Thursday, July 11, 2013
Ride Day 120
Yesterday was a rest day for me due to heavy thundershowers but today I got an early start after breakfast at the hotel. I rode from Buffalo to Frontenac State Park 109 miles and a lot of rolling hills to climb but nothing major until I arrived at the park. The ride was on a divided highway all the way into downtown Twin Cities where I realized that winter is over so it must be road construction season. There were detours all over the place and I almost got lost. I still knew generally where I was but I did not know the best route to get through the city. I met a friendly biker that rode up to me and asked me where I was going. We started talking and as we talked he guided me to one of the cities bike paths that crisscross the city. I thanked him for the help and wished him good luck and his son good luck too since he is going to Bozeman State in Montana next year. I told him how much I liked Montana and how bike friendly the state was. Once on the bike path I cruised over to the river and turned right to follow it south to the airport where I veered off to go down highway 52 and 55 in the direction of La Crosse Wisconsin. The ride got really warm later in the day mostly because I was riding out in the bright sun and was getting cooked. I stopped for lunch at a little café just before going to the park. I ordered a half chicken meal. The chicken was a bit dry but there was plenty of mashed potatoes and gravy to get it down. When I finished eating that, I ordered a rootbeer float and some dessert. I heard a loud groan of disbelief from the people in the café. They were shocked at how much I was eating. The truth is I had just eaten a double quarter pounder and a fish sandwich less than 2 hours earlier and I would eat two more meals before the day was over. I started talking to the people in the café then about the calorie burn I have and they started to quiz me about my ride. The usual shocked looks and comments about the crazy guy riding that far ensued. We all had a good time in the end and the waitress totally filled my float glass up with ice cream and gave me the rootbeer in a glass on the side telling me they usually only put one scoop in a float but she wanted to make sure I got enough calories in. We all laughed and I gobbled it quickly before leaving for the park. I had thought the park was going to be an easy one mile ride so I turned off my gps at the café to start charging it for tomorrow. It was actually several miles of riding to get to my campsite including a steep monster hill just before the campsites. I spun up the hill even though my legs were starting to get a bit weak after the hard days ride. Then I went straight to the showers. When I came out there was a retired couple there waiting for me. They wanted to tell me they watched me come up the hill and they were stunned that I made it look easy. They didn’t think anybody would ever be able to climb the long steep hill without a single rest or anything and to not look tired at the top. They were impressed and kind of excited. I told them I just came from the mountains where I spent a couple months riding in mountains all day every day and that seemed to make them understand better. I was feeling good with all the praise about my riding strength and I ended up going for about a 15 mile ride around all the park trails before I put my tent up. The park is right on the Mississippi River and the bluffs were good to look at with eagles soaring up and down the river and boats both sail and power running all around the river. I enjoyed the ride. I should sleep well tonight as long as I don’t start to cramp up. More later… 
Monday, July 8, 2013
Ride Day 119
Today I went from Sauk Centre to Buffalo Minnesota about 85 miles with very little climbing needed in hot humid weather. I had planned on riding all the way to the Twin Cities today but I started to melt from the heat at about 70 miles. Then I started to think about the logistics of arriving in a large city exhausted and close to heat stroke so I decided to stop short of my goal and I checked into a hotel in Buffalo about 20 miles west of the Twin Cities area. I was beat when I entered my room so after a long shower I just crawled up on the bed and did nothing for a while with the air conditioner on full blast. When I started to get chilly I got up and went looking for some Mexican food. Did not have to go far to find a place where I gobbled a carnitas burrito dinner and had a quick beer. After yesterdays three pints at the Palmer Hotel in Sauk Centre I just wanted one beer. The three pints may have contributed to my sluggish feelings today by dehydrating me just a bit. The Palmer Hotel was featured on one of the TV shows that go out investigating claims of supernatural events like ghosts. There was memorabilia all over the hotel lobby from the show and about the haunting events experiences by guests. I did notice that money was missing from my wallet when I left so maybe it really is haunted.
My bike path ended just short of St Cloud so I had to plan my route into the Twin Cities. I asked a couple of cops that were around and they went into great details about the various ways to get there by bike. They ended up helping me choose the route I wanted to do and we settled on the directions to do that. It only involved two turns go left on 75 and that turns into 7 then turn left when you get to 55. I like easy directions like that. I looked it up on Google and there were like 200 turns and directions listed which is just confusing. Google needs to fix that problem. Their computer will take turns that zig zag all over the place just to save a few feet off the route. some people may like that but I prefer simple instructions like my two turn ones. Sure I may go an extra couple of miles over a 100 mile ride but such is life at least I am not spending all my time trying to follow complicated instructions. I took very few pics today because I was just not interested in the repetitive scenery like I have had for the last several days. There were some murals and I did crack up when I saw a barn with flower boxes hanging under its windows. Tomorrow's forecast has thundershowers developing by mid day so I am not sure how far I will get before I need to take shelter since the storms are once again forecast as severe. But this is a weather forecast so it is likely wrong. We shall see...
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Ride Day 118
Barnesville to Sauk Centre Minnesota 109 miles with only 1400' of hills. The weather today was bright sun with the temps climbing from 61 up to 95 by the end of the ride. I got run out of my campground in Barnesville yesterday because there were severe weather warnings and they told me it wasn't safe to be in a tent. The only hotel in town was booked up right away after that so I had to ride 15 miles to find a hotel for the night. Then it was a beautiful night with no storms at all and almost no wind and clear skies. The weather forecasters were way off on that call. On the ride the first 30 miles or so were on roads but then I entered the Central Lakes Trail a bike path that was very good to ride on. I ran into a few other long distance riders today. One had come from Maine on the same route I plan on using and he had gone 2100 miles so I guess that is how far I have to go to get my lobster roll. I have already put in almost 9000 miles with all my side trips included. I am now heading to southern Wisconsin for a short visit then on to finish my ride. I have about 500 miles to go to get to southern Wisconsin. I hope to do it in 6 days or less. Weather and storms could make it take longer but I just have to roll with it. There were a lot of day riders on the trails today and a lot of them want me to stop and talk. I did with a few but with a couple of them I just was too tired to chat so I made it quick. Minnesota does have a lot of lakes that is for sure. I started trying to count how many I went past today but quickly lost count trying to decide if a pond was big enough to be a lake or not. I saw some turtles and lots of birds as well as some coyote pups that were play fighting on the path and did not see me until I almost ran into them. I got a pic of them running away that I will post later when I get real wifi. I also ran over a depressed suicidal mouse that ran out in front of me and stopped in front of my bike as I rolled over it. I had no time to swerve or anything. I am surprised how many animals I have run over and killed as I ride along, mostly snakes. Minnesota is mostly corn and soy bean country so far with some grains that look to be used mostly for cattle fodder cause they are small fields. The people have all been very nice and friendly to me. I have seen and heard of very little crime in all the small towns I like to stop in. I like the culture but I don't think I could ever live in a small town again after so much time in the big cities of the world. More later...
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Resting in Barnesville MN
I took some time off from riding here in Barnesville Minnesota. After riding from Yellowstone to Missoula and then straight to Fargo basically in one long series of hard rides my body told me it wanted to rest so I took a week off to eat, rest and eat some more. Barnesville is a town of 2500 with one bar, four churches, two gas stations, a Subway and a Dairy Queen with one small grocery store. I am staying at the Lions Club campground just outside of town. The other reason I am resting is because that ride just outside of Jamestown where the road had the expansion joint bumps every ten feet bruised my butt good and there is not much worse than trying to ride with a sore bottom. That problem has already healed itself and my massive eating binge is restoring my body fairly quickly. Yesterday I bought a package of hamburger and some buns and cheese. I sat at the table outside my tent and cooked cheeseburger after cheeseburger until I was full. When I finished my neighbor came over to ask me if I had just eaten 6 hamburgers. I didn't count them as I cooked and ate them but there were only 2 buns out of 8 left in the package so I told her that yes I guess I did just eat 6 cheeseburgers. She was looking kind of stunned as I started to eat a banana while I was talking to her. I can pack in the food but such is life when you burn as many calories as I have been burning up lately. I have been burning between 7 and 10,000 calories a day for weeks and I have not been able to keep up with my food intake so my weight was going down at least a half pound a day. I explained this to her and she told me she was going to take up bike riding in the morning. I know she was joking but I tried to encourage her anyway. The campground I am at has had a few other bikers pass through it while I have been here. They were all fun to talk to. There were some doing 20 miles a day and some trying to do 100 miles a day. All types seem to find their way out on the road. I wish them all luck. I will plan on hitting the road again on Sunday morning heading to southern Wisconsin which should take me about a week to do the 650 miles. Here are a few pics of Barnesville MN... 
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