The Legend of Assumption Abbey

Before calling it a night last night, I had a bit of a chat with Anna about my upcoming route (which continues to be more than a little vague) as she has been to some of the places I am wanting to see. We also talked about my accommodation plans for the next day (i.e., today). My plan was to get to Richardton and, as I mentioned a couple of days ago, Joe and Bonny from Michigan told me of a potential place to stay. It sounded a bit too good to be true so I asked Anna if she knew anything about it. She did. And she just said, “It’s true.” She then elaborated enough to convince me that it was worth investigating once I arrived in Richardton. So, more on that later. Onto this morning.

Once again, I found myself waking up very early … although, the fact that I set my alarm for 5:30 AM might have had something to do with that. Yes, I did go to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour the night before but it’s MUCH easier to wake up naturally when sleeping in a tent. The sun is a pretty powerful (and punctual) alarm.

So, as mentioned, my destination for the day was Richardton, ND. About 130 km away. A rather hilly 130 km. With headwinds for much of it. Thankfully, not ALL of it. The winds weren’t actually much of a factor for the first 90 minutes … or the last 90 minutes. The same can’t be said for the minutes in between. But I will admit that they certainly weren’t the brutal winds I had been anticipating. Yes, my average speed was once again below 20 km/h (such sadness) but some of that had to do with the number of somewhat long climbs. I didn’t find any of them particularly steep but they liked to go on for quite a while. I know, I know … kind of like these updates. Brace yourself, this could be a long one.

My first real rest stop was in New Salem … about 50 km into my ride. Given that I was on the road by 7:20 AM, this was more like a second breakfast than a lunch stop. Either way, food was consumed. Not only did New Salem have a grocery store (which I didn’t really need other than to refill my water bottles) but said grocery store had a picnic table out front. I think my penchant for picnic tables has been well established by this point. Side note: New Salem also has a giant cow on a hill. I’m not sure why but it was too far out of the way to investigate (although, I REALLY considered sending the drone out to take a closer look). Anyway, based on what I saw on the map, the cow is a tourist attraction named Salem Sue.

After about 20 minutes of basking in the glory of refilled water bottles, food, and a picnic table, it was time to get back on the road. The winds were waiting and I still had 80-ish km to go.

The main reason it was “80-ish” was that it was not a great day for Google or Garmin as both seemed challenged as to what constituted a good bike route. Fortunately, I wasn’t really planning on listening to either as I had taken a look at the Adventure Cycling Association (aka. ACA) maps for this area and they seemed reasonable. And, most importantly, bike-friendly.

It was kind of amusing watching both Google and Garmin try to re-calculate my route each time I ignored their suggestions. This was particularly the case when I found myself turning onto Interstate 94. Yes, that’s right. I was riding on an Interstate today. Legally. At least that’s what I assumed since that’s the way the ACA route took me. I actually considered staying on the Interstate much longer than the ACA route showed because, well … it was MUCH more direct and likely would’ve saved me roughly 10 km. However, I took the long way and lived to tell about it. It was DEFINITELY a lot longer though.

On several occasions during yesterday’s ride I really wanted to get the drone out – low winds, no obstacles but with storms and errands pending I opted not to which was clearly a good choice given how close I was to getting caught in a downpour. Today, there was really no time to think about bringing out the drone. Well, that’s not true. I did THINK about getting the drone out a few times (Salem Sue, for instance) but the winds and the long day of pedalling I had in front of me kept the drone in my panniers for another day.

One of the more exciting elements of the day was once again not marked by any signage and pretty much came and went unnoticed. I’m actually not entirely sure where it happened but it was fairly late in my ride and I THINK it was when I crossed into Stark County. Anyway, today I said goodbye to the Central Time Zone and said hello to the Mountain Time Zone and gained an hour in the process. Not that I really needed the hour as I was making reasonably timely progress. And I didn’t really have a specific arrival time I needed to meet. I just like making good time. And yes, I realize that a time zone change isn’t really THAT exciting. Or even at all exciting. But it does indicate that I’m making some good progress across the country. Side note: There was some real excitement later in the day but I’ll get to that later.

As for my vaguely detailed accommodation for tonight, well … the place is Assumption Abbey which is a long-time home to Benedictine monks and located behind St. Mary’s Church in Richardton. St. Mary’s Church is pretty big and its steeples could be seen topping the trees as I made my way towards the town. What I had been told by Joe and Bonny (and later confirmed by multiple other reports) is that Assumption Abbey has a room for hosting cyclists. No notice needed. Just show up. Find Father Odo and the rest will fall into place. “The rest” apparently included dinner with the resident monks and a silent breakfast in the morning. It really did seem a bit surreal. However, not long after I wheeled up to Assumption Abbey I was being given the tour of the facilities and it was confirmed that dinner would be around 5:30 PM.

Fast-forward a few hours and we just finished dinner. “We” being Alex (from Boston) and Father Odo and the monks. And dinner was great. And very abundant. I don’t anticipate being hungry for, well … who am I kidding, probably a couple of hours … but right now I’m stuffed. I probably didn’t need that third piece of cake (again, who am I kidding … of course I did).

The post-dinner entertainment was truly the highlight and biggest excitement of the day. Ok, technically the first post-dinner entertainment was a tour of the church by Father Odo which was very interesting. It’s quite the church. And Father Odo even gave us a little demo of his organ playing skills. But it was shortly after the tour finished when the real excitement began. There were teasers of said entertainment during dinner as everyone kept their eyes on the dark storm clouds that were working their way towards Richardton. Those clouds arrived shortly after the tour and unleashed what I can only say was the most impressive storm I’ve ever seen. Rain, wind, hail. All in great quantities and with immense power. It was truly awesome. Fortunately, the hail wasn’t the size of softballs. All I could do was watch and be thankful not to have been in a tent as I would’ve undoubtedly needed a new one after such a storm. Seriously, it was such a powerful storm that it amazed the locals! This was not your typical storm. Of course, had I been in my tent during said storm I think the condition of my tent would’ve been the least of my worries. And yes, the video below is more than a little rough but that’s what happens when you have to shoot quickly – and have to shoot through a window.

The storm lasted for about 20 minutes before it passed on to unleash its fury on the next town … which it clearly did as we could hear the thunder long after the storm had left Richardton. Yes, the storm had moved on but I don’t think I’ll forget it anytime soon. North Dakota knows storms!

Side note: My route becomes more than a little vague starting tomorrow and starts to head into some more remote areas. Not sure when the next update will come but I’ll do what I can … including trying to NOT get caught in a hail storm in my tent.

Today’s totals:
Distance: 133.99 km
Ride time: 6:48:08
Average speed: 19.69 km/h
Maximum speed: 41.61 km/h