June 20, 2005
Stillwater, MN to Wabasha, MN
“At least with hills there’s a reward.”
Finally, a good night’s sleep. Camping in Erick’s back yard was perfect. Although I stayed up until 11:30 to finish yesterday’s log Nick let me sleep to 7:30. We had breakfast at the Main Street Café in Stillwater and were on the road at 9:15. As usual we were heading south and the winds were out of the south. That’s it no more complaining about the winds.
Erick Rydeen chatting with us
Last night when we were talking to Erick in his back yard Nick explained: “There is no glory riding into the wind. People see you and think to themselves 'They are just riding slow'. At least with hills, when people see you riding up a hill with way too much gear on your bike they think to themselves ‘Look at those cyclists going up that hill they must be strong’. Also with hills you get to coast down the other side as a reward for your hard work.”
The reward for hard work! Art by Abby Fugle Nov. 2005
Erick came out and chatted with us before we left. He commented that he is envious. I’m sure he’ll be touring again some day. It was really nice of him to share his home with us.
After we rode out of Stillwater we hit a series of hills of the two to three hundred foot climb variety with what I estimate were three to six percent grades. After about the third one I turned to Nick and asked him: “How does the glory feel?” We were riding parallel to the Saint Croix River and it was pretty hilly. At one point I stopped at the top of a hill to put some Gatorade in my water bottle and a female cyclist came riding by. Nick commented: “She is flying.” After we started riding we could see her for about two more hills and then she was gone. We rode over the Saint Croix River and entered Wisconsin. We rode over the Mississippi River and reentered Minnesota just before lunch.
St. Croix River before it enters the Mississippi
We crossed into Wisconson where the Saint Croix River meets the Mississippi and rode in Wisconson for about twenty-two miles. There was no "Welcome to" sign on the way in which I thought was odd. It was also somewhat hilly on the Wisconson side of the river.
Riding Along in Wisconson
As we crossed back over the Mississippi and approached Red Wing, MN I looked at the sky and could a huge storm brewing in the southern sky. Our timing was perfect as we watched the storm complete with lightning and heavy wind and rain while eating an all you can eat lunch. When we finished lunch it was still raining but it wasn’t very heavy.
Threatening skies before lunch
We suited up in rain gear and hit the road. There still was some occasional lightning. At one pretty big strike in front of us I counted to fourteen before hearing the thunder, which I think, means that it was about two miles in front of us. About ten minutes later we passed a transformer on a telephone pole that was burning. It must have been from that lightning strike.
The morning was warm and muggy. The afternoon was cooler and rainy. We decided to get a motel tonight (our first one in a week) because of the rain. We cut our goal short as we started late, waited out the storm at lunch, had hills in morning, headwinds almost all day, and rain in the afternoon. Excuses, excuses, excuses.
We were treated with a beautiful evening sky in Wabasha.
Evening sky from Wabasha, MN
Jim
Cycledog (Ride the extra mile!!)
© 2005 - JNS
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