Planning has started, sort of...

I took the first, well second I guess, step in planning my ND bike tour this year.  The first step was to decide to finally do it I guess.  I went out and bought a ND Gazetteer today in order to start picking out a route.  It should prove to be a handy resource, as it contains everything from detailed backroads to campgrounds (for when I'm not stealth camping (might be hard in wide open ND)) to GPS grids.  Excellent.  Now it's just going to be a challenge to decide on what exact path I'll take through the state.  I will have to say the western half of the state will be quite a bit more interesting, and I have covered a large seciton of the eastern already while living in Grand Forks, so I'll probably plan the bulk of the meandering in the west.  It would be more climactic to finish off at the MT border than the Red River Valley, but west to east will probably have to be the direction for two main reasons.  One is that I'll end up closer to home, and the second and more important is that prevailing wind patterns mostly favor that direction of bicycle travel.  So I will probably start in the land of National Grasslands, buttes, cowboys, and badlands and finish in the land where you can see the curvature of the Earth, and dodge crop dusters on your bike.  

It remains to be seen whether this will be a solo tour.  I think I would enjoy the solitude, but riding with friends would be great too.  It's doubtful that Alison will be able to get the time off flying that would be required.  Edward, if you're reading this, it's your calling to finally buy your dreamt of Rivendell (or Ty and your LHT) and head to ND to put in some miles and some camping.  All other cycling friends of mine are of course invited as well, but none of you have really shown a strong interest in touring as of yet, so that is why you're not specifically called.  :)  I'll keep you all posted as the trip further comes to life...