Memorial Day Weekend Family Fun - Day 1 (Saturday)

Carrie brought the family out for an extended visit over, and beyond, the Memorial Day weekend. We visited all 3 portions of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND. On Saturday, we did the South Unit of TRNP.


Cute family standing in the way of the scenic vista at the Painted Canyon overlook.

The kids about to head down a trail at the Scoria Point overlook.

Emma being cute, as usual. She was very proud of herself for climbing up the side of a butte and finding this rock to pose on for a photo!


Buffalo, bison, or tetanka.

Prairie dog, or "flickertail." Very cute. Their "dog town" burrows cover huge portions of the Little Missouri River valley bottoms in the South Unit.

Wild horses. The ladies always fawn over wild horses!

Kids tuckered out after some serious hiking and butte climbing!

Carrie and me being cute and snuggly. She makes it easy to be a snuggler...love ya babe!

Tutanka and "Big Dogs"

The UND Archeological Field School visited the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit today. Here are some photos. Lots of buffalo out there today!

Grant County ND Bridge and the Power of Mother Nature

Dennis, Cynthia, and I did an emergency survey for a washed out bridge in rural Grant County, near the town of Carson. A tributary drainage of the Cannonball River washed out a county bridge. Here's the carnage we came across. Thankfully no one drove into this gaping hole!


The bridge is a "choke point" where the stream channel narrows, which causes the force of the water to increase as the area it can pass through is decreased. The north abutment wall and wings, seen here on the left, remained intact. The south abutment was on the outer meander bend, where the highest erosive forces were in action. The abutment wall and the upstream wing are completely gone, except for one framing timber lying in the water. The downstream wing remains, but it was twisted and torn about 90 degrees from how it was originally built. It looks like someone took a box of matchsticks, wet them, then bent them over sideways.


When the south abutment wall washed out or collapsed, the bridge deck fell straight down into the stream...it's possible the south abutment wall is trapped under the deck. Overland flooding also eroded out the gravel road bed behind the standing abutmen. The road bed and gravel top were scoured out down to the level of the stream, roughly 10-ft deep. I'd guess 20-30 cubic yards of fill were scoured out.


This last photo shows the downstream view of the bridge remains. The large pile of boulders in the stream, in geomorphic terms, form a channel bar deposit. Those large stones once anchored the base of the abutment walls, and some likely formed the substrate of the washed out road grade. Yikes!

This was the first time I'd ever been to a washed out bridge in person, and it was truly awe inspiring. The power created by that water boggles my little primate brain. Again, thankfully, no one was hurt by the collapse.

Best wishes all, Mike

p.s. -- On the drive down to this project area, I got the opportunity to revisit some old friends. Carrie and I first met them in 1996. They are the Tin Family...the original piece of artwork on the Enchanted Highway. It's the highway between Gladstone (ca. 10 miles east of Dickinson ND) and Regent ND.


My favorite part? Here curly hair is barbed wire!

Southwest Pipeline Survey

The photos in this group were taken by yours-truly (honest!) on Saturday, 5-9-2009, whilst doing survey work on the Southwest Water Pipeline Project. It is a southwestern (gee, they should use that in the title...) North Dakota rural water project designed to bring treated water to locations where the local water is poor. For example, when I was much younger and a wet-behind the ears archeologist, I lived in Belfield ND for a short time. The water there came out of coal beds, uranium beds, or some other such wicked awful bedrock geology. When it came out of the tap, it looked like tea and would "fizz." Ugh. Now the city has good clean SWPL treated water and you can drink so much water you'll never sleep more than 10 minutes at a time without having to get up and go to the bathroom! Seriously.


Badlands west of Grassy Butte. Teepee Butte is on the horizon. The Beicegal Creek Road is out there somewhere.



Near the highway, I came across the equipment they use to lay rural water pipelines in the ground. I'd heard about this gear but had never seen it myself in person. Basically, they use 3 or 4 huge Caterpillar tractors, chained in sequence, to drag a seven or eight foot deep plow along the route. The plow clears a furrow and the pipe is laid down through a feeder tube atop the plow and its haul cat. The furrow dirt is then pushed back in and, voila(!!), rural water pipe is in the ground.


Front cat gets the best view, while the rear cat does the real work.


I think I'm impressed with the setup.

Cheers all, Mike

My New BFF

While doing archeological survey work near Beulah, ND today, I came across my new best friend. Cute one eh?

UND-NDSU Hillsboro Bike Race/Ride

Quite the title, eh?

Sounds like a competition that's not quite sure what it is. Actually, it's a fundraiser that goes for a good cause. For me, it's a race, pure and simple. And it was my chance to test myself against my results 2 years ago, the last time I raced this race, and my only race to date.

Two years ago I did the 35/37-ish mile race in just over 2 hours, averaged around 18 mph, and finished in 34th place among the UND racers. I reached 2 of my 3 race goals: (1) finish, (2) average 20 mph, and (3) finish top-50. So for a first race, I was pretty happy. Now looking back, I realize there were plenty of places I could have improved. So 2009 was my chance to see if I could improve.

My goal for 2009? Finish Top-10.

Did I do it...no. I finished 18th. But I raced much better. I started at the front, so I didn't have to fight through a gaggle of non-racers before being able to race. That happened to me in 2007, and it took a couple of miles of dodging and weaving to clear the main pack. By the time I'd done that, I couldn't even see the leaders, who were gone down the road.

In 2009, I started at the front and found myself being passed again and again. So it was a different feeling, less positive. In 2007, I started at the back and worked my way forward. In 2009, I started at the front and drifted back. Every time someone passed me, I made a mental tally and once I got down to 15 or so people having passed me, I realized my top-10 finish was unlikely.

After about 15-20 miles of racing, I hooked up with a group of guys I could hang with. We stayed together until about the last 4-5 miles, when I couldn't keep up. Of my group of 7, I finished 5th. Why was I so lame? My saddle!! I'd had my bike into the shop for a tuneup just prior to the race, and when I got it back, the saddle had been tipped nose-up and had been slid back on the rails about 1-1.5 inches. So at about the 30 mile mark, the incorrect saddle position had really dug into my backside and the soreness was making it hard to pedal. So I couldn't keep up.

Lesson learned. Be like Lance (Mr. Millimeter, one of his nicknames). Double check EVERYTHING before a big competition. Make sure it dialed in just right for your ride.

All in all, the race was great and I felt really good. And you say "But Mike, you didn't reach your goal!" True, but the positives are:

• I moved up 16 places in finishing order.
• I finished in 1:27:## hrs:min:sec.
• I averaged 38 km/hr, which is around 23 m/hr.
• I kept my blood glucose levels in a good range, so my diabetes didn't interfere with my desire to race!

Here's a couple of photos the family took. The one on the road was taken during my sore backside phase near the end of the race.

Cheers all,
Mike



The tools of my trade.


Cockpit of my ride; note the BG meter.


Me pre-race. Cool temps require warm clothes.


My fan club on the side of the road.


Suffering near the end.


Unable to step off the bike with extreme tush pain. Lifting my leg over the top tube felt like I was getting hit with a knife!


Enjoying being done with the race, not enjoying the pain in my tush.


Hugs from my 3 littlest fan club members and bike racers in their own rights: Connor, Emma, and Grace.

Here's something my son taught me how to do!


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