June 21, 2008 Grand Forks Herald News Article

Grand Forks Herald (ND)

June 21, 2008

Section: News
Page: A1, A3

'Fantastic'
Author: Susanne Nadeau; Herald Staff Writer

Bill Solem was the first of 82 Red River International Bike Tour riders to roll into East Grand Forks' Sherlock Park on Friday, ending the first tour he's ever pedaled on a high note.

Sherlock Park marked the end of the five-day tour this year … the event's second … and the riders were greeted at the park by event organizers and plenty of food.

Solem, an East Grand Forks police officer, had his own incentive to arrive early. He was scheduled to work an evening shift Friday.

So, the 50-year-old left the tour's final campsite in Argyle, Minn., about 6 a.m. He arrived at Sherlock Park about 9:45 a.m., crediting tailwinds for his speed during the largely southbound ride. "It was fantastic," Solem said. "We had about 10 miles where the wind was against us, but for the past 35 miles, it was with the wind."

Mike Kellogg, one of the event coordinators, said the touring weather this year "was so much better" that in 2007, which helped to improve upon that inaugural event.

Last year, headwinds slowed riders and people were picked up during the "SAG" (support and gear) wagon several times, Kellogg said. This year, he said, only two riders were picked up on one day.

Many returning cyclists agreed that wind not only worked in their favor Friday morning but posed fewer problems throughout the tour, which began Monday morning at downtown Grand Forks' Town Square. "It was fun," said Dale Gunderson, a retired doctor from Rapid City, S.D. It was his first bike tour; he heard about it when he spent time working at Altru Health System during the winter.

"It was nice, beautiful," Gunderson said. "The only tough part was all the trucks in Canada." RRIBT veered into Canada for one of its tour days this week. Tour riders spent the rest of the time pedaling through northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota.

Jane Heinz, 52, from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, said she had fun on her first RRIBT tour. But she's no newcomer to bike tours; she's been riding since her mid-40s and does several tours a year. "After the first day," she said, "it just got better."

Heinz said she was going to try to take the tour's Century Ride, where people have the option to bike 100 miles in one day. But "the wind picked up," Heinz said. She finished a shorter, 72-mile ride by forming a line with two other riders to block headwinds. "It certainly helped us get a rest, get us through that last 12 miles," she said.

Fifteen cyclists finished the Century Ride, according to Kellogg.

"There were a couple of people who'd never done it before," he said. "But they set their goals and they accomplished it.

They even got caught up in a rainstorm and refused a ride." For the most part, tour riders had sunshine and calm, but Wednesday night, while camping in Cavalier, N.D., there was a bit of rain. But the evening's fun wasn't spoiled.

"They took us inside a and played bingo," Heinz said with a smile. "I haven't done that before."

'Awesome'

Bunnie Novak, Fargo, said the farthest she rode before this tour was 35 miles. "I just bought a new road bike," she said. "I even fell off a couple of times, getting my feet out."

But for her first long ride, she characterized the tour as "awesome."

"The sponsors, the towns were awesome," Novak said. "Everything I needed, I always had along the way."

First-timer Solem called the week "a good experience. You meet a lot of nice people from all over." This from a man who rode the tour on the first bicycle he'd purchased in 30 years. "I wanted to do something different," Solum explained.


Copyright (c) 2008 Grand Forks Herald

June 19, 2008 Grand Forks Herald News Article

Grand Forks Herald (ND)

June 19, 2008

Section: News
Page: A3

RRIBT Rounds Day Three

Author: Joseph Marks; Herald Staff Writer



Bike tour makes stop in Cavalier, N.D.

CAVALIER, N.D.-Last year's Red River International Bike Tour, or RRIBT, was Lonna and John Hillis' first long-distance bike ride, and they were so committed to it they camped with the other bikers in the Cavalier, N.D., schoolyard rather than decamping to their own home and a comfortable bed just a block away.

The Hillises didn't make the bike trip this year because John was feeling under the weather and Lonna didn't want to ride alone. But if they were destined to spend the tour's Cavalier night at home, they decided it was only fair to invite the bikers who did make the trip over for a bonfire, s'mores and a case of wine.

"(Last year) there were always little clusters (of riders) out there, so we wanted to get everyone in the same spot at the same time," Lonna said.

The couple was planning for 100 people in their backyard, Lonna said-the roughly 80 riders camping at the schoolyard plus a few blocks' worth of neighbors. She'd just returned from buying provisions about 5 p.m. Wednesday: about six packs of marshmallows and as many chocolate bars, she said, plus a case of Beringer wine.

"When it's over, it's over," she said of the wine.

Mary Haugstad, who works in the radiology department at Altru Health System, has logged significantly more long bike rides than the Hillises have-about 20 years of them.

Haugstad and her friend, Sherwin Schoppert, a retired budget analyst for the Air National Guard in Sioux Falls, S.D., who goes by the name "Chopper," are looking at this year's RRIBT as a conditioning ride.

The two plan to set off on the July 4 weekend for an 800-mile ride from Anacortes, Wash., to Shelby, Mont. From there, Haugstad will hop an Amtrak home, but Schoppert plans to continue alone all the way to Grand Forks, about 1, 600 miles in all.

Haugstad spends most of her vacation time on a bike, she said, only breaking the pattern for the occasional cross-country skiing trip in the winter. She biked her way from Louisiana's gulf coast to the Canadian border in 1999. And she and Schoppert, who she met on a bike trip in 2004, plan to follow the majority of Lewis and Clark's route, in reverse, from Astoria, Ore., to St. Charles, Ill., next year.

"People ask why the hell I do this, but it's just an addiction almost," she said. "It's just a feeling of freedom because you're totally self-sufficient. It makes you feel good when you're done. A shower always feels good then, and food tastes better, too."

Erling Oscar of New Rockford, N.D., is another RRIBT rider who can't come close to matching Haugstad's years on a bike. But, for a three-month veteran, he has an impressive record.

The avid runner pulled a hamstring muscle last fall, which can take as long as a year to fully heal, he said. Oscar managed to run in the recent Fargo half marathon, he said, but he refused to disclose his finishing time, which he described as embarrassing.

At the urging of a friend, Oscar invested about $800 in a new bike and equipment and set out on a 215-mile group bike tour through Ohio in May. After RRIBT concludes, he already has plans for two more such tours.

"Yeah," he said. "I've jumped in pretty hard."



Copyright (c) 2008 Grand Forks Herald

June 16, 2008 Grand Forks Herald News Article

Grand Forks Herald (ND)

June 16, 2008

Section: News
Page: A1

Get on your bikes and ride!
Red River International Bike Tour bound for Pembina Gorge
Author: James R. Johnson; Herald Staff Writer


The five-day journey of the second Red River International Bike Tour will be shorter than last year's, but no less adventurous.

Seventy-six registered riders leave this morning from Town Square in downtown Grand Forks to pedal their way through the Pembina Gorge into Manitoba and Minnesota, a 290-mile route compared with last year's 316.

The first day will cover 69 miles and include an overnight stop at Park River (N.D.) High School.

Tuesday's 48-mile trek will end at the Walhalla (N.D.) City Campground.

Wednesday's 69-mile ride ventures across the Canadian border to Winkler, Man., then turns for home with an overnight stay at Cavalier (N.D.) High School.

The riders will power 56 miles Thursday, heading east into Minnesota, turning south at Hallock, then camping overnight at the city park in Stephen.

After the final 48 miles Friday, there will be a celebration in Sherlock Park in East Grand Forks.

The bicyclists hale from states as far south as Arizona, as far east as Rhode Island and from at least two Canadian provinces. A volunteer crew of bike mechanics will ride along to watch for breakdowns and adjustments, as well as to transport baggage.

"It's a very viable event, and we're looking for ways to keep it fresh," said RRIBT committee member Mike Kellogg. "Next year, we hope to use a bit more of northwest Minnesota."

This year's RRIBT sponsors include Simmons Flint, The Grand Forks Herald, Scheel's and Leighton Broadcasting.

"We're thankful for our sponsors," Kellogg said. "We've never had anyone turn us down."

Copyright (c) 2008 Grand Forks Herald

April 28, 2008 Grand Forks Herald News Article

Grand Forks Herald (ND)

April 28, 2008

Section: News

Page: A1, A2

Tourism

Red River International Bike Tour Starts June 16

Author: Tu-Uyen Tran; Herald Staff Writer

Get those leg muscles into shape, the bicycle gears greased, the tires pumped and be ready for the second annual Red River International Bike Tour!

Maybe it's a little too soon with snow on the ground and nippy winds in the sky, but registration has opened for the June tour, which takes riders around the northern part of the valley in five days.

It's called "international" because you get to loop into Canada for half a day.

Last year's RRIBT-pronounced like a frog's croak-drew 109 riders from around the nation and Canada.

The Herald is one of the tour's major sponsors, along with Scheels, Alerus Financial and SimmonsFlint.

This year looks to be the same or a bit better, according to RRIBT chairman Mike Kellogg. So far, 40 have signed up, about the same last year at this time, he said.

Riders still can dillydally until a minute before midnight June 14 to sign up. That's a little more than a day before the tour starts on the 16th.

Bicycle touring is tourism on bicycles, and riders are supposed to go at their own pace and stop to visit different attractions. In practice, there are many riders for whom it is a personal race to go as hard as they can. They even reveled in the wind, which offered a challenge equivalent to a really long hill.

This year's route is shorter than last year's, at 290 miles instead of 316 miles. Those who want to do what's known as a "centur."-going 100 miles in a day just to say they did-will again get that option with a century loop.

Route planners wanted to give riders a break from the familiar prairie terrain by taking them through the rolling hills of the Walhalla, N.D., area on the second and third day of the tour.

Another difference this year is riders will stay in small towns, camping in city parks and high school football fields, according to Kellogg. Some riders said they felt isolated camping in state parks last year, he said.

When the riders did camp in town last year in Pembina, N.D., many enjoyed visiting local residents at nearby watering holes. In the state parks, they kept company with hungry mosquitoes.

Many towns that hosted pit stops last year asked to do so again, Kellogg said, though route planners could not accommodate all.

If this year's pit stops were like last year's, riders can expect plenty of snacks along the way, from bananas to homemade donuts.

The route starts June 16 in East Grand Forks, goes north to Oslo, Minn., before crossing the bridge into North Dakota. Riders will camp in Park River, N.D., on the first night; Walhalla, N.D., the second; Cavalier, N.D., the third; Stephen, Minn., the fourth; and be back in East Grand Forks the fifth.

Copyright (c) 2008 Grand Forks Herald

Read about last year's ride

We'll be posting photos and stories about last year's ride soon...stay tuned and start blogging.

RRIBT Authors

Please let me know if you would like to be an author for the new RRIBT blog!

Just email me your email address and I'll get you added:

joseph.field@simmonsflint.com

Thanks!