North Dakota route 83.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ed Culp said:

I want to ride from Minot ND to Garrison ND (AMTRAK to the start of CANDISC).
Route 83 is the direct route. Does anyone know if it is safe to ride?

I don't recall any problems when I rode a month ago (except winds).
The Amtrak station in Minot is in the low part of town so your trip will
begin with a nice climb through town.

From memory: there is a Cenex gas station in Max; but I think that's the
only place to stop for food or water between the outskirts of Minot
and Garrison, so provision yourself accordingly.

When I looked at maps of the Dakotas, I noticed plenty of towns and
did not expect to feel isolated. What I didn't know is that
(a) the maps were showing every single community in the states, and
(b) most of those places were very small. North Dakota has only four
cities with more than 25 000 people; South Dakota has only two, and
the capital city is not one of them (Pierre: 14 000 people). A town
whose population is in the double digits is not likely to support even
a gas station. So I quickly got in the habit of buying food and drink
whenever they appeared, and came to prefer the larger roads just
because they passed through more towns.

Quoted message said:

If not are the county roads paved in ND?

Short stretches are paved but piecing together a route can be a challenge.
You can get the county road maps showing the road surfaces in detail:

http://www.dot.nd.gov/road-map/county-base/index.html

(The Divide County map includes a key to symbols used.
Note that they have many ways to say "unpaved road" :-) .

While I'm at it I'll give the URLs for the corresponding service in
other states of the upper midwest:

SD: http://www.sddot.com/pe/data/map_county_pdf.asp
MN: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/tda/html/counties.html
WI: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/bike-foot/countymaps.htm
NE: http://www.nebraskatransportation.org/maps/countymaps.htm
IA: http://www.iowadotmaps.com/msp/pdfview/counties.html

Some of the states provide maps specially for bicyclists, incorporating
things like the heaviness of traffic flow; see e.g. iowabikes.com ,
www.dot.state.mn.us/sti/map.html , etc.

dave

"Ed Culp" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I want to ride from Minot ND to Garrison ND (AMTRAK to the start of

CANDISC).

Quoted message said:

Route 83 is the direct route. Does anyone know if it is safe to ride? If

not

Quoted message said:

are the county roads paved in ND?

Ed: I would venture a guess that it would be good riding conditions for
you.
About 50-55 miles total. 39 or so on Hwy83.
To be certain give Val's Cyclery in Minot a call. 701-839-4817. Nice
people, nice shop. May even get a gear lift or whatever you might need.
Hope you have a great time!!
Mike

Ed Culp said:

I want to ride from Minot ND to Garrison ND (AMTRAK to the start of CANDISC).
Route 83 is the direct route. Does anyone know if it is safe to ride? If not
are the county roads paved in ND?

I took a CAR trip down the entire lenth of US-83 from the Canadian
Border to the Mexican border. US-83 is one of the last of the
blue-highways that has not been replace with an Interstate highway;
there is not even one close. Road-Trip-USA has an online version of
their guidebook section for this road. It is one of the best online
road guides I have come across. I had a copy of it on my trip and the
further I went the more respect I had for the guide. Check out the
following site:

<http://www.roadtripusa.com/routes/roadtonowhere/roadtonowhere.html>

On my trip I took the side trip out to Garrison which is a small
community that is on Lake Sakakawea (correct spelling). Nice little
community. Be sure too bring a fishing pole as they claim the Walleye
fishing is great. There is also nice state park on the lake there that
could be good for camping.

US-83 is a two lane road almost all the way across the country (except
in some towns). One exceptions is south of Minot, where it is a four
lane divided highway for a fair distance. As you could guess, wind
could be a problem for you in the Dakota's.

My overall impression was that US-83 traces the western edge of the
agricultural region of the US. If you have the patience you can learn
a lot about what makes the US work on a trip down this road.

Denis K