In Regent, population 211, residents will be preparing a meal for 550 people, mostly hungry bicyclists and support staff who will be sitting down for barbecue chicken, roast beef and all of the trimmings.

Call it getting in the spirit as a host community for the annual bicycle ride known as Cycling Around North Dakota in Sakakawea Country.

"We will be hopping," Regent City Auditor Karen Kouba said of the riders' Aug. 9 arrival on the third of six overnight stops during the ride through south-central and southwestern North Dakota. "We are looking into putting flags along the Enchanted Highway to welcome them."

There also will be a Regent-based booth set up at the huge metal pheasant sculpture along the Enchanted Highway that will offer a variety of snacks and drinks.

Gladstone and Lefor also will serve as fuel stops for the 400 or more cyclists expected to pedal this year's 401-mile CANDISC route.

Kouba isn't sure the town has played host to that many people.

"Probably not even the pheasant opener," she said, "but maybe the all-school reunion."

Most of the bicyclists will camp out on the old football field by the school. And the few cyclists who prefer indoor accommodations have almost filled up Regent's two bed and breakfasts.

Early arriving cyclists will be entertained by the Spintacular Basketball Show, to be followed by local speech class entertainers and singers.

Gary Greff, the creator of the Enchanted Highway's larger-than-life metal sculptures, also will give a talk. And the museums and gift shops will be open, "if they want to go there," Kouba said.

For Regent and all of the other communities along the route, CANDISC is a way to show off their communities.

In addition to camping at Fort Stevenson State Park on Saturday night in advance of the start of the ride Sunday, bicyclists also will overnight in Hazen, Richardton, Flasher, Mandan and Stanton.

Communities hosting riders on overnight stops have plans as grand as Regent's for welcoming the riders.

Along the route, bicyclists will take in such sights as Assumption Abbey in Richardton, the Enchanted Highway, Fort Lincoln State Park and On-A-Slant Mandan Indian Village and Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site on the Lewis and Clark Trail.

This 13th edition of CANDISC's leisurely pedal is billed as the "Tour of Enchantment."

"We have great things to feature in North Dakota that may bring people back that have never been here before," said Dick Messerly, superintendent of Fort Stevenson State Park and ride organizer.

The majority of riders will hail from out of state, and many will be riding in their first CANDISC.

So far, the roster shows riders representing 40 states, including Alaska, and three Canadian provinces, Messerly said last week.

Whether riders are visitors or North Dakotans, CANDISC always serves up some new sights and overnight stops each year. Only Sunday evening's stop in Hazen will be a repeat from previous years, Messerly said. The longest one-day ride is 68 miles, and the shortest is 46 miles.

"This is not a Lance Armstrong Tour de France. It's recreational tour riding in rural North Dakota," Messerly said. "If you have time on a bicycle seat, you can make it."

Rest stops will be set up along each day's leg of the ride.

"The communities use them as fund-raisers. They are thinking about hosting people in style and giving a great example of small-town, rural hospitality," Messerly said. "The cyclists think they are being treated like celebrities."

And the folks in Regent are eagerly awaiting the riders.

"We thought it was great," Kouba said of Regent being approached as an overnight host for the first time. "We're really looking forward to it.

"If we can get people to come to our community, we will hop right on the trail."

(Reach reporter Richard Hinton at 250-8256 or outdoors@bismarcktribune.net.)