June 18, 2005

Enough with the winds already!

In the morning we had twenty-eight miles to go to get to the bike shop to replace Nick’s wheel and tire. Again it was slow going because of the winds coming out of the southeast. Fortunately we were on the bike trail and had protection from time to time by the trees, brush, and berms on the sides of the trail. The repair and replacement stop took about an hour and a half and then we stopped for the traditional second breakfast. It was more like lunch time but we ordered from the breakfast menu anyway.

Marshes off the rail trail

The rail trail was not very busy except near the bigger towns so it was basically Nick and I alone together on the trail most of the day. In one poorer county the trail was just gravel so we got off and took the “old highway” which paralleled the interstate and the rail trail for about twelve miles. It was much harder riding on the roads as there was no protection from the winds and they were blowing directly in front of us at about fifteen to twenty five miles an hour. We had to work harder but averaged better speeds than when Nick’s rear wheel was wobbly.

Trestle over the rail trail

We stopped at a gas station to get refreshments before we got back on the trail and met a very informative man named Harry Hanson. Harry writes for a newspaper (The Salk Centre Herald) and asked a bunch of questions about our trip. I gave him permission to use information from my log and and gave him my email address. When he writes I will send him the link. He said he would send me a copy of the story he writes. He gave us a lot of historical information about the town of Sauk Centre. The author Sinclair Lewis was born there.

When we re-entered the rail trail at Sauk Centre it is now called the Lake Wobegon Regional Trail. I guess it’s the trail “where the women are strong, where the men good looking and the children are above average” – Garrison Keilor.

My home town - It's for real

Nothing else eventful happened during the day other than a bird flew and took a peck at Nick’s helmet. That gave him a startle. I looked all day for unusual or funny signs. Apparently the Lutherans of Minnesota are not a very humorous people. At a couple of stops we cracked some jokes but got few smiles.

We have developed a mantra about tough riding conditions: “If it doesn’t kill you - - it makes you stronger.” Apparently the winds of most of the last week made us stronger as we progressed with a higher average speed today even in the face of stiffer winds.

There were a few options for pretty good pictures, which we passed up as we kept riding to make better time. I am kicking myself now as those opportunities won’t come back. I told Nick that it was his responsibility to make me take pictures. He just smiled. I told him I was just trying to pass the blame for passing up good photo opportunities. He said “I know.”

Tomorrow we will ride to get back on the established route.

Jim

Cycledog (Ride the extra mile!!)

PS Harry Hanson never did send me an e mail and never wrote a story about us.

© 2005 - JNS

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