Day 21 Midland, SD to Pierre, SD
Saturday, July 1, 2006
Another short (relatively) day of only 65 miles. Plus the drop in temperature made for another uneventful day. It had rained overnight and that helped keep the morning cool.
We spent a few extra minutes talking with some of the Stroppel clan about our trip. These people were incredibly friendly. In fact I’m am going to endorse Midland, SD as a town you should go out of your way to visit if for no other reason then to stay at the Stroppel Inn. Its a classic, and I’m quite sure it will remain as one of my favorite destinations regardless of what else happens on this tour. But like I said, it was another uneventful day. We made good time into Pierre (pronounced pier) and quickly found that Griffin Park, right on the banks of the Missouri, offered free tent camping with a short walk to the swimming beach and the community showers. Good enough for us and we spent the rest of the day relaxing by the river and even taking a short swim. It felt good to float in the water, and it felt really good to use different muscles for a change. Off to bed early in another attempt to get going early tomorrow.
Maury
Points of Interest
http://www.pierre.org/
http://www.fortpierre.com/
http://www.state.sd.us/
http://www.sdgfp.info/parks/Regions/OaheSharpe/LaFramboiseIsland.htm
http://www.sdgfp.info/parks/Regions/OaheSharpe/FarmIsland.htm
Day 22 Pierre, SD o Huron, SD
Sunday, July 2, 2006
Again it started out a cool day. Better yet the roads flattened and smoothed out. I can say that road surface has a lot to do with how well we do our mileage. Sure the weather plays a part, but regardless of the weather, give me a smooth road and I can ride all day. This day started out so good in fact that we felt stongly about trying to push the pace a little bit and lo and behold, we were at our destination for the night, and it wasn’t even 2pm. We decided to forge ahead and see if we could add another 50 miles before the day’s end. That pretty much committed us to Huron, SD since there weren’t too many towns between us and there. Huron was a nice sized town on the map though, so we felt reasonably confident that we could find the services we need when we got there.
The second half of the day wasn’t quite as fast as the first but we still made Huron with light to spare. Roughly 120 miles total today, awesome. We found another city park that allowed tent camping (for a small fee) right by the river. It was beautiful, and quiet. Just up the street we found a convinence store/laundromat so we could do some laundry. The lady who worked the cash register was very nice and very talkative. Once she learned about our trip she was very excited for us. She kept repeating that she had contacts in this town and that if we needed anything at all, just let her know and she would get hook us up. She repeated it so often in fact, I began to wonder if she was offering to put a hit on someone for us. Off the top of my head I couldn’t think of anybody deserving of her crew’s attention, besides, they probably just worked locally. After laundry and dinner off to bed. Tomorrow should be a shorter day.
Maury
Points of Interest
http://www.highmore.org/
http://www.huronsd.com/
http://www.sdgfp.info/parks/Regions/GlacialLakes/LakeLouise.htm
http://www.desmetsd.com/
http://www.ingallshomestead.com/
http://www.liwms.com/
Day 23 Huron, SD to Oakwood Lakes State Park, SD
Monday, July 3, 2006
Today was another short day since yesterday was such an awesome day. Only about 60 miles of actual riding. Again the weather was going to cooperate by being cooler, but sadly today, the wind decided it had missed us and decided to visit. For most of the morning we worked hard against a quarter head wind that came at us from about 10 O’Clock. After 20 miles we were really tired. De Smet, SD was the next biggest town and we set our sights on making it there in time for lunch.
A quick note about the scenery: ever since we left Pierre, the countryside has morphed from the golden grasslands of westriver SD (west of the Missouri River) into the green of very lush and large farms. The small towns have changed too. Gone are the ‘dying on the vine’ towns as they were being replaced by quaint and clean farm communities. Even though they were just as small as some of the tubleweed towns of eastern Montana, northeastern Wyoming and western South Dakota, these towns were thriving. At least they gave me the impression they were thriving. There was also one more noticable difference. Each one of the “Welcome To” signs had some sort of optimistic phrase on it. One was “Looking to the Future”, although that sign also mentioned their last baseball championship was in 1977, which seems to me to be dwelling on the past. Another read “A small town with room to grow”. This sign also touted the fact that they had state champions in 1951 and 1992. I guess it was a rebuilding 41 years. I began to wonder if this was all towns like Greycliff needed to get back on their feet, some sort of sports championship in the last century and a slogan like “Greycliff: It’s All Up From Here”.
A note about riding on the prairie: we pretty much pedal against an almost headwind from the safety of one town to the next town and a break from the wind again. All these towns were about 7-10 miles apart. This is tough, but what makes it harder, because of the flat terrain, is that you can see the next town’s watertower long before you get there. In some cases you can see the next town from the last town. It’s just enough false hope to make you want to press on. But after a long period of pedalling, you look up and the water tower isn’t getting any closer! That hurts!
Eventually we reached De Smet, SD. For those of you who don’t know, De Smet is the town where Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote several of her novels. “Little Town on the Prarie” is about life in De Smet. The town itself has used their favortie daughter to create a cottage industry around that fact. Now here is where Maury becomes hypocritical: I complained earlier about the touristy, and the commercialism of places like the LittleBig Horn Battlefield, but here in De Smet, I liked it in fact. This town was again clean and quiet and quaint, and also subtle. There was no Laura Ingalls Wilder Super 8 Motel in the shape of a Pioneer Cabin or the Mary Ingalls Laser Eye Center. There was a small tour of town highlighting some of the places featured in the books and places where Laura lived and worked. Just outside of town still stands the original Pioneer Cabin where Ma, Pa and Mary Ingalls lived out their days. The grove of cottonwoods Charles Ingalls planted still stands untouched. Now here’s the kicker, I think all of this was free to visit and explore. Fantastic. Also, in addition to Laura Ingalls Wilder, De Smet was still a thriving farming community.
We took a long lunch in De Smet. I don’t know if it was the attitude in town or the rest but afterwards the day smoothed out. The last few miles into the state park went quickly and soon we were setting up the tent in a beautiful quiet site near the back of the park. Again early to bed and hopefully early to rise, we are going to shoot for another long day tomorrow.
Maury
Day 24 Oakwood Lakes State Park, SD to Redwood Falls, MN
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
After a great nights sleep in the state park, We got an early start and I’ll tell you, early morning in farm country is awesome. A slight mist was rising over the miles and miles of corn. The road had many hills to it, but was still very manageable. We stopped in White, SD for a mid-morning break, and then rode on to the Minnesota state line. We were making great time as we passed through a series of small towns. Again, here we are in farm country and these small towns looked to be thriving, it is so different from a week earlier.
As we pedalled into Marshall, MN something struck me. Marshall sounded familiar to me and not because I had planned it as part of the route. And suddenly it hit me. I have a friend from college who lives in Marshall. I was now feeling very low. If only I had put two and two together even a few days ago, I might have tried to look him up, but I was worried about showing up unannounced. I don’t think I even told him about my trip. I think if I had, he would have reminded me he lived in Marshall.
As we left town, I began to wonder if I had just lost some karma points by not stopping and saying hi. Shortly after that we saw a pair of cyclists heading in the other direction. We all came to a stop to talk. Ira and Andrea were in the first leg of a perimiter tour.
“The pereimiter of the States?” I asked with the same shock and disbelief I usually get when I tell people about my trip.
These two were really cool and very freindly. We talked about our tours, we shared some stories and information, and in general we bonded. It was great to meet fellow tourers. Yes we had met some before, but this time we really took the time to talk to them and get their stories. Frankly I had hoped to meet more cyclists en route, but I guess that is less likely when you travel a non-established bike route. After a nice long talk with Ira and Andrea, we said our goodbye’s and we were both on our way again. BTW they both have a blog covering their trip as well, here is the link:
http://tour2k6.blogspot.com/
Be sure to check it out to see how they are progressing. They did point out that it is likely their updates will be less frequent than ours, but hey they are going to be travelling for a lot longer than us. After our encounter I began to think back on the fact that I totally dissed my friend in Marshall, I realized that if we had stopped to say hi, we probably wouldn’t have run into Ira, and Andrea, so maybe it was fate. (Although I don’t believe in fate.)
Then it was a short ride into Redwood Falls, MN. They have a city park, that used to be a state park, so we camped there. It seemed like a nice campground until the sun set and mosquitos came out.
Although Minnesotans claim to have the largest mosquitos of anywhere I don’t think that is true. However, I do believe they have the most mosquitos of anywhere. It was insane how many there were. I tucked myself way down deep into the bivy sack to go to bed, but could hear the swarm outside all night. It freaked me out. I couldn’t sleep with the sound of the buzzing just inches from my head. I began to imagine that some of them were inside with me. I think I was on the verge of a mental breakdown when I finally fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning they were mostly gone. It was freaky.
Maury
Points of Interest
http://www.ivanhoe.govoffice.com/
http://www.marshall-mn.org/
Day 25 Redwood Falls, MN to Jordan, MN
Wednesday July 5 2006
Todays ride again took us through some very nice, quaint farming communities. It was July 5th and every metal reflector post on the side of the road had a small USA flag attached to it. That lasted for about 10 miles. It seemed fitting to be riding through the midwest leading up to and after the 4th of July. What’s more American than midwestern farm communities. Most of these towns only had a few hundred people in them, and they were very clean and well kept. I imagined myself living in them and thinking I could be content there. As my friend Sue says, contentment is an underrated emotion. It’s OK to be content. I think I could be content in many of the towns we travelled through today.
We stopped for lunch in Winthrop, MN. As we were sitting in the city park I saw some young people driving around town. I realized that while I could be content here, they probably could and would not. For them this place was a dead end, a place to break away from not retire to, a place that would hold them back from their dreams and desires. I grew up in a small town, I remember that mentality. I wondered when I changed my mind about the whole thing. I wondered when the kids driving around town would change their minds. Admittedly I was seeing these towns at their best, in the middle of Summer, when the weather was nice and everybody was friendlier. Winthrop was getting for their ‘Pioneer Days’. I call them ‘Ol’ Timey Days’. Most towns have some version of ‘Ol Timey Days’ although they don’t usually call it that.
After a few more towns we eventually ended up just north of Jordan, MN at the local KOA. In the campsite next to us was guy named Donald. He was a day laborer who was from Alabama but was here in MN looking for work. I got the impression everything he owned was in his truck or in his tent. That must be a tough life. We started talking to him because he offered us some of his pizza. He got it for free because he knew a guy at the local pizzeria. I’ll admit I wasn’t terribly interested in a conversation with the guy but we did eat some of his pizza so I felt we were somewhat obligated. He told me he almost had work today because he had the truck and it had a hitch on it, but he passed on the offer because there had been other guys waiting longer and he didn’t think it would be fair to jump ahead of them. It blew me away to think this guy lives day to day and yet he still has a sense of fairness, and dignity. I must admit I had formed an opinion of Donald, and I was uncomfortable talking to him but after he told me his story, he had my respect. Later Chris admitted to not really liking the guy and couldn’t understand why I would continue to talk to him.
I pointed out to Chris that it takes all kinds to make a world. Shortly after that I wondered aloud why we never got to meet the former supermodel kind.
Anyway, tomorrow St. Paul and my good friend Sue.
Maury
Points of Interest
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/fort_ridgely/index.html
http://www.ci.redwood-falls.mn.us/
http://www.redwoodfalls.org/
http://www.gaylord.govoffice.com/
http://www.hendersonmn.com/
Day 26 Jordan, MN to St. Paul, MN
Thursday, July 6, 2006
Well the riding today was easy and short. After about 30 miles we found ourselves outside Sue’s apartment. Immediately we met some of her neighbors, who were totally cool and very interested in our trip. Sometimes I dread having the ‘conversation’ but these people exuded such enthusiasm I couldn’t help but be enthusiastic myself. Occasionally I need reminding that I’m having a good time.
We used Sue’s spare keys to enter her apartment and we were instantly attacked by her pug Ping. Well by attacked I mean sneezed on, a lot. Pugs always sound like they’re hyperventilating. I don’t what happened, as a puppy Ping was cute, but now she was soooooo ugly. But it was like a train wreck, you were compelled to look, you couldn’t turn away. After a couple of hours and countless sneezes, Sue finally came home. She was riding her new motorcycle. I convinced her to let me test ride it for a few minutes. Wow! It felt so great to ride again. It made me really miss my own vintage motorcycle. When this tour is over I am definitely taking my motorcycle on a long weekend.
After the way too short ride, I came back to Sue’s and relaxed. Sometime later we headed out to the local pub to meet a couple of Sue’s freinds. Shannon and Corynn were great fun and great to talk to, but mostly it was great to just go out. Being social, for me, was just as neccessary as relaxing. Hopefully we will finish with a few days to spare and I’ll be able to be social with my friends in Philly. Speaking of time. Our arrival in St. Paul today made us officially 3 days behind, but since we are leaving first thing tomorrow morning, we should be only two days behind again. Right now being a few days behind schedule is fine by us, besides, we may be able to make it up later in the trip.
Maury
Points of Interest
http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/
http://www.stpaulcvb.org/
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/
http://www.state.mn.us/portal/mn/jsp/home.do?agency=NorthStar
Day 27 St. Paul, MN to Alma, WI
Friday, July 7, 2006
After bidding my goodbye to Sue, who was on her way to work, Chris and I got ready to leave. I figured sometime ago that today, the day we leave St. Paul, I would feel like we have passed the halfway mark. Not in mileage but in perception. I was right since that was exactly how I felt this morning although it could have been a self-fulfilling prohecy. Suddenly I really felt like we were on the back 9 of this trip. It didn’t seem nearly as far as before. I was beginning to panic however that I had totally miscalculated how many days the rest of the trip would take and that we were way behind. I had to spend a few minutes studying the maps to re-assure myself that we were OK.
With our departure from St. Paul this morning we were officially 2 days behind and Chris and I agreed, it would be alright if we didn’t make up those days. We also agreed to try to keep from falling even furthur behind, unless completely necessary.
It took us awhile ot get out of St. Paul and we had a couple of missed turns before we found the right road out of town. A product of my extrapolating a new route using an old map. We were forced to ride right through the heart of St. Paul’s downtown and that was cool. Again, I liked it, much like the small farming communities we had passed in the last few days, it was clean and very friendly. Plus it had all that urban fun you can’t get down on the farm. It seemed like a young person’s town, although I have no proof to back that up. It was just my impression.
As we left St Paul and headed to Prescott, WI, where we would cross the border, we had to fight a headwind that was coming off the Mississippi. It was tough and made the first 30 miles very slow. Eventually we struggled into Prescott only to discover that they also had an aversion to signage since there was no sign indicating we were entering a new state. We consoled ourselves with a picture in front of the Prescott, WI sign.
After a quick lunch, we were following the Great River Road Scenic Byway. Another highlight for me. Fantastic views of the river and, as always, quaint river towns. As we road the river we came into the town of Pepin, WI. Coincidently Pepin is the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder. A replica of the cabin she was born was in standing on the site of the original. Interestingly though, the cabin sits 7 miles east of Pepin, and the town of Lund sits 8 miles east of Pepin on the same road. Why Pepin stakes it claim as the birthplace is anybody’s guess.
After that it was a short ride to a campground just north of Alma, WI. We made camp quickly, took showers and rode into town some dinner. Alma is a cool and very historic town. It overlooks Lock and Dam #4 on the great river. I gave Sue a call to thank her for the hospitality and to suggest to her that at sometime in the future, she and I should tour this area on our motorcycles. I definitely want to return at some point when I can stay for more than a day.
Off to bed so we can get an early start tomorrow.
Maury
Points of Interest
www.prescottwi.com
www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/bike-foot/grrmap.htm
www.pepinwisconsin.com
www.co.pepin.wi.us
www.almawisconsin.com
Day 28 Alma, WI to Sparta, WI
Saturday, July 8, 2006
We cruised through Alma once more on our way south and headed for the entrance to the Great River State Rail Trail. Again, another highlight for me. This was a long section of abandoned railbed that had been converted into a trail. It was supposed to be fairly flat and smooth and of course, closed to motor vehicles so we could ride side by side with out the fear of getting smooshed.
After twenty miles of state highway we found the trail head and started on our off-road adventure. Rail trails are great and maybe someday there will be a series of them that one could follow all the way across the country. For now, we cyclists have to be content with the occasional one. Cyclists here in Wisconsin can be content with four of them that all connect to form a 100 mile long rail trail in the southwestern part of the state.
Wisconsin knows how to do it right. Don’t get me wrong, the Burke Gilman is a fine urban trail but the ones in Wisconsin really take you through some scenery. After a few miles, some heavy rain, (the first rain for us in weeks) and one wrong turn, we ended up in another great river town, Trempealeau. It was ‘Catfish Days’. The first couple of streets were quietly going about their standard business but the streets closest to the river were packed with the street fair and lot’s of people. Hmm, business up front and a party in back… I guess Trempealeau is the community equivalent of a mullett. (not that there is anything wrong with that)
Actually the town was really cool, we ate lunch at the Historic Trempealeau Hotel with a full view of the river and Lock and Dam #6. The food was very good and our waiter, Matt, (I think) was great. He was totally into hearing about our trip and gave us some very useful info about the trail ahead. Matt? if you read this, thanks again, and drop us a line.
After lunch we cruised into Onalaska where we were going to pick up the Lacrosse River rail trail. This trail was even better than the Great River Trail. Every little town it passed through had a kiosk with info about the trail, maps and distances, and it even had a map of the local town with services indicated on it. Every rail/trail should be like this.
At the end of the La Crosse River Trail we rode into Sparta the most bicycle friendly town we’ve come across. At the old train depot info center we again found a map of town with the services we needed on it. Just up the street was a laundromat and a couple of blocks along was some food. Trust me people, after a long day in the saddle, the last thing you want to do is ride all over town trying to find these places. With this info we were able to ride directly to the locations without any wasted effort.
After dinner and the laundy it was pretty late and we decided to treat ourselves to a motel. It was a Saturday so I knew it might be tough to find a vacancy. We stopped by the local Super 8 and working behind the counter was our savior, Colin. He was the coolest and helped us get a room. He was a film school graduate that was soon to be moving on to L.A., so it was great fun to talk to him about movies and entertainment. He was so enthusiastic and helpful that we had to take his picture and we promised to get in on the web soon. Colin, if you read this, thanks again, and good luck in Hollywood.
Chris stayed up to work on some blog entries but it was bed for me. I must say that Chris’s muse must finally be back from her coffee break and is now inspiring him to write more and more. Of course, I didn’t realize he was going to get all James Joyce on me, so maybe I should tell her to cool it a little so I could get some laptop time myself. Still its always fun to read his take on the day’s events.
Maury
Points of Interest
www.trempealeau.net
www.trempealeauhotel.com
www.discoveronalaska.com
www.explorelacrosse.com
www.lacrosseriverstatetrail.org/
www.bikesparta.com
www.elroy-sparta-trail.com/
Day 29 Sparta, WI to Montello, WI
Sunday, July 9, 2006
We started this morning on the Sparta to Elroy rail/trail. The first rail/trail in the country. It was built some time in the 60’s and is the inspiration for many rail/trails across the country. It was as good as we’ve come to expect from the great state of Wisconsin. Chris and I commented several times how sad it was we didn’t have a trail like this all the way across the country, and how it was even sadder that we would have to leave this trail soon.
This trail was even cooler that the others literally. There was lots of shade from the canopy of trees and we passed through three tunnels that were quite cool inside. It felt great! The surface of crushed limestone was flat and hard and fast and we made great time into Elroy.
We found a quick lunch at the local convience store and got back on the road (sadly) for the rest of the day. We rode through Mauston and onto Oxford, where we took a break from the heat.
Most times I like to relate to you some conversation I had with someone along the route, today I will relate to you a conversation I overheard while sitting at the gas station in Oxford, slowly eating some ice cream.
The Scene:
Two young men in an overheating van roll up to the pumps and manage to block both of them. Shortly after that a very old guy in an old chevy truck parks behind them presumably to get gas after they pull away. They don’t pull away since they both have their head under the hood looking at their steaming motor. Eventually the old guy gets out of his truck and shuffles (with a cane no less!) into the store. Sometime later (it seemed like forever to me) the old guy shuffles out of the store with a gallon of milk and looks over to the young men, who still had their heads under the hood. (apparently there was something good playing on the manifold)
Old Guy: (Under his breath) “Sumbitches” (a little louder now) “Sticky thermostat?”
The young men don’t hear him or pretend not to hear him.
Old Guy: (Much Louder now) “Sticky Thermostat?”
Young Guy #1: “We don’t know yet.”
Old Guy: (back to mumbling) “I’ve been doing this for forty years, so I should know…sticky thermostat.”
At which point he shuffles back to his truck drives it to the other side of the pumps, fills his tank and drives off.
Folks, you can’t script this stuff. I don’t know, maybe you had to be there.
Soon after that we got on our bikes for the last push into Montello, WI where we camped for the night.
Maury
Points of Interest
www.elroywi.com/
www.wistravel.com/mauston.htm
www.montellowi.com/
Day 30, Montello, WA to Manitowoc, WI
Monday, July 10, 2006
Today promised to be a long day. Although we had agreed to stop short of Manitowoc tonight and catch the ferry across Lake Michigan tomorrow, I convinced Chris it was in our best interest to catch the ferry tonight. Of course that meant another 100 mile day. On the plus side, the ferry had a run at 12:30 am so we shouldn’t have any problem making it.
In truth it turned out to be another uneventful day. We passed through several small towns and eventually had lunch in Fond Du Lac, WI. I liked Fond Du Lac. I found it to be charming or even endearing. Dare I say I loved Fond Du Lac…no love is too strong a word. Let’s just say I was…was,…um… I was something of Fond Du Lac, the word escapes me now.
Anyway after lunch we road for awhile along the shores of Lake Winnebego. It was really beautiful except for the head wind it was creating for us. A little north of Fond Du Lac, shortly after we had turned away from the lake, we found ourselves in farm country once again. You know for the amount of farms we’ve passed during this entire trip one would think farming is the backbone of this country.
Soon we came to a scenic overlook sign. The view, based on my best guest, would be across a large field and over to Lake Winnebago (even though we couldn’t see the lake anymore I knew it wasn’t far away), and therefore worth a gander. We pulled into the parking area and looked west only to discover the view to be that of a row of trees about 50 yards away. Chris pointed out that a paved path continued up to the top of the hill behind us. So we rode our fully loaded and very heavy tourbikes up the steep path to the top of the hill and again, looked west. Fantastic, we now had a slightly elevated look at the row of trees about 50 yards away. From this perspective they seemed close, it was like I could walk about 50 yards west and actually touch them. I declined to take a picture since I didn’t feel it would do the panorama justice. And on we road into Manitowoc.
We arrived around 7pm, purchased our tickets and waited at the local Subway until it was time to board.
Maury
Points of Interest
www.montellowi.com/
www.buffalolakecamping.com/
www.greenlakecc.com/greenlakecc/
www.fdl.com/
www.ssbadger.com/
www.manitowoc.org/
