Anyways, I think this update is a little more lacking in content and details due to how long it took me to write it all out, I just hope my tardiness will not detract from how I convey some of the amazing experiences I've had during the 900 miles from North Dakota. Looking through the pictures from this last leg were excellent reminders of just how much I enjoyed the ride into Ohio. I can't rank this leg as being my most or least favorite but I can say that I was lucky to have some amazing hosts along the way and I'll definitely miss the Midwest as I continue into the heart of darkness, the East Coast.
This ranks among my favorite photos of the trip thus far. Riding away from a comfortable night in Sauk Centre, Minnesota I got to ride through this misty fall day where I could never see the bike trail or surrounding terrain beyond 200 yards or so. Since I was on a trail I didn't have to worry about auto traffic trying to cut my life short, road kill, glass, and other auto debris which I am constantly dodging on roadways. This made for extremely relaxing and effortless riding. Got to pass by many lakes like this one while in Minnesota so there were plenty of photo opportunities, however this shot stood out as a favorite.
I really enjoy using trails when I can because they make riding nearly effortless and give an illusion of safety. I say an illusion of safety because you still need to pay attention for the unexpected. I once hit a cat on a trail back during high school because it was darker out and I was zoned out. I've always kept that as a reminder of why it's important not to become too out of touch with whats in front of you, even while riding an empty path.
Had my first sighting of the Mississippi River as I entered St. Cloud Minnesota.
Nothing too significant about this other than it was fun to ride down. It was out of my way to check out but once I saw it I needed to ride down it. While at UND I always got a kick from riding the bike to the top of parking garages just to coast down them as fast as possible and this was a similar experience. In fact I think I ridden down just about every parking garage in Grand Forks, ND.
Spent a couple nights in Waconia, MN with the Klingelhutz family. I met Dan Klingelhutz while up at UND because we were both really good at crashing on other peoples couches and we have been good friends ever since. Apparently he has grown out of this phase because he's now a helicopter flight instructor at UND and I am still sleeping on peoples couches. Anyways, his folks were nice enough to put me up for the few days I was in Waconia. I even got to help pull Pumpkins out of their fields when it managed to stay dry. While in Waconia, a really nasty system rolled through Minnesota and the upper Midwest and dropped a ton of rain, greater than ten inches in some areas in less than twenty-four hours. I take the time to mention this storm because it caused me a headache only a couple of days later when I was trying to ride out of Minnesota. (You'll understand in the coming pictures.)
Minneapolis St. Paul
I've been fortunate to spend quite a bit of time in the Twin Cities over the past 5 years while hanging out in the Upper Midwest. I had never been to MSP or even Minnesota prior to moving to North Dakota so I really didn't know what to expect. I think the only impressions I had formed in my mind about it were gathered from watching the movie Fargo. I was so excited to see wood chippers parked in everyone's back yard and to hear them all to talk with heavy Scandinavian accents. I was disappointed to discover that my expectations were almost completely unfounded. I rarely get to hear someone talk like Marge from Fargo and its even rarer to see bloody wood chippers.
Today, Minneapolis St Paul is a city I hold in the highest regard. Its awesome that its in the Midwest and despite it being a big city, I think most people who live there manage to maintain a Midwest mentality and friendliness. I like its attention to city planning. There are parks and greenways everywhere. There's light rail and an amazing public transit system. Some amazing beer is produced there, like summit and grain belt. But the best thing about MSP is their commitment to cycling.
The city is full of bike paths and other cycling infrastructure. The two pictures above are from the Midtown Greenway which is almost like an interstate for cyclists to get across town. It is just one example of MSP's commitment to making cycling a part of their city. Minneapolis actually earned the title of Americas best cycling city by Bicycling Magazine for 2009. I hope more metros begin to do what MSP has done cause Americans need to seriously change the way they get around.
Check out this link if you want to see other metros who make up the Top 50 Bike Cities:
www.bicycling.com/news/featured-stories/bicyclings-top-50
Former roommates from North Dakota really helped make my time in Minnesota comfortable. I was able to stay with the Klingelhutz's in Waconia then I stayed with the Weisman's in St. Paul. Aaron Weisman was sort of my roomate for 3 years while at UND. One of those years I just slept on his couch a lot, but it was so often that I think we could agree that we have been roommates for 3 years. Anyways, the dog is Bella and it lives with the Weismans. It was a warm day when I rode into St. Paul so I had all this dry salt from the sweat on my legs, Bella was nice enough to lick it all off for me though. This is a picture of her in the act. I've also included a picture from a couple years back from my first meeting with Bella. (Note the shirt I'm wearing in that picture.)
So I mentioned earlier all that rain which hit Minnesota while I was hanging out in Waconia. Well that caused me one hell of a head ache riding away from Minneapolis. I elected to take this bike path as an alternative to being on a busy and noisy road. Taking the path would add an extra two or three miles compared to the road but I thought the extra mileage would justify itself since the path would be away from cars and have a gentle grade to it. Well, after riding 15 miles down that path this is what I came to. A good chunk of the path had been washed out and the water was too swift and deep to attempt a crossing. I even tried to make a bridge with a fallen branch but I quickly came to terms with the fact that I would have to turn around. That detour probably cost me 3 hours of forward progress. Needless to say words came out of my mouth my grandparents would be shocked to hear as I stood along that washed out path. It was not one of my better moments.
I snapped this photo at an overpass during my detour. This is a different spot where the trail had been washed out. It made me feel a little better about my decision to turn around but not much.
Camping alone can be a pretty intimidating experience. This far into my journey I have grown pretty used to it but if nothing else, it is pretty lonely. When I set up camp along the Mississippi I was prepared for another solo night out in the woods but I lucked out. Just as I was setting up my tent a canoeist who had paddled into the same campground spotted me and we hit it off. It was awesome to meet someone else on such an epic adventure and exchanging stories about each of our trips was really great. We set up camp together that night and got a fire going and enjoyed our amazing view of the bluffs which stood along the Mississippi River.
As it turned out, this guy had actually built his own canoe for the trip. His trade back home was boat making so making a canoe would not be a crazy undertaking, regardless he did a really great job on it. I actually considered doing a canoe trip down the Mississippi as an alternative to this bike tour but if I did a canoe trip I would refuse to do it solo and I doubt I would have found anyone to come along with me. Maybe another summer.
Crossing into Iowa I had a celebratory PBR at the state line. Unfortunately I crossed the state line at 8 in the morning so I felt like a hard core alcoholic pounding it along side the road that early in the day. Also, it had been in my saddlebag for close to a week by then and gone through several warming and cooling cycles so it was pretty skunky. I didn't know that PBR could actually taste that bad.
In Iowa City Iowa I got to stay with another member of the Klingelhutz family, Louise. I made it into Iowa City on a Saturday morning, just in time to tailgate that weekends Hawkeye football game against Penn State. The Hawkeyes killed them so things got pretty crazy in town that night. Louise was nice enough to lend me a Iowa shirt so I'd fit in. In actuality I don't think the pink helped me fit in all that much. This first picture would have been pretty early in the day prior to the game.
This photo would be from around 1 am in the morning after a couple more beers. You may wonder why I'm wet. I was pushed into the fountain when I was vulnerable. Thanks Jonah.
The University of Iowa has some nice buses. It made me wish I was back at UND behind the wheel of one chasing down pedestrians on University Avenue.
U of I Campus
The next couple of pictures are just cool things I saw along the way. I particularly like the snow plow one.
Ohio
The host I stayed with in Yellow Springs, OH was a pretty cool dude. I'm not gonna say much more than that because I can't say it any better than that. I'll just say that Richard Simons is probably more of cyclists than I'll ever be and just a really cool dude.
Richard is the guy in the USA Cycling jersey at the helm of the dualie. These folks were kind enough to ride me out of Yellow Springs and get me headed towards Columbus, OH.
To be honest I didn't take too many pictures while in Columbus because I was just happy to see people and I didn't want to preoccupy myself with documenting everything. Here are a few photos from my time though.
Had the chance to go down to Athens, OH twice to visit with the sister. I like this series of photos cause she smiles in all of them and you can see me attempts to resist showing some teeth. It was nice to finally sit down and have a beer with the sis since she is now of age.
Got a chance to make it up in the air while home. Rented N734QF from Bolton Airport while home and flew it up to Findley, Ohio with Jonah. I really like the paint job on this plane, not too many out there with colors that bright.
I suppose keep reading, I don't plan on taking such an extended break from this again. I am approaching Washington, DC and I should have enough additional material to make a post from there. Sorry to close up this entry so quick but writing really wears me out. Later.
