the wheel. Dinner was at the Little Missouri Bar where we ordered a delicious Marguerite pizza and drank way too much soda. Natalie left and got ice cream, which was not shared what so ever beyond a small bite (she even made sure I didn't get a cookie dough bite).

By this time it had gotten late and I had to explain to a group of Boy Scouts that riders would be getting up early (like 5am early) and that I didn't want to spoil their fun but could they, please, keep the volume a bit lower. Thankfully they obliged my request.

I woke up before the sun was up to people packing up tents and the sound of a sag vehicle running. WHYYYYYYYY. I am not a morning person, as we all know, and the rude awakening was not on my list for today.

Breakfast was at the convenience store and the sandwiches were amazing. And huge.

The hill out of Medora was painful. The steep, looming giant made my muscles scream at me but despite the protest, we did make it up the hill. The giant, long hill on the interstate we enjoyed going down yesterday? We muscled up it this morning. It was long, as expected but it wasn't as bad as I thought. We were rolling really well once the west wind picked up and so we rocked and rolled all the way to the visitor center and the designated exit. We decided, due to our high rate of speed, that we should stay on the interstate until the next exit at Belfield to avoid the very large hill. The wide, smooth shoulder made quite an argument and we stayed put but still had quite the hill to the gas station. We thought we made a wrong turn so after turning around and getting our directions figured out, we were headed back to Dickinson over twenty miles away. The miles went by pretty fast with a 17.8 mph average and we didn't stop until we got to Dickinson. The rolling hills were much welcomed after yesterday's grunts. The pavement was a bit ground off, however, thanks to road construction but we managed.

We stopped at a Cennex to grab some snacks and I opted for a Snickers ice cream bar. I love those things and I haven't had one in what seems like forever. Forty miles is a very long time on the bike, even with a tailwind. The turn we made north was not fun. The wind was ripping and the crosswind it forced upon us was not what I was looking forward to. This stretch had a lot of oil traffic on it and so the ride was a bit tense. A geezer driving a red pickup truck came very close to hitting us from behind and our dive on the shoulder caused us to practically run another cyclist off the road. The shoulder was freshly oiled and covered in sand two or three inches deep in spots, so there was no place to ride on the shoulder without risking a flat or crashing.

We managed, with our ever steadfast captain at the helm of our ship, and pushed onwards. A sag fifteen miles from Dickinson was welcomed, as was a small town with a gas station ten miles after that. The grades were much longer and interstate-esque, so the downhills were nice but the climbs long. None were too incredibly steep and though we were ready to get off the bike, we did ok.

Our turn to the east at Killdeer was the best thing to happen all day. With a massive tailwind, we ran out of gears despite our 56T ring and 11T cog as we were running 30 miles per hour and more consistently, until the road curved just before the town.

Being some of the first riders in, we were able to make a claim for our tent pretty early on and took showers before investigating the pub and grub. The pizza was great, the salad not so much. When the dinner crowd rolled in, the band showed up to play and we found they were extremely loud. We moved outside and found that many locals were enjoying a Bud Light (or a few too many) and the volume kept increasing. Cigarette smoke began wafting and with that, I went down to the park and found an outlet. A plane flew overhead while I typed and Dad got me an ice cream from the food truck.

Velociraptor (see pictures above)

WE FOUND A TACO BELL

Shoulder conditions were not the best - this was a good stetch

The Dog House BBQ

Traffic is attributed to the oil wells

We made it

Food!

Moose

She wouldn't take a picture

Type type type

I woke up before dark to our neighbors packing up their things. Now, I'm all for "sharing is caring" but at some point I need some personal space and preferably that comes in the form of your tents are nowhere near our tents.

I tried to fall back to sleep a few times but resigned myself to the realization that I would not, in fact, be sleeping decently until I had to get up. The pink cotton candy sky faded to blue and I must have dozed off at some point or another. We packed up camp and went in search of breakfast at the pub and grub once we were functional. Biscuits and gravy with eggs, tater tots, and assorted condiments would get us down the road for a ways.

The wind was blowing from the northwest so our eastern ride had a push in the first stretch. The road was made of rolling hills with wildflowers gracing the side of the asphalt. There were many trucks this morning, most likely oil traffic, but most were friendly and gave us plenty of room. The pain in my backside only increased as we reached the first sag of the day in Dodge. The town is raising money to put new windows in their church and so we plan to vote them as the best sag stop so far. A couple of the ladies at the rest stop spoke about the water conditions they experience in their town, as well as the impact the new pipeline will have on the communities. The local oil boom had increased traffic in the area the past few years but we heard there was a recent "lull" making it possible to do the western tour route. This year was strange in that the little towns in North Dakota did not run the various rest stops and sell home made goods, but I suppose we're also in a different part of the state as well.

We ate egg salad or ham salad sandwiches and sipped on Gatorade to get us down the road. The next few miles were also aided by the wind but we soon made a jog north and the wind worked against us. The long grades seemed endless at times and I kept thinking our turn had to be fast approaching. We made a quick rest stop on the side of the road and while everyone got off, I held up the bike.

The last few miles were mildly torturous but we made it up the looming hill and on the other side, our turn was apparent. The speed increase was noticed immediately by all members of the bike. On a huge downhill we saw a rest stop at the bottom and with no intent to stop, we were unfortunately cut off by one of the sag vehicles. Go disc brakes!

The next water stop was fifteen miles from that point and we were able to get off there to refill on fluids and eat a muffin.

We turned north for a brief moment before heading back east, and back to our tailwind. By this time, everyone was raw and sore and desperately willing for the lunch stop to come along. We powered to the stop where a make your own sandwich station was in the garage of a farm house. I went for watermelon while everyone made sandwiches and picked out their snacks. Natalie discovered some very young kittens roaming around; she was in absolute heaven. I have to check the pack and make sure that she didn't bring a stowaway.

In the very last stretch of the ride we encountered a house being delivered by truck on the road. And by house, I mean house. The home covered the entire road plus both shoulders and cars heading towards the living quarters were forced to pull off to avoid being hit. We stopped on the shoulder and stayed there for a minute until the truck passed. The sight of the Garrison Dam was a very welcomed sight by our tired legs and we made good time over the water with the wind at our backs. A CANDISC bus was on the side of the road across the dam with a state trooper behind and two cyclists on the side. Everything was ok, as we later found out, but one of the ladies had a flat tire just a mile outside of Riverdale.

We rolled into town, exhausted, and in need of relieving our sore backsides. However, we discovered that the area designated for tent camping behind the high-school-turned-hotel was very limited. We trekked up the hill and found a spot and promptly spread our luggage around our area to ward off potential campers. Quite the demonic bag square, if I do say so myself.

We took a shower in the second building of the motel/hotel where they opened two rooms up for the riders. Those bathrooms were the nicest I had seen in weeks and eagerly got in line. WIFI was available too!

After taking showers and hanging in the rooms a bit, we found that a surprise cell of rain had moved over us and poured all over our campsite. I mean poured. Everything was wet but thankfully we did put the rain flies on ahead of time.

Dinner was at the Knight Bar and Grill, connected to the hotel. Natalie went for a grilled cheese sandwich while the rest of us had pepperoni pizza.

There was live entertainment as well by a nineteen year old country singer, Willi Dakota. He played a lot of oldies and songs that people could sing along to, making the evening a nice wrap up.

North Dakota Gold

Sag with volunteers dressed in 1800's prairie clothing

This house is having a rough time but I admire its determination

Just a break

Natalie found cats

And more cats

And still more cats

I have to admit, this is pretty cute

Now that's a house

The CANDISC bus and a police officer looking out for riders

Satanic bag circle

Fresh off the outdoor grill corn on the cob

People do not know how to get up quietly, as we have learned throughout the trip, and this morning was no exception. Natalie even got up early to put her contacts in so I was the last one up. Complete shocker, I know.

We were the last ones out of town, as per tradition, but breakfast came first at a gas station with limited supplies. I had chocolate milk and a granola bar, so not a large amount of food.

The first stretch of the ride was nice with a tailwind at our backs but as soon as we turned north, we knew it. Even so, the first part of the ride went by relatively quickly and soon we were on an all too familiar highway, as we were about to bring our eighth CANDISC to a close. There weren't many people on the roads this morning but the occasional biker was out there. We traded long, steep grades for the flatter, marshy lands near the lake and though the change of scenery was nice, constant pedaling does wear on one's bottom, especially when one wears one's uncomfortable shorts.

We stopped at the gas station not far from Garrison because one member of our party (me) drank way too much chocolate milk this morning only to find the building did not open until eleven. Thankfully, another family on the ride with a very nice camper trailer allowed me to use their restroom. We were back on the route and turned towards Garrison to meet a very very strong crosswind.

The last drag into town was hard... and long... but totally worth it for the traditional lunch of brats, watermelon, pasta, and desert bars. After enjoying lunch, we loaded everything in the van and were on our way to Kansas City.

GARRISON!

Fire truck

End of the ride

Rainbow!

Velociraptor	It's morning
Trains	Morning ride
Tractor Windmill	Tractor Decoration
Stuck at road construction	We're all stopped
Finished!	Packing up
Dinner (with large beverages)	Music outdoors
Bee Venom, the spreading aftermath...	....See?

We're here!	Measly 10 miles
Badlands	The view
No, Medora is that way!	The quad squad
Teddy Roosevelt	This, children, is why we carry toilet paper
Home on the range	The top of one very steep hill
Just a slight pause	Wild horses
The view above	Hills are steep, no joke
Tow the bike to safety!	The dark cloud approaches
Dollar bills hang from the ceiling in this bar	Sunset at Medora