Day 2 to 8 from Fargo, North Dakota to Hill City, Minnesota

It has been a few days since I arrived in the USA and I have been quite active, so it’s time to bring y’ll (you all) up to date with this latest adventure.

So it is Saturday (27th June) and today the cyclists who have already joined the Northern Tier Tour arrive in Fargo and so I’m able to join them at the church where we will be staying until Monday morning. The Expressway Suites, where I checked in on Thursday, kindly let me stay in my room until early afternoon and then they agree to use the shuttle bus to transport me to Peace Lutheran Church, which is not that far from the Fargo airport.

Neil Mulliken, the leader of the tour from the Fuller Center, was there to greet me on arrival and after finding a location in the church to set up my bed, I was able to retrieve’Uncle Sam’, my bike from the trailer. Under advice from Neil, I had brought two new tyres with me from the UK so we took the bike to a bike shop for these to be fitted and the bike given a final once over before setting out on Monday.

Sunday was a chance to buid new friendships, meet up with friends from previous rides, attend the morning service of the host church and then collect Uncle Sam from the bike shop. I cycled back to the church and took in a few blocks around the church to make sure everything felt good for the following day.

Monday was the first ride for me on the tour with a ride of just over 60 miles but it was not the distance that was the problem. It was the headwinds with gusts up to 30 to 50mph!! Sometimes it felt like you were standing still. Add to this light rain, thunder and lightning and this explains why not everyone was able to make the full distance.

Fortunately I was able to push through along with Tom Olschner as we supported each other by sharing the lead going into the wind. It was a really tough ride!! That said, once we arrived in Detroit Lakes the weather started to pick up 😀

Having arrived in Detroit Lakes on the Monday, Tuesday greeted us with wall-to-wall blue skies and warm temperatures! Just as well as we started to work on replacing a roof on a property. This was meant to be a 2-day job but we worked so well together as a team that we finished everything by lunchtime on the second day. In the evening we were treated to a barbecue meal by the home owner, Sonny. It was also great to work alongside a professional who went by a great name…..Tim!! It was great to hear my name being called out so much but most of the time, people were not after my attention!

On Thursday we set out on another bike ride and this one was for over 85 miles to Walken, Minnesota, my longest of the year so far. I rode a good part of this ride with LeeAnn White, who I have known from a previous Fuller Center ride. Leeann & Scott came with me to Ireland in 2024 and they are returning later this year for a ride in Scotland.

(Can you work out the name of the motorcycle club above?)

The area we are cycling through is famous for people to own lake homes. These are often only used during the summer period and there has been some added traffic on the roads as the country prepares to celebrate 250yrs of independence tomorrow. Add to this camp sites, recreation vehicles (RVs), bike trails and water sports and you will understand that the roads are full of fast vehicles (and boats) aiming to get from A to B as quickly as possible. This has required concentration and diligence on the part of all the bike riders as we seek to stay safe on the ride.

Finally, for this blog, on Friday we rode a somewhat shorter ride from Walden to Hill City, just under 50 miles. Hill City is far from my understanding of a ‘city’ and is only a small community amongst the lakes. It has two gas stations, a Methodist Chapel, an ice cream and coffee shop and an assembly of other shops which sell you a range of diverse things that you might need once in a lifetime. Both garages also double as convenience stores. There is no supermarket in Hill City but we are staying at the local primary school, which has incredible facilities, however, the school term has ended and the internet has been closed down for the summer.

Evidence of the 5-star accommodation we are enjoying on the ride!!

Now in Duluth and we leave Minnesota on Monday, bound for Wisconsin 🤠