I'm writing this report about a year and a half later, so I may not remember as many of the details as I would like, but I thought it would be interesting to create a page on the '97 trip. As I did in '98, I cycled down to Garrison from home just south of Des Lacs. I would have to say the weather cooperated much more on the '97 trip than '98. The '97 CANDISC didn't have any rain to deal with at all and we only experienced headwinds portions of a few days. I did the '97 trip with Jason Signalness and Ron Marmon and a couple days with my cousin Philip Branesky.

Day 1- Garrison to Burlington

I remember departing Garrison just before the sun appeared. The winds cooperated nicely. I was easily able to go about 15 or 16 MPH with no trouble at all. I think we only stopped once at a rest stop maybe about 10 miles before Sawyer. Then when we got to Sawyer we stopped at a restaurant there. We weren't sure we were going to find one at first but we did succeed. I remember when we were leaving there was quite a bit of road construction in the area. We camped in the Burlington Sports Complex area. I cycled home, about 10 miles away to get a nice shower. Sometimes it's tough to get a shower with 300+ cyclists around.

Day 2- Burlington to Bowbells

The first half of today's ride was all familiar territory for me. We left Burlington as some of the first cyclists to get going that day. As we headed west toward Berthold, we encountered a huge climb. I normally cycled DOWN this hill, so I knew but the high speeds I've had before, going up would be somewhat of a challenge. We turned north and headed toward Carpio. This stretch was really the only portion with tailwinds today. My speed exceeded 20 MPH with little trouble and was usually higher during this stretch. Going down the hill right before Carpio allowed my speed to inch just short of 50 MPH. We stopped at the cafe in Carpio for a nice breakfast. It was a good feeling to know we had over 20 miles already and we were just eating breakfast. Next, the trip took us to Donnybrook. I remember stopping at a local gas station and buying a few pops. It was already in the 80s at this time. We finally reached Kenmare where we ate at the Pizza Hub (yes, not Pizza HUT). Ron was having some trouble with his bike, but I believe that was finally fixed. The last miles on today's ride were really rough. We constantly had to keep battling hills. It was a great joy to finally reach Bowbells. The hospitality of the people in Bowbell's earned them best sight honors.

Day 3- Bowbells to Crosby

My cousin, Philip, joined us today. I was nervous that he wouldn't be able to handle the trip. I guess his highest distance prior to today was 20 miles, so I really felt sorry for him trying to start out on such as long day. He was able to keep up alright for the first few miles, but we lost him later, so I stopped in Portal and waited. He said he was really tired, so we waited a while and I swapped bikes with him so he could have my road bike and I'd ride the mountain bike. It seemed to help a little bit, but he got a few leg cramps as we were leaving Estevan. Estevan was nice to see since it's one of the bigger cities we would encounter. My contact lenses were really irritating me at this point. I remember I couldn't even see where I was going a couple times. Anyway, we finally left Estevan and headed south. This portion went nice and fast, but as we turned west and did the final 15 miles or so, the wind really made the going tough. I was amazed that Philip was able to make the whole trip today, but he did. I bet he was really sore.

Day 4- Crosby to Tioga

Today's ride seemed like a breeze compared to the last couple of days. I believe we arrived in Tioga before 11 AM. We encountered a lot of climbing. I wish my altimeter would have been working correctly so I would have known just how much climbing we did. It seemed as though we would reach the top of the hill and there would always be another hill right there! The temperature soared to just three degrees short of 100 later in the day. We were able to make use of free swimming today which really cooled me down. We later went to the cafe and got rid of a bunch of Canadian money or "stupid money" as Ron called it. Ha ha ha!

Day 5- Tioga to Minot

We left Tioga maybe an hour before sunrise. I believe we were the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th cyclists on the road that day. I know we weren't the first since I saw a flashing light on a cyclist in front of us. We made it to Stanley and a couple other cyclists asked us, "Do you guys ever sleep?" I wanted to get up early that day to make sure we didn't fall too far behind. It's hard to maintain a consistant rate with four cyclists. We lost all our extra time that we got up early for as we sat and waited about an hour for breakfast in Stanley. It was a good breakfast, but I don't think I'd eat there again if I knew the wait would be so long. After Stanley, we crusied along in the mid 20 mph range. We arrived in Minot in good time after completing the century option. I would probably have to say this was the easiest century I've even done. Strong west winds nearing 30 mph made the trip incredible easy.

Day 6- Minot to Garrison

Although we had a nice tailwind again, it seemed as though the riding was somewhat slow. After yesterday's 100+ mile day, all many could wait for was just finishing the last 50 miles to Garrison. The temperature was only in the 60s and clouds spoiled any chance of sunlight. It was nice to finally complete the ride. We had a free Spaghetti dinner at the park and we also had a stop at the Dairy Queen (which is now the Four Seasons).

Here are my daily statistics from the '97 ride (I went a few more miles off the route):

Aug. 3-Des Lacs to Garrison----------------------------71.1 miles----15.8 MPH

Aug. 4-Garrison to Burlington (and Des Lacs)-------103.2 miles----15.6 MPH

Aug. 5-Burlington to Bowbells---------------------------77.6 miles---12.3 MPH

Aug. 6-Bowbells to Crosby------------------------------91.8 miles----11.5 MPH

Aug. 7-Crosby to Tioga-----------------------------------65.6 miles----13.0 MPH

Aug. 8-Tioga to Minot------------------------------------111.1 miles----13.9 MPH

Aug. 9-Minot to Garrison---------------------------------50.7 miles----15.2 MPH

Total-------------------------------------------------------571.1 miles-----13.7 MPH

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