This morning we are heading to Dickinson North Dakota for Ride #17. Our weather for the most part has been great, meaning we haven’t had much rain to deal with. We have been missing most of the storms and any rain we have been running into, it light and just a passing shower.
North Dakota is the definition of the plains state. You barely see a tree much of the time, there is nothing to stop the wind, the roads are straight, long and far few in-between, it is usually hot and dry during the summer months, and today was no different.
Still on back roads so we are not racing the trucks on the interstate, we ride towards Dickinson – about a 300 mile day. The terrain does vary from time to time as you rise and fall between ridges of open space and grass lands. I usually do most of the leading on the days and Rick took a charge on passing some trucks before I did and I let him lead the rest of the day as it was a nice change for me. You don’t worry about setting a pace, the next turn, etc… You can relax a bit and look around and just keep up.
It was about mid day though when Rick got a surprise. We just came by a small curve in the road and we were heading up a slight grade when I saw a deer come jumping out of the big ditch on the left side onto the road in front of Rick! We were traveling in the high 70’s at least. This was no small deer either and I let off the gas wondering what Rick’s move was going to be. Deer can turn and jump on a dime and you just really can’t do much but make a decision and stick to it.
I think Rick’s was to give it some gas and see if he can get ahead of him as he was by his side. From my perspective I saw the head go down and boom!, he hit the bike on the side, and Rick’s bike didn’t budge much and I see the deer’s legs go up in the air, he is summer salting and tumbles to the ditch off to the right. Thank God Rick didn’t go down.
I slow down and I see Rick looking at his bike, slowing down too, still checking his bike and looking at his bag and Rick eventually pulls off to the shoulder. He was OK, said the deer looked him in the eye and he thinks he hit his bike at his rear saddle bag, which was now loose.
As Rick checks his bike and fixes his loosened bag, he wants me to go check about the deer. I circle back a 1/4 mile and slowly ride back looking into the ditch but see nothing. No deer and the only remnants was some bit of fur that was on the corner of Ricks saddle bag.
Rick gets his bag affixed properly, it appears he has no damage, hops on his bike and we are going 80 in a matter of minutes. Rick passes by gas stations and these stretches’ can be long with no warning. He is carrying extra gas and we don’t really know the range of his bike. His gauges appear to reporting less than what we know is in his tank holds, but he doesn’t know the useable gas and I think he wanted to test it out on this leg as I’m only going to have 30 miles reported left when we get to Dickinson.
When he gets to Dickenson, his gauges show him as no miles left, he still running and when he fills his bike, still has 1/2 gallon left It’s still early, so we check in to our hotel and then leave to go do our ride #17 in the National Park.
About 20 miles west of Dickinson the flat plains suddenly have rolling hills and canyons. This is where the park is located. The park was created in 1947 to honor President Roosevelt and to provide a place for us to experience his beloved Badlands in our own way. Theodore Roosevelt always said he would never have been President if it had not been for his experiences in North Dakota.
The park loop road was our ride, but due to a washout, we could only ride 22 miles in, and then 22 miles back. The loop was only 35 miles, so we actually rode more. The ride took use through canyon badland areas, to vista and overlooks accompanied by wild horses and an occasional bison. We slowly rode to the closed portion, checking out vistas along the way, then return and made our way back, did our documentation and rode back to the hotel. Ride # 14 for us is in the books, now for #15, which is #16 on the list, Bighorn Scenic Byway Wyoming US14 Ranchester WY to Greybull WY.
That was SCARY, taking on a large deer! Like you said, thank God Rick was ok!!
Great descriptions of your ride! Good to hear you made it home safely!