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Mike to date: 1,580.8

As I wrote in the post last night, we went to the Medora Musical! I would like to say “world famous” but neither of my partners had heard of it, or had heard of Medora before yesterday. It was an entertaining celebration of America’s 250th birthday and a celebration of Theodore Roosevelt. Though the whole thing was a little shy on history and really only focused on the successes of the early Medora settlers. But we had fun and sang along to the Eagles and John Denver, though we couldn’t quite understand how “running down the road tryin’ to loosen my load, I got seven women on my mind” quite fit with the Roughriders or cowgirl themes. We were intrigued to see this slice of Americana, but we felt out of place in the audience heavy on suspenders, overalls, cowboy boots and cosmetics.

Adding to the excitement of our outing, we went to dinner in town and chose to bike to the musical. Google Maps showed it was 1.7 miles from the restaurant “mostly flat”. The flat part was the first 0.7 miles, then it was a one mile climb of 350 feet up to the Burning Hills Amphitheater. In the musical, we heard several Theodore Roosevelt quotes; one was “nothing in this world is worth doing unless it takes effort.” Geeto and I decided to exert effort climbing; Lecy saw the climb and left us to go back to the campground for the free shuttle service. Strangely, there was an extra wide sidewalk leading all the way up to the show, with several switchbacks to dampen the steepness as it paralleled the road; we shifted into our granny gears and slowly climbed the hill at 3-4 mph (just fast enough that we wouldn’t fall over). It seemed strange to have this sidewalk; I’m sure Geeto and I were the first people to ever use it. About 15 minutes after we left a ticket for Lecy at Will Call and got to our seats, Lecy walked up, hot and sweaty with a bucket of popcorn – apparently the shuttle was a bust and Lecy became the third person to ever make that sidewalk ascent. He wasn’t particularly happy, but I think after the show he recognized our wisdom as we cruised past the long line of cars stacked bumper to bumper.

At one point in the musical they did some tap dancing that sounded like they were dancing in biking shoes. They called this tap dancing in cowboy boots “clogging”; they said there’s always clogging in the Medora Musical. At the Medora campground this morning, we were happy to again have porcelain where we did not do any “clogging”; though we did have another experience where two stalls were serving 50-100 campers that caused a line out the door.

Okay… that’s about enough of sharing from our musical experience…

Today we planned to ride 75 miles to Hebron. But, we got a slow start as the Gypsy got another flat after 5 miles (though a formal protest has been filed as it seemed that the valve on the tube failed rather than a puncture, but it did require a tube change). And, it was a relatively tough ride fighting wind all day. And, as the day went on, we picked up a thunderstorm warning. So, we quit early in Richardton after a measly 63.8 miles. That leaves us about 80 to Bismarck tomorrow (depending on how much of I-94 we want to experience). Tomorrow’s tentative plan: Day 23: Richardton to Bismarck

I also felt uninspired and in a fog all day. I’m not sure what was wrong. Time seemed to pass either too quickly or not at all. The scenery was mostly a blur. I periodically questioned myself again, “What am I doing out here? What is the purpose of all this?” We took a break in Dickinson after about 40 miles and things got a little better (that’s also when we committed to shorten our day). An hour later we came upon a field of sunflowers, which helped to brighten my mood. At 58 miles, we came to Taylor ND where Geeto was lured in by a Hamms beer sign, figuring we needed a recovery drink. Geeto ordered a local brew, the Sinister Pear, which tasted like it was “brewed” in the cow pasture just up the road. In better spirits, we looked at the weather apps and looked at the skies and made a quick 6 miles to the Dwell Inn in Richardton.

Jessie owns and operates the Dwell Inn, along with an event center next door. She provided accommodations with three beds and room inside for the bikes. And… she took us to the ice machine at the event center with 5-gallon buckets to fill for our baths. We “enjoyed” a ten-minute cold soak and warm showers to approach tomorrow less sore and more refreshed. I will continue to take advantage of ice baths whenever possible.

I’m not a big Doobie Brothers fan, but in memory of our Medora Musical experience, I had to add this song to the playlist: Listen to the Music.

But, as typical I can’t keep myself to just one. This song from Railroad Earth seems fitting for us, though we dodged the storm today, we have weathered a lot together. Storms

Another quote from Theodore Roosevelt we heard last night: “The best thing you can do is the right thing. The next best is the wrong thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” Well, we’re not doing nothing; I’m hopeful that what we’re doing is more right than wrong. I’m looking forward to staying with Lynn and Carol tomorrow night in Bismarck to recollect our thoughts and experiences over three weeks to see what we’re doing right and wrong.