Pollock, SD to Bismarck, ND- Day 23- 93.97 mi. (Day 24- rest)

Right Now, Lance Armstrong cycles in France, but back in the Dakotas, two other cyclists make a Lance-like ride. That would be us. 90 miles in one day, and it was much like Lance's strongest time, the mountains. A brisk tailwind propelled us into Bismarck, North Dakota, the state's capital. We didn't get started until about 8:00. This was after trying to get up at 5:15 unsuccessfully. Our plan was to go to a campground about 40 miles in and decide if we wanted to go on to Bismarck. Our maps showed a restaurant and campground about 25 miles in, for us to get some breakfast. We stopped, but they were not open. We did meet a nice man there named John. He was doing the Lewis and Clark Trail by canoe. He is also a biker. He has gone accross the U.S. three times. He also keeps a Blog online. To see it, click here. After talking to him for a while, we set off for the campground 40 miles in. When we got there, we were disappointed. The campground was private, which usually means a better campground and there was also a restaurant. It was about 1:00, so we tried to get a bite to eat. Both the restaurant and the campground were closed. We then explored the campground. It was not mowed, had no picnic tables, and there were no other campers there. After making a freeze-dried meal for lunch, we left the campground at about 1:45 to start our next 50 miles to Bismarck. The route was very hilly. Maybe not the steepest or longest of the trip, but definitely the most plentiful. There was not a stretch longer than a mile that was flat. Speaking of flat, ClarkWheel had one about 10 miles out of Bismarck. It was a bit disappointing since we were so close to our destination. We met a very nice man along the trail today; he passed us, then pulled over and gave us two ice-cold sodas. It was very refreshing. Finally, we came to Bismarck at about 9:00! Thankfully, we were at a hotel, so after getting a bite to eat, we quickly went to the hot tub and relaxed. And relaxed some more... and some more. This high-mileage day called for a low mileage the next day. The shortest we could come up with was a rest day, which was fine with both of us. We took our bikes to a bike shop, got them checked over and replaced ClarkWheel's tires, did some laundry, and found the hot tub once more.

Seventh Grade Question: We entered North Dakota today. What fraction of the Lewis and Clark expedition was spent in North Dakota in terms of time? We will give you a 5% cushion high or low.

*Special note- For those of you seventh graders attempting the questions, we are thinking of the following as a possible prize for the most correct answers: A GPS unit OR we have a 2-person Kelty tent we used on the trip last year. We used it only about 10 times and it is excellent shape. Both prizes are worth somewhere in the $100 range. We are still thinking of other possible prize options.

-SpokeWrench