Turtle Mountains how-do

Aug. 18, Peace Garden-Lake Metigoshe, 24 miles, calm, 70/50—The first day of my Great Plains trip is not on any plains at all, and instead of treelessness I spend the night at a state forest on Lake Metigoshe. My friend Amahia and I drove today from Grand Forks to the International Peace Garden, shared by North Dakota and Manitoba. It’s pretty in a dull way, with manicured flower beds, fountains, and monuments, and gets heavy use from music and sports camps and weekend events. But my thoughts are on the next two months of riding, and I’m nervous.

Completely loaded for the first time, the bike wobbles enough to make us question the trueness of the wheels. I ride back and forth for a while and we conclude it’s probably normal wobbliness for a first day, and that my brain and steering motor skills will adjust in a day or so. (They do. The brain is so adaptable that a week later, in Bismarck, I ride the bike unloaded for the first time since departure, and almost lose my balance standing up in the pedals on an uphill.)

Fortunately U.S. Customs waves me through the border crossing without a search of my gear, stored in nylon and plastic bags in my panniers. Into early evening I ride a rolling small highway straight west, passing fields of hay and cattle and forests of aspen, birch, and pine. Marshes and ponds dot the roadside and I see waterfowl and a swimming beaver. Based on names in the Salem Lutheran cemetery, this area is Scandinavian and German: Helgesen, Krogen, Rude, Frovarp, Mjaanes. At the state forest campground that evening, the ranger pulls up and greets me with a hearty “how do”!