Mrs. Doc had a weeklong program in Bismarck ND, so flew out there the end of last week, rented a bike (a rather nice Specialized Roubaix) and took a 40 mile ride north into Lewis & Clark territory. I hadn't known that Bismarck was such a bustling riverboat town in the 1800's, but this sign along their bike path tells the tale:
The Bismarck city bike paths are extensive and nicely maintained. I rode this one a few miles north of town until it ended at River Road:
...which is aptly named. It didn't run close to the Missouri the whole time, but every once in a while I got a glimpse:
Rt. 1804 (think about it, you'll understand) is a great riding road. Shoulder is narrow and has these sound bumps on the white line, but the surface is smooth, the cars were few between and very polite, and the road has a lot of gentle rolling hills:
The day turned hot by the afternoon, and I was schvitzing by something terrible. Had to conserve fluids as I had only brought one water bottle with me:
Made it up to Milepost 100 and turned back, as I wanted to make sure I had time to visit a historic native site I'd passed along the way:
Double Ditch is a native site occupied from the 1400's to the later 1700's. Beautiful area, lots of neat stuff to see and read about
:
Took one last shot of the Missouri at Double Ditch before heading back to Bismarck. Great ride, great day!
