Another Brief Update with Pics (August 14, 2012)

Yesterday we ended our travels on the paved bike paths that took us from Bowlus to Fergus Falls, MN.  We stayed at Delagoon Park in Fergus Falls last night.  

OK, let's see what the Iphone says....

Getting our bearings on the corner.

P

Fergus Falls MN...they are big on vikings.

 Central Lake bike path. Quite nice and all ours.

Pata stops beneath a mural outside of a store where we bought snacks.

Rosie the Bear - mascot extraordinaire.

View from our tent at the Delagoon Park campground.

Sleepy head at 6 am...

what sign are you? Pata's sign is coffee!

Paul is heading east. We exchange information by the side of the road.

Ooops. couldn't make the train crossing in time.

Today we crossed into Fargo, North Dakota.  It was a long day in the saddle.  We rode about 70 miles.  We are both tired and are planning a needed rest day tomorrow.   

Safety in Numbers

So while we were at the Bicycle Bunkhouse two fellows, Ryan and Eel (a.k.a. Matthew), came in to stay the night.  They are from England and are doing the Northern Tier as part of a worldwide tour.  Shortly afterward, we were joined by Flavia who is moving from Boston to Oregon for graduate school.  They had met before at another stop.  It was nice to chat with other bicycle tourists.

The next day we set off early.  Flavia woke up right before we left and the guys were still asleep.  It was a truly glorious day to ride – cool, sunny, and with a tailwind.  We thought we were going to ride 45 miles but ended up doing over 60.  We stopped at the city park in Bowlus, MN where we decided to camp.  It is always a bit odd and sometimes dicey at these city parks.  We were feeling a bit uncomfortable, when who comes into camp but Flavia, who was joined by Ryan and Eel, and another cyclist, Bill (who grew up in Medford, MA).  All together there were six of us and we sort of “took over” the pavilion in the park.  It felt much better to have a group of us and there is definitely safety in numbers.

Bowlus City Park - the bathrooms were left open all night for cyclists.

Cyclist refugee camp. Our tent is to the right.

Bill was kind enough to string a laundry line and let us share it.

Picnic tables are always a plus!

Cyclists at rest and organizing in the pavilion. In the background is Bill, the only rider heading east.

We left Bowlus the next day we got out early again and it was cold – I mean really cold.  I put on my long gloves, jacket, and headband. 

It's cold out here this fine august Minnesota morning.

I could have used heavier gloves.  

Heading into the Lake Wobegon covered bridge.

The bridge is short

...and sweet. About 7 AM.

Casting long shadows on a deserted morning road.

Churches are everywhere.

Built like a brick church...

We had a short day of about 30 miles and stayed in Suak Centre’s City Campground which was a quiet campground on a lake.  

Knowing and Growing

I’ve been thinking a lot about smells and the meaning we associate with them.  I have noticed that there are smells that are different from the ones in the suburb of Boston where we live.  When I am at home, I don’t think about the smells too much – except when the lilacs are in full bloom and we ride past walls of them in Concord.  But on the road for hours every day, there is a mindfulness that is developed – a being in the moment – where my senses are heightened and I notice more than I do when I am busy with busyness.

As we traveled along the Erie Canal Trail in New York, there was a smell that reminded me of a diaper pail.  I have no idea what it was, but it was not pleasant at all.  Across Iowa I noticed the “farm smells” of manure and cattle.  I also noticed a sweet smell that reminded me of a cross between honeysuckle and burning sweet grass.  I didn’t know what it was until Mark, the proprietor of The Greenhouse Bed and Breakfast told me it was the corn “teaseling” which means it was pollinating.  Learning this new information made me think about what I know, what I think I know, and what I don’t know.  I knew I smelled something sweet and it was as we past corn fields.  I didn’t know what it was or that it had a name.

It’s odd to think about all the things that I sense and experience without much knowledge of what I am sensing.  It is humbling to really think about all I don’t know.  However, this knowledge void is part of what makes life interesting to me.  I like to think that I am involved in a lifelong educational process.  Perhaps this is why that I am a teacher.  As a teacher, I have the opportunity to be a learner as well.  I am sure that I learn as much or more from my students than they learn from me – regardless of the subject matter I am teaching.  And part of teach is realizing that you only know, what you know and being open to learning something new with the understanding that new knowledge could change my world view, or at least my perspective.  It is in this way I grow – and no matter how old I get chronologically, I hope that my growth never ceases.

Bicycle Bunkhouse (August 9, 2012)

Dalbo MN post office.

We arrive at the Bicycle Bunkhouse in Dalbo Minnesota.

We arrived on the early side at The Bicycle Bunkhouse in Dalbo, MN.  It rained on us on the way in and we looked forward to bicycle friendly shelter.  We had seen a YouTube video of the bunkhouse before we left Bedford (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezcyY6BGlik) and had said we must stop there.  It was hard to believe that we had made it over 2000 miles to the Bicycle Bunkhouse.

Donn Olson - Builder & owner of the bicycle bunkhouse. A fantastic person and patron saint of touring cyclists.

The bicycle bunkhouse is awesome and free to touring cyclists.

Cozy with A/C and plenty of food, beverages and comforts.

Pata and Rosie the Bear pick a bunk for the night.

A well stocked fridge for thirsty riders.

Classic outhouse and shower - both are very clean and nice inside.

Things are washed and dried out on the bunkhouse lawn.

We dropped our stuff in one of the bunkhouse rooms and I made some real coffee.  Then Donn the proprietor came in and said that he was hosting some workers for lunch and did we mind.  Of course, we didn’t mind, we were just grateful to be there.  While we waited for the workers to show up, he told us about an alternative route to follow.  The route he suggested goes on about 100 miles of paved bike trail – flat and through towns.  It sounded great to us and we are going to try that route instead of following the Adventure Cycling maps.  We will join up with the maps in Pelican Falls or perhaps in Fargo, ND. 

David helping Donn out by driving his van.  Such an odd sight!

Touring Days with Minimal Drama

After the day in the mud we had absolutely glorious weather the next day (August 5^th).  It was sunny, dry, and cool.  The only issue was a strong headwind that dogged us all day.  We rode from Winnoa to Frontenac State Park where we camped. 

Rest stop on the railing

Lake City fleet idles in the marina.

One of the nicest parks we have stayed in. Five star bathrooms and showers.

Conversation piece.

The next day (August 6^th) we rode short, only about 15 miles to Red Wing, MN and decided take care of some errands, like a visit to the bike shop for lube and a new bicycle computer for me.  Mine had lost a cover in the mud and rain, and at one point said I was going 98 MPH.  I also had to go to the pharmacy and such.   Although it was a “rest day” off the bike, I was busy all day with errands, laundry, and mapping.  There really is no rest for the weary.

Redwing shoes and Redwing shoe signs are everywhere.

August 7^th we went to St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park.  When we were checking into the campsite, we met a fellow cyclist, Jimmy and had a lovely conversation about riding, touring, and the park.  The park was quite lovely and the bathrooms were to write home about!  (The showers were new, the water warm, and they were very, very clean.)  I spent a long time mapping out the next few days and trying to figure out where we were going to land each night.

Jimmy is full of enthusiasm for cycling! We are glad to have shared a moment with him. Ride the good ride, my friend.

Pata at site #1 in Frontenac State Park.

Very beautiful park, clean quiet and relaxing.

The brand new bathroom/shower building. Deluxe all the way!

The navigator plots our course for the next day

Tomorrow (Thursday) we will be in Dalbo, MN at the Bicycle Bunkhouse.  I called Donn Olson the owner to find out if there was anything special I needed to do if we intended to stay there.  There wasn’t; he said to just show up.  However, he also asked if I needed to go to on the Adventure Cycling Route for any reason, as he had an alternative that was less hilly and 22 miles on a bike path.  I said, I was absolutely open to a new route, especially since David says he takes “anti-hill medication.”  He gave me directions which were great. (The only issue being I didn’t know how long between turns.)  We rode about 60 miles and are staying in North Branch, MN tonight and heading to Dalbo tomorrow.

Testing the Mettle of the Pedal (August 4, 2012)

The day started off well enough.  It was cloudy and rain was forecast, but when we started off from La Crosse, WI across the Mississippi river to La Crescent, MN it was not raining.  We went to the post office where I picked up a care package sent to me by my dear friends Susan and Catherine.  (To be honest, it made me a bit homesick for my peeps.)  

Pata gets her package sent by her friends.

It was great to get things like chamois cream that we needed and some more “calling” cards that have my blog site on it to give to folks along the way.  I also got surprise chocolate covered berries which were a real treat! (DW: later on these berries were eaten by raccoons while we slept in our tent.)

After the post office, big, dark clouds were rolling in so we sought shelter at the library.  There were benches shaped like books so we sat and the rain started.  The sky was full of lightning and thunder which makes me nervous.  We waited until it let up a bit and then decided to head off.  We put our rain gear on and soon it was too hot and not raining enough to warrant it. Off came our rain jackets, pants, etc.

Then as we pulled into Nodine, MN we noticed more menacing clouds.  David said let’s find shelter and I said maybe the church would have an overhang.  We went to the back of the church to find an overhang at the rear doorway.  I tried the door and it was open and David tried the inside one and it too was open.  In the foyer were two chairs and there was a restroom.  

Stopped into a church we passed along the way....

The church bathroom is mighty nice!

Any port in a storm I always say.

Very peaceful in here.

Stained glass is nice even when rainy outside...

Who could ask for more?  It was empty and no one came and said anything to us.  We sat for about an hour watching it pour rain.  I went over to the little store across the street from the church to get something for lunch.  All they had was chips and hostess pies and such.  I wonder how people live on this, but that’s what we had for lunch.  It was raining steadily and we decided that we should just brave the wet, as there was no place to stay in Nodine and nothing too close. 

We put on full rain gear which we needed in the downpour.  We descended a huge hill and at the bottom of it where it should have been County Road 7, it said County Road 8!  I felt defeated.  I wasn’t sure where I had gone wrong or where we turned or didn’t turn as the case may be.  To top it off, when I tried to use Google Maps, I couldn’t get any signal on my Iphone (we were at the bottom of a very long hill).  We were lost with out technology to help us out.  We flagged down a truck, and asked directions from the two young men in it.  They told us to go up route 125 and turn left and go under the highway to the frontage road.  A bit later we then stopped a postal carrier who gave us different directions.  We were a bit confused and asked again and were told to go left – which we did.  Amazingly enough, we ended up on County Road 7!  Thank goodness, I thought, we are back on route.  Then we saw a sign: Road Closed Ahead. 

Now we have gone on closed roads before and made it through (simply because a bicycle can go many places a car cannot).  We were also without my phone to guide us to a new route, so we decided to risk it.  It started out kind of muddy and it was downhill – very downhill.  Once we had gone about a mile there was really no turning back, and where would we go if we did?  So we continued on, and as we did the worse it got. 

Descent into mud hell (and this was the nicer part!)

Riding was no longer an option.

 It was one huge muddy trough and we were slogging through it.  There were huge puddles and we were literally ankle deep in mud.  The mud was oozing out the fenders and causing the wheels to get stuck. As we passed one house we heard dogs.  We both thought that Fido could just chew us up now, and get it over with.  Luckily, we didn’t actually see them.

Just as David’s fenders got so stuck with mud that he could not move at all, a truck came up. (DW: the driver looked at me and I looked at him and I said, “There’s no cure for stupid.” The three occupants of the truck, two men in the front and a woman in the back, broke into laughter.  I asked if we gave him twenty dollars would he haul us down the road out of the mud.  The driver agreed and we hoisted our bikes and our muddy selves into the back of the 4WD Ford pickup truck.  The engine labored as it went along – a few hundred pounds heavier – through the deep nasty mud.  He must have taken us at least five miles.  We both realized that we would have been walking our bikes through that mud for three or four hours more had he not saved us.  

Stan didn't wear his super-hero uniform, but he still saved our day!

What a super-hero drives.

He drove us to highway 61 where we could make it to Winona). 

As we got out, David said, “After we give you your twenty, could I take your picture?”  The man, whose name was Stan, said, “You are not giving me anything.”  We protested that we had made a mess of his truck and he just said that it could be washed and he was going down anyway.  We took his picture and thanked him profusely. 

Mud sweat and tears.

So goodbye muddy yuck road....

We used a stick to get some mud off the fenders and then got onto the highway and headed to Winona.  We made it to Winona and were trying to find the inexpensive motel that I had booked knowing we were at least going to be wet, but not knowing that the day was going to be quite as harrowing as it was.  We ended up getting a bit lost in Winona and asked a policeman for directions.  It turned out that he was a cyclist and had done a 700 mile, 12 day trip last year.  We chatted a bit about the town and cycling and we were on our way. 

We were going down the main street when David pulls off into the empty parking lot of an insurance company.  I think, “What now?”   He goes on the side of the building where there is a hose!  What an eye!  I couldn’t believe it.  We used the hose to wash the worst of the mud off the bikes.  It was truly amazing.

We pull into the motel finally around 4 PM.  The bikes still needed cleaning and lubing and tending to.  David started right in on that.  (The bathroom was odd, a fifties-style green and white tiled floor and huge and he could put the wheels in the tub and not get mud on the carpet.)  I decided to do laundry at a local laundry mat.  We had a pile of muddy clothes as well as the dirty ones from before the ordeal.  It was odd to be in the laundry mat after being stuck in mud just hours earlier.  The whole day was surreal and we were glad it was over.  But as David said to me, it was satisfying in a strange way.  It tested our mettle and we survived.  The Universe came through at key moments and we felt oddly blessed.