July 9th: Minot to Rugby, ND – Post and Photos

Rugby, ND – Geographical Center of North America.

July 9^th Statistics – Minot to Rugby, ND:

• Today’s Biking Distance – 72.9 miles
• Today’s Average Speed – 14.9 mph
• Today’s Time In Saddle – 4.9 hours
• Today Ascent – 635 feet
• Today Descent – 834 feet
• Today’s Ending Elevation – 1,214 feet
• Total Trip Biking Days – 19
• Total Trip Biking Distance – 1,478.3 miles
• Total Trip Average Biking Distance/Day – 77.8 miles
• Total Trip Ascent – 50,034 feet

Interesting day of sightseeing – visited 3 notable sites:  1) Rugby, ND – The Geographical Center of North America (see photo above), 2) Towner, ND – The Cattle Capital of North Dakota (see photo below), 3) The World’s Largest Metal Belt Buckle at the Prairie Village Museum in Rugby, ND (see photo below).  Nothing new in terms of terrain or scenery.  However, I did see my first crop duster in a field I passed (fortunately, I was upwind).

We had to delay our departure due to rain.  Our 20% chance of showers delivered before 9 am.  The rest of the day delivered increasing sunshine and temperatures.  Headwinds in the morning (5-10%) slowed us down, but switched to tailwinds in the afternoon so overall I averaged almost 15 mph for the day.

I won’t be able to add more tonight (7/10) or enter today’s post and pictures – I am exhausted.  While the mileage today was only 84 miles, we had a headwind all day (5-10 mph) and heat.  Additionally, tomorrow is an 80+ miles day, we are facing 15-25 mph headwinds, and there is a 60% chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon.  We are leaving at 6:30 am.  Hope to catch up by the time we reach Fargo on Thursday.

Enjoy the photos and be sure to read the captions.

P.S.  I added a new statistic – Daily Hours In The Saddle.  When I started the tour, I thought that mileage was the governing factor for how long it would take to ride each day – wrong.  Road conditions and winds are just as important to how long I ride.  Examples:  My longest day in the saddle was 8.1 hours to ride 103.3 miles while it only took be 8.0 hours to ride 122.9 miles on another day.  On the most windy day it took 5.8 hours to ride 53.5 miles while it only took 24 minutes longer to ride 105.5 miles on another day.

Mile 3: Scandinavian Heritage Center – Top sightseeing destination in Minot.

Mile 47: Towner, ND, The Cattle Capital of North Dakota. I noted that the gasoline station/convenience store/restaurant (where I had lunch) also served as a local cattle supply store – the bovine vaccine and other refrigerated veterinarian supplies were in a Coca Cola machine next to the ice cream freezer.

Mile 60: A typical view today biking Route 2 (4 lane divided highway) – nothing new in scenery for the day.

Rugby, ND: The Geographical Center of North America.

Prairie Village Museum – Bird Collection.

Prairie Village Museum – Antique Stove Collection (A personal favorite).

Prairie Village Museum – Antique Washing Machine Collection (Another personal favorite).

Prairie Village Museum – Antique Permanent Hair Curling Machine.

Prairie Village Museum – Workers Cooking and Dinner Railway Car Interior.

Prairie Village Museum – Antique Sausage Mixer Collection.

Prairie Village Museum – Relocated Antique Buildings and Railcar.

Prairie Village Museum – Another View of Antique Buildings Relocated to Museum.

Prairie Village Museum – Norwegian Ten Commandments Located In 1900 Church.

Prairie Village Museum – World’s Largest Metal Belt Buckle.

Prairie Village Museum – 50 State Pillars.

Northern Lights Inn – Rugby Lodging.