July 19, 2024
Day Thirty-five: Albert Lea, Minnesota to Lanesboro, Minnesota
The day started off with an extremely unpleasant interaction with a very angry person - before I even got on the bike.
I was up and ready early. I decided to make a quick visit to the hotel breakfast before riding out. At 6:00, one other guest was already there: A very, very large, and very, very muscular man wearing a skin-tight t-shirt. He looked like a body builder. I'd seen a group of men all wearing similar t-shirts yesterday when I checked into the hotel. I believe the shirts read "Men of Steele", but I don't remember the rest of the writing on them. Several of these guys were sitting outside the motel drinking beer when I arrived. They did not seem to fit in with the Country Inn and Suites vibe.
The guy this morning was piling food on multiple plates, moving very, very slowly. He was camped out in front of the muffins, carefully arranging sausages on the plates. Clearly he did not understand the mid-priced hotel morning breakfast protocol. I made an exasperated sigh, and when he moved away for a moment, reached over his plates to grab a few muffins.
Well. This appeared to enrage him, and he began muttering a stream of threats, the details of which I don't remember, but which included things like "beat your ass."
I sat and ate my cheese omelet and potatoes while he stalked around muttering angrily. I decided I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of fleeing, but I will admit that I ate quite a bit more quickly than usual. Finally he left with his multiple plates (was he going to eat all that himself?!), passing by me and hissing "Enjoy the cycling."
I went back to my room, wheeled out the bike, carried it down the stairs, and left.
The ride out of town was fine. Part of it was on a bike path, where I had the second, albeit much milder, unpleasant encounter of the day. A man was walking ahead of me, in the middle of the path. I was riding very slowly behind him, and as I got closer, I said "Hello", in as cheerful a tone as I could muster given my bad mood. "You just have to say 'On your left!' You must not be used to riding a bike!"
I just had to laugh at that.
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Once I left town, I was on quiet farm roads. Scenery was very much like yesterday's.
I didn't feel like taking photos this morning, and there wasn't anything really interesting anyway, except this creepy place, which I assume was inhabited by a creepy man:
It gave off Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibes for sure. I wondered what the inside of the house was like.
I rode into Austin, population 26,174. It seemed like a nice place, although I didn't feel like exploring it. I got on a bike path which I hoped would lead me to a Casey's store. I wasn't sure about the route, so I asked a couple walking on the path. I was hesitant about doing this - what if I everyone I met the rest of the day would either threaten or insult me? - but they were friendly and confirmed that my directions were correct.
I went into the Casey's, which was bustling, and got an apple fritter, a donut, and a fountain Diet Pepsi. The fritter was good, although this time there was a little too much actual apple in it for my taste ;)
I left Austin without looking around much, or taking more than a few photos. I was brooding about the guy from the hotel this morning. Should I have responded to his (steroid-induced?) threats with my own? Clearly not, because after riding for more than a month my emaciated arms are like twigs at this point, while his were literally bigger than my legs. Also, although I was raised in a very redneck milieu with a brawler father, that's just not my style at all. I am what I am.
Back on country roads. I passed a few tidy farms. Nothing too interesting, but the riding was pleasant. The wind was mostly out of the south today, and I was mostly heading east. I've been very lucky with the wind on this trip.
I paused on the side of the road for a while, watching two crop dusting planes. I failed to get any really good photos, since I wasn't able to predict their movements. Whenever I see these planes, I have to wonder: Is this really an efficient way to spread herbicides (or whatever it is they are spraying)? It must be, since I see these planes all the time.
I entered a section of road that was being resurfaced, but it was no problem.
One of those gigantically tall farm machines approached. I pulled off the road and attempted to get a really good closeup photo, but it was blurry. Still worth keeping, I think, since it gives a good idea of how big these things are, at least from the vantage point of a bicycle seat:
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5 months ago
4 months ago
I reached Ostrander, population 227. The bar and grill there was supposed to be open, according to Google Maps, but it wasn't
I sat at a picnic table in front of the closed place and drank an ice cold pop from the machine there while I ate snacks from my handlebar bag.
Back on the road, the scenery was gradually changing. More trees, a few hills. I took a break in a cemetery for a while. I was tired, and lay down on the grass, but got up before I fell asleep.
I made a left turn, and encountered the first real hills in days. I'd gotten so used to the super-flat terrain in recent days that I was briefly annoyed by this, but quickly adjusted and got into climbing mode, switching to the small chainring for the first time in a while.
I passed a "Bridge Closed" sign that looked like it had been there for years, and descended rapidly into a state park, quickly passing an office where it appeared that I was supposed to stop and pay an entrance fee. I wasn't planning to do anything in the park other than ride through it (assuming the bridge wasn't actually closed), so I didn't feel too bad about doing this.
The bridge was closed. Very, very closed - it obviously had not existed for years. I was initially flustered by this, but then two nice 70-something ladies hiking in the park pointed out that we were standing next to a pedestrian bridge that crossed the river, which, in fact, they were getting ready to cross. I walked the bike with them to the other side while answering questions about my trip. (One of them said: "Well, it sounds a lot better than watching the Republican Convention!")
I rode out of the park on several miles of fairly hill gravel. The gravel was in good condition - no washboard - so it was fine.
The gravel ended, and I rode a few semi-busy miles to Preston, population 1,320.
I didn't look around in Preston. I was anxious to be done for the day now. I was hot, and I'd done 80 miles. I rode onto the bike path that connected Preston to Lanesboro, my destination for the day, and flew along on the flat path, passing many very slow, very inexperienced cyclists, including three-year-olds on training wheels, and five-year-olds who should have still been on training wheels.
The path itself was nice - paved, and with many shady sections.
I arrived in Lanesboro, population 717, to find that it was not my kind of place at all. Super, even ultra, touristy. Cute shops, expensive restaurants, a crowd of Baby Boomers riding around slowly on bikes, many of them electrified. There was no grocery store. My lodging was the kind of fussy place that wouldn't allow bikes in the rooms, so I had to lug everything from the bike storage building. There was no refrigerator in the room. No desk. No TV (not that I cared about that.)
I walked to the gas station far outside of town to buy some snacks and returned to my tastefully decorated but impractical room. I didn't feel like paying for an expensive restaurant meal in this town, so for the first time on this trip I supplanted my dinner of snacks with my "emergency" supply of Nutella I've been carrying in a pannier.
I took a swig from my bottle of Nyquil and went to bed at 8:30.
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5 months ago
Today's ride: 92 miles (148 km)
Total: 2,375 miles (3,822 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 1 |
5 months ago