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.