North Dakota--the 46th State!

 

Sunday, August 15,2021

Finally on the fifth day of my trip I got on the bicycle, and did the 15-mile "Tour de Fargo" (North Dakota) to get my 46^th state. 

My morning started in Eagan, MN (southern suburb of Minneapolis).  I had hoped to leave my friends Sheryl and David by 9:00 a.m.  It was closer to 10:00 a.m., so instead of being on the bike by 1:00 p.m. for my 15 mile ride I was not underway until about 2:15 p.m. I started along the Red River on a trail but soon left it to head into town.  There was a nice small town downtown, a restored railroad station, the campus of North Dakota State University and various neighborhoods with a range of styles of houses.  Overall the condition of the streets was only “fair” so between pavement cracks, traffic lights, and both a cue sheet and a GPS course that didn’t quite seem to match the roads, progress was a bit slow.  I went down a couple of streets and had to turn around and ended up in some places blazing a new course not planned for.  I knew it was warm but didn’t know until I downloaded the data from my computer that the average temperature was almost 93 degrees.

Here’s some pictures from around Fargo:

The trail along the Red River

Downtown Fargo

More Downtown Fargo

The Fargo Train Station Still Used by Amtrak

This one is for my daughter the triathlete

Some Neighborhoods

Where I-94 (which I came up on from Minneapolis) cuts through town I crossed the highway on a pedestrian and bicycle bridge that arcs over the road.  I came back through a pedestrian and bicycle tunnel a bit to the east.  It was then that I ended up at American Legion Park which has a loop road through it called Roger Maris drive, named for the famous baseball player who spent much of his childhood in Fargo.  Here’s the bridge, tunnel and Roger Maris Drive including the memorial to him in the park:

 

The tunnel under I-94
and the bridge over the highway

If you want to see the route of my “Tour de Fargo”, and the data about the ride, just click on this link:

 The Link to Today's Route

Before going to the hotel I went to West Acres Mall which in addition to the usual mall offerings of stores and restaurants, also has the Roger Maris Museum.  According to the signs it was dedicated with him in attendance in 1984, the year before he died.  He wanted it in the mall so that it was accessible to everyone and there is no charge for admission.  There is lots of Roger Maris memorabilia behind glass and a theater which shows a movie about him on a continuous loop.  From 1961 when he hit 61 home runs for the New York Yankees, there are small banners hanging from the ceiling along the edge of the museum which show the date and location where he hit each of the 61 home runs.  Here’s some glimpses of the museum:

Tomorrow morning it’s off on about an eight hour drive to Miles City,Montana.  I hope to get an early enough start so I can get there around 3:00 p.m. I get a bonus hour because I’ll pass into the Mountain Time Zone.  Then hopefully tomorrow afternoon I’ll do the “Tour de Miles City”and check off Montana from my list, leaving only Colorado, Utah and Nevada to go.  However, it’s supposed to be100 degrees tomorrow afternoon in Miles City so I may possibly wait and do the ride early on Tuesday morning and then head off on another eight hour drive—this one to Fort Collins, Colorado.

So it’s off to bed to prepare for an early start tomorrow as the pursuit of riding in all 50 states moves toward its hopeful completion by this coming weekend.