Highlights from Minot, ND!

Michael has made it to North Dakota and just yesterday was in the town of Minot (northern half of North Dakota). In case you want to check out what is going on in Minot, here's a link to the local newspaper...
http://www.minotdailynews.com/

So, what's been going on since my last post: Michael left Missoula (not exactly sure when) headed to Glacier National Park. He posted a record-setting day of 114 miles from Missoula to Swan Lake!

Surprisingly, he's hooked up with some riding partners - 20-something guys on a tour from Portland, OR to Portland, ME. So far, there has been a lot of adventure...he first met some of the guys buying food in Missoula, they invited him to join them. Thinking that since they were traveling ultra-light (and looked like they were fast) he said "thanks, but no thanks". They left a day earlier from Missoula, and he caught up with them at Glacier! So, he decided to go ahead and join them. Since that time, they've lost a few of their group (started with 16, down to 7) and the biggest thing that happened is that one of the guys got into a very serious accident just outside of Glacier and had to be taken to the hospital. Michael was the first of the cyclist group on the scene (the guy's chain had come off and got all caught up, causing him to go down), and he was really cut up (hands, knees, etc.) Then, Michael asked him if he'd hit his head (these guys, being young and stupid, had decided not to wear helmets except on downhills...) he said yes, and Michael found a huge 2" gash on the back of his head. 40 stitches later, the guy and his best friend were on their way home and the rest of the group are wearing their helmets!

The group, as stated earlier, are traveling "ultra-light" and are camping too. So Michael, riding "loaded", is basically their sag wagon. Whether it is food, camping gear, or extra tubes, Michael is really helping them out. However, they have some cool connections for places to stay that he is taking advantage of - stayed with a friend of a friend and they loaded him up with deer sticks (he had 12 bags), and stayed behind a police station in Newtown, ND.

Michael loves ND - says that the agriculture is really beautiful, lots of Durham wheat, sunflower, safflower, and what he thinks may be peanuts (all dryland farmed) and big fields - 500 acres. The people are extremely friendly and outgoing, which is a big difference from Montana. ONce they left Glacier, they pretty much high-tailed it. He got told by one guy in Eastern Montana that ANYTHING from California is bullshit. Needless to say, they didn't come across much love in general in the whole state. However, the group did receive a "kick-ass tailwind" in Eastern Montana - helped them get out of there faster :-)

Other fun facts: Michael says he is "getting a lot stronger, and instead of ending the day totally wiped out", he is just really hungry. Speaking of which - 4,000 calories a day, with 5-6,000 every 3rd day, he says that he is "tired of eating". Wow.

Next stop - Twin Cities to meet up with Kristen, who's birthday is on the 25th. May the wind be with you!