Day 33: Red Wing to Winona, Minn.

This morning, we got an earlier start, as we begin to adjust back to our riding routines that seem to have shifted during our two day sabbatical. We woke up to quite a bit of fog, but thankfully the map had us set to start off on a 10 mile climb away from the river, back up into the farm country behind the bluffs. We almost immediately ascended out of the fog, and re-entered farm country, where we followed quiet roads for awhile, with some rolling hills, until we descended back down to the river and stopped for what we call “second breakfast” in Lake City. This town hailed itself as the “birthplace of water skiing,” and as we ate, I couldn’t help but wonder who birthed it. Perhaps Poseidon. Or Paul Bunyan.

Much of the route today was trying to get us off of highway 61, which mostly followed the Mississippi River. However, after a few miles riding on the highway, it seemed to have good shoulders, was much flatter, and had nice views of the water. In Lake View, we looked ahead at the map to consider whether we would stay on the highway and skip the next bypass. As it turned out, the  decision was made for us, as 61 was closed right at our turn off, and our quiet side road was the 61 detour. So, we climbed again up into the bluffs and rode through more fields. We did a little more climbing before finally descending back to to the river, where we ate lunch and completed our last 15 miles back on the highway into Winona.

In Winona, we are staying a little bit out of town, but found our way to a good Mexican restaurant, and explored a bit of Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, a nice campus which I can pretty confidently say I would have never visited if I were not on this bike trip.

Tomorrow we will continue south along the river and enter into a new state. So far, Minnesota drivers have been the worst, but it is also probably the busiest, biggest towns we’ve passed through, so we will see if that reputation holds as we head further east.

By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 78
Total Climbing: 2618 ft
Average pace: 11.9 mph
Average temperature: 74F
Times climbed over 1000ft elevation: 3
Eggs Benedict meals in the last 4 days: 3
Turtles seen crossing the road: 0
Turtle crossing signs: 1

 Views of the river as we descended toward Wabasha.

Aforementioned turtle crossing. This sign appears to fold up, so I suspect they are not snow turtles.

Riding along the river.

At the top of our first climb. It is a relief to see a cell tower, as you know you are near the top.

A very interesting statue on the St. Mary’s campus.

Views this morning.

Day 32: Minneapolis to Redwing, Minn.

Today saw us back on the road after our rest days in Minneapolis. We got a bit of a later start since Niamh was sticking around to catch an afternoon flight. Thankfully, the temperatures were mild, and we only had about 65 miles to our destination in Red Wing.

From our hotel, we rolled down to the river, turned right, and more or less followed an outstanding series of trails all the way through Minneapolis and St. Paul. It was a true testament to the amazing bike infrastructure we saw throughout Minneapolis, and definitely the quietest departure from any of the cities we’ve seen so far on this trip. We rolled through St. Paul, and then gradually shifted away from the river as we started some ascending into the bluffs. A road closure pushed us onto a brief stretch of gravel, before we crossed the river again and entered our 6th U.S. state of the trip, Wisconsin. We only rode about 20 miles in Wisconsin, with some very steep climbing, before crossing back over the river into Red Wing, where we are spending tonight. It seems as though that was our only stretch in Wisconsin, but in just a few days, we’ll be entering Iowa, and beginning our crawl along the “I” states.

Red Wing, we learned, is the town where the shoes are from, and unfortunately we missed a chance to check out the Red Wing shoe museum, but did enjoy an excellent dinner and a good walk by the river. We are finding our biking routines again, and excited to continue south for the next few days.

By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 65
Total climbing: 2562 ft.
End time: 5:20pm
Low point: 526 ft.
Average pace: 12.2 mph
Ed’s average heart rate: 104 bpm
Twin cities traveled through: 2?
States traveled in: 2

 View on the river in Red Wing.

 On the path leading into St. Paul.

 Back in the fields north of Prescott.

Leaving this morning at our hotel in Minneapolis (Niamh behind the camera).

After we crossed into Wisconsin.

Days 29-31: Monticello to Minneapolis, Minn.

We had a few excellent rest days in Minneapolis, and are now back on the road, so I’ll be posting two posts today to update on the last few days.

Saturday morning we had our shortest day of the trip as we rode down the Mississippi River toward Minneapolis. We went off the Adventure Cycling route, so we weren’t completely certain about what the roads would be like. Pretty quickly we began noticing that our route was continuing to follow green bike signs that read “MRT,” which was following the quietest roads along the river. After awhile, we relied on these signs, which took us on a long series of trails, side roads, and a few county roads to take us right into the heart of Minneapolis. As we approached the last few miles, we came upon a section of the river trail that was closed for a festival. As it turned out, we were arriving in Minneapolis on the evening of a massive festival, including the 5th largest fireworks show in the US.

After cleaning up at the hotel in Minneapolis, Niamh arrived from the airport and we started our first 2.5 rest days of the trip, exploring Minneapolis. Saturday night Niamh and I celebrated (a little early) our 5th wedding anniversary, then watched the fireworks on the river, which admittedly felt like a bit of a celebration for our arrival in Minneapolis.

Sunday we took our bikes into the shop for a tune up, and I got a chance to catch up with an old friend from college while Niamh and Ed learned about the history of industrial mills in the twin cities. Monday we explored Minnehaha Falls and the University campus. It was a great few days of rest and recovery, setting us up for the second half of our trip.

Ed wrote this about the trip so far during our break:

Hello to all from sunny Minneapolis where the weather is forecast to be great for the upcoming week.  The break here has refreshed my body and my bicycle (as it got a tuneup at a local bike shop).  We were lucky we didn’t ride on Sunday as there was continual showers and gusty winds with minor tornadoes in the surrounding area.  Minneapolis has been a fun city to explore and the pictures will show some of the highlights.

This has been a great journey and the people we have met have been so supportive and some shocked at what we are doing, it keeps us going.  It was nice to have a weekend to being able to eat a variety of foods not found in small town America diners that we have been frequenting.  The fireworks were phenomenal!!

The coolest thing about this trip is that it is different everyday and you never know in advance what will be different until you get on the road.  Each day the terrain varies, the road quality varies, the weather varies (we now are understanding humidity), the people vary (accents, driving habits, friendliness), the wildlife varies (no more prairie dogs but always deer), the sounds of the birds vary, the color of the water varies, the bug density varies (Saco MT is the winner for mosquito density).  It is this constant change that makes this trip interesting and makes our country unique.

By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 43 (Saturday), 2 (Sunday), 2 (Monday)
Days off: 2
Trips to the Hen House: 5
Ska covers of “Brown Eyed Girl” at the river festival: 1
Free cinnamon rolls: 2
New outfits purchased: 2

 Niamh and I at lunch Sunday.

 One of the bands playing at the river festival.

 Ed with a free cinnamon roll at the Hen House. We ate breakfast there several times.

 Ed enjoying a brew on Saturday.

 All of us at the falls on Monday.

 On the U of M campus.

 Riding down the Mississippi on Saturday.

 Some of the signs we were following Saturday.

Fireworks Saturday night.

Day 28: Sauk Centre to Monticello, Minn.

This morning, we navigated back to the Lake Wobegon trail, where we’d been riding for nearly all of yesterday, and continued southeast toward St. Cloud. The ground was wet as some thunderstorms rolled through last night, but we luckily avoided the rain. My bike computer ceased working until I was able to stop and replace the batteries, so I was reliant on Ed for constant updates on our speed and distance, which he was happy to give. Around mile 25, the Adventure Cycling Route veered left, but we continued on the trail, as we are taking a more direct route into Minneapolis to avoid backtracking on our way out of town.

Around mile 35, the trail was supposed to end, but it didn’t and we enjoyed a few extra miles of trail. It was a nice respite, as just after we crossed the Sauk River, we were deanesthetized, thrown into the suburban dystopia of St. Cloud. As we maneuvered our way through busy streets and tried to again find our city legs, we also faced a problem we haven’t experienced in some time: too many food options. Rather than “there is a diner, will we eat here?” We were asking, “at which of these many establishments should we eat?” We landed at Qdoba and scarfed some burritos before re-entering the madness. Thankfully after a few miles, we found a trail, which took us out of town, and eventually noticed that the roads we are following were all signed with a bike symbol. We followed that symbol along a quiet county road with a few intermittent trails all the way to Monticello, where we are tonight.

Probably in part due to the thunderstorms rolling through last night, we noticed the humidity had increased again today, and the afternoon heat felt particularly cumbersome as the miles rolled on. Four weeks straight of riding without a day off may also be contributing to our fatigue, however, as we are only about 40 miles out from the city, we have just one more short day of riding, then we will take our first two “rest days” of the trip. Or, as I like to call them, “arrest days.”

We may not update the blog for the next few days, so if you’ve been following along, you can tune back in on Tuesday when we return to the road for more updates. Enjoy the weekend!

By the numbers (today only):
Miles traveled: 72
Current elevation: 951 ft.
Today’s climbing: 780 ft
Average pace: 13 mph
Average temperature: 80F
New computer batteries replaced: 2
Sinclair Lewis references: 0

(For the last 4 weeks)
Miles traveled: 2074
Daily average: 74.1
Liquids consumed while riding (estimated): 64 gallons

 These signs were all up and down the trail for 100 miles. Good thing I removed my studded tires.

 View from the trail.

 The end of the trail, navigating suburbia.

Shade. 

 Ed on the trail.

Church along the trail.

Day 27: Fergus Falls to Sauk Centre, Minn.

This morning, we were up early to try to get ahead of the winds, which were again forecast to be from the south. The flag was blowing hard even at 6:30am, however, so we expected a day of headwinds again. Our first few miles, we rolled through Fergus Falls, stopped to look at Otto the Otter, a giant otter statue in the town center. About 4.5 miles into our day, we joined the Central Lakes Trail where we saw a sign that read “Sauk Centre 68mi.” So, for the rest of the day, we simply continued on the excellent, well maintained, paved rail trail all the way to our destination this evening.

The trail follows the old Burlington Northern rail line, and passed through small towns about every 8-15 miles throughout the day. It was definitely a shift from our days across eastern Montana and North Dakota, where we were constantly looking ahead to the next services, thinking about whether we had the supplies we needed, or whether we needed to stock up on water. The towns seem to have embraced the trail, as many had added signs listing the services in each town, and a small park with restrooms. Some had also added bike stands with tools and pumps.

The scenery was as expected: lots of lakes (though, none filled with dairy as I’d expected), grassy fields. For much of the day, we were in tree lined forests which, aside from the occasional threat of falling widow makers in the heavy wind, we were very grateful for, as they seemed to substantially dilute the pain of the south winds. Stopped in Garfield for lunch, where I had a club sandwich on “raspberry fritter bread,” a food I cannot describe but by its name, despite eating 4 slices. The long day of calm, trail riding was definitely a nice relief from the last few weeks. Even though we’ve had a lot of great, quiet farm roads, there is still something completely calm and stress free about a wide, nearly empty, paved, non-motorized trail.

Sauk Centre is the birthplace of Sinclair Lewis, so we spent a little time wandering around the town to look at the sights and appreciate the “original Main Street,” as they call it here. Some speculate that Lewis was thinking of his hometown when he wrote his novel, “Main Street.” With the national news playing in the background at dinner, I could not help but think of his other novel, “It Can’t Happen Here,” which I recall saw a big resurgence in sales about 3 years ago.

Tomorrow we’ll ride to the end of our trail from today, then head into the Minneapolis suburbs before our first rest days of the trip this weekend.

By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 74
Total for the trip so far: 2002
Average pace: 12.5 mph
Total climbing: 1033 ft.
Average temperature: 74F
Dive-bombing butterflies: 2
Bike gloves blown awry by wind: 3

One of our many lakes today. That is water, not butter.

 The start of our trail this morning.

 Our technical editor insisted this photo make the cut. The hotel we ate dinner at tonight claims to be haunted, but my money is on this barn.

Mural on the side of the Palmer hotel. Apparently Lewis was a night clerk here.

 Sinclair Lewis’ childhood home.

 Our trail for the day.

More lakes. Note the wind inflating my shirt.

 Ed at the corner of Main Street and Sinclair Lewis ave.

 Ed on the dock at Sinclair Lewis park. Did we mention, SINCLAIR LEWIS IS FROM HERE??

 Giant Viking statue in Alexandria, apparently was constructed for the New York world’s fair.

 Another lake.

In Fergus Falls this morning. Look closely and you can see Otto to the left of Ed.

Day 26: Fargo, N.D. to Fergus Falls, Minn.

This morning we took it easy, as we knew we had another relatively short day. Shortly after we left Fargo, we crossed the Red River and entered into our fifth U.S. state. From Moorhead, which is the Minnesota suburb of Fargo, we headed southeast, again paralleling the I-94 corridor, but this time following some very quiet county roads instead. Our first thirty miles were relatively calm and scenic, with minimal traffic and just a slight headwind. We stopped for a snack in Barnesville, and when we got back on the bikes, the wind had increased substantially. The following thirty miles we were heading almost directly into 10+ mph winds. Thankfully, our extra long days across North Dakota meant that we didn’t have to go too far today, so we took it easy and switched back and forth riding into the wind. The corn fields were clearly very impressed with our efforts, as you could see them bowing to us throughout the afternoon.

We stopped at a truck stop for lunch and a group of construction workers were very eager to learn about our trip, though we were both pretty hungry and really just wanted to eat our sandwiches. After another 15 miles into the wind, we turned toward Fergus Falls and found our way to the hotel. One downside of paralleling the interstate is that many of the hotels are by the freeway, which can sometimes make for an unpleasant last mile, and a less-than-optimal walk into town. Today we are about 2 miles from the town center, but there doesn’t look to be much of sidewalk. We may opt to just see the town when we ride through tomorrow morning.

Today’s ride should mark the halfway point, in terms of mileage, for the trip, as we passed the 1900 mile mark. I haven’t taken the time to re-count the miles for the trip, so that’s not a definite number, but at some point I calculated this route at 3800 miles total.

We rode along a Minnesota state birding trail at one point today, and there were indeed many birds. Someone had alerted us to an eagle’s nest along the route which we did see. I am obviously spoiled at living in Seattle for so long, but the other alien-looking birds they have here are much more interesting to me.

There are also more trees along the route.which is great news both in terms of providing potential shade as well as, at times, blocking the wind. Niamh checked the map of where we are today and said she could confirm that we are indeed in the “land of lakes,” a term which I will forever associate exclusively with margarine and cream cheese.

By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 58
Average moving speed: 12 mph
Maximum speed: 19.7 mph
Current elevation: 1250 ft.
Specialty donuts consumed: 2
Father/son pairs in our lunch stop: 3
Orange-strawberry infused water bottles drank: 2.5

Donuts from Sandy’s donuts in Barnesville. We did not opt for the Cookie Monster donuts, as appealing as they looked. As we ate these in the parking lot, a woman stopped and was very proud to tell us that the brewmaster at Drekker brewing, where we went last night, was the son of the band director at Barnesville high school.

Somewhere along county road 52. You can see the wind is really blowing.

Sunrise over Fargo from our hotel.

 Coming into Fergus Falls. I did not see any snowmobiles.

 After we entered “Otter Tail County,” the road changed to CR 88. This is that road.

There was no “entering Minnesota sign as we crossed the bridge. So, we took a picture of this park in Moorhead. It will have to suffice. 

Biking on a trail out of Moorhead

Day 25: Enderlin to Fargo, N.D.

Early this afternoon, we departed the remote, rural cornfields of central North Dakota and entered the metropolis of Fargo-Moorhead. Today is our last day in North Dakota, and we have definitely run the gamut of scenery and sights in this state: from the badlands and the painted canyons, through the state capital, across many cornfields in the agricultural center, and now to the border on the Red River; it was a much shorter crossing than our 12 days across Montana.

Riding today continued the trajectory of yesterday, with long stretches along straight, flat roads through cornfields. We continued our first 30 miles through rural farming communities, before we began to turn into Fargo. The next 30 miles took us along bike paths, quiet suburban roads, and right into the center of Fargo. There appear to be two main railroad tracks that run right through the downtown area here, and we experienced the slowdown crossing both of them.

We arrived early into Fargo and spent the afternoon and evening exploring the city. It appears to be a city experiencing definite growth, with several startups right downtown, and lots of young people and the businesses they attract. We were eager to find some different fare for lunch and dinner, and got a chance to check out a few different breweries across town.

Minnesota is within sight, and tomorrow we will ride right across the bridge and begin our southeast trek toward Minneapolis and eventually to connect with the Mississippi River into Iowa, where we’ll head east through Indiana and Ohio.

By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 58
Average pace: 13.8 mph
Total climbed: 289 ft.
Average temperature: 76F
Elevation: 975 ft.
Norwegian-themed business: 3
Tacos consumed: 4
Cups of infused water at the hotel: 5

 Our technical editor (Ed) wanted to note the three different types of shoulders that we experienced today riding along CR 46. This was the worst: a small shoulder with a rumble strip right down the middle.

 There was a business here in Fargo that was full of full-size animal statues.

 Here is another type of shoulder: one of the best, wide should with no intruding rumble strip.

 Ed outside of one of the breweries here in town. This one occupied a previously burnt-out railway building.

 Our “lunch” stop in Kidred, N.D.

 Gaming at Fargo’s arcade-brewery.

 The less-optimal shoulder: narrow but rumble strips to the left.

View of downtown Fargo.