Recap of Day 3 - June 20th, 2007

Two Countries on two wheels

By Tu-Uyen Tran, Herald Staff Writer
Published Thursday, June 21, 2007

PEMBINA, N.D. — With an excursion into southern Manitoba, riders in the Red River International Bike Tour made another checkmark Wednesday on the list of places they've ridden.

Organizers had hoped a tour that allows riders to check off two states and one country would prove attractive — and they were right.

"That was the No. 1 thing," said Dave Wrubel, a veteran rider from Columbus, Neb., who's previously toured 20 states. Bicycle touring is ideal because, he said, he gets to see different parts of the country, meet new people and stay fit. "It's like an addiction."

John and Teresa Swoyer, a couple from Andover, Minn., have the same bug as well, having been through 15 states so far. "We are trying to get as many states as possible," she said.

Perhaps surprisingly, riders were not put-off by the valley's flat terrain seeing in it both beauty and a challenge.

Several riders said they came away impressed with the landscape's rich colors.

"I can't believe how green it is," said Pete Nagan, a veteran rider from Neenah, Wis. The different varieties of crops fascinated him, he said, and he's managed to learn a lot from a fellow rider who farms in Cavalier, N.D., only a few miles from the tour route.

Teresa Swoyer said she appreciated the contrast between the bright yellows of flowering canola in Manitoba with the big red barns she saw there. And the fields in the valley are green, she said, so unlike the dry South Dakota farms where she and her husband grew up.

The hospitality didn't hurt either, with many valley towns putting much effort into making the riders feel welcome and well fed. Several riders recalled fondly the pastries and fresh doughnuts that awaited them early Tuesday morning in Gilby, N.D.

"It's unbelievable," Wrubel said. "I don't think I've heard one person complain."

But the tour also presented riders with a major challenge.

"The North Dakota winds have not disappointed," said Nagan. "They have lived up to their reputation."

That's kind of the point, though, he said, as riding into the wind is a lot like riding uphill all day.

Wrubel agreed. Unlike a windy road, he said, there aren't any mountains that are 20 to 30 miles long.

For some, though, the wind came as a bit of a surprise.

The Swoyers picked the RRIBT tour because they figured the flat terrain should make for some easy riding, Teresa Swoyer said. They'd never done a big multi-day tour before and wanted to take it easy their first time, she said.

It's flat alright, she said, "but nobody said anything about wind."