July 18, 2024
Day Thirty-four: Estherville, Iowa to Albert Lea, Minnesota
The short version: It was a great, fun day, with perfect weather, low traffic, and friendly people.
I'd slept a lot yesterday during the day, and then slept soundly last night, so I was well rested and ready to ride this morning.
I drank the Diet Pepsi that I'd saved from yesterday, and the remainder of the half gallon of chocolate milk that I'd purchased yesterday afternoon.
Just before leaving I remembered that I had an unopened Diet 7-UP in the refrigerator, so I strapped that on the rear rack.
I was out before 6:00, skipping the mediocre hotel breakfast.
It was an easy, short ride from the hotel back onto my route. It was actually a little chilly this morning, so I put on the rain jacket.
I love getting out early in the morning when touring. It's by far the best part of the day. How do people ride out late in the morning when the sun is high in the sky?
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2 months ago
John Egan, who'd created this route, mentioned that it was "so empty you can hear the corn grow." It was, indeed, a very low traffic route, all day. Most of the day I was riding east, a mile south of the Minnesota state line. Scenery was not spectacular, but that's fine with me.
Weather was perfect, never getting above the mid-70s. I didn't have a tailwind, but I didn't have a headwind.
I finally found a cure for the terrible earworm, "One Day at a Time", that had been stuck in my head for weeks: I tried to remember all of the verses from Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue", his greatest song, I believe. It starts like this:
Early one mornin’ the sun was shinin’
I was layin’ in bed
Wond’rin’ if she’d changed at all
If her hair was still red
That's so much better than "One mile at a time, sweet Jesus."
I rode past corn fields, and then, for a while, unfortunately, some enormous, disgustingly stinky turkey and chicken coops. Riding next to those things over the years, as well as cattle feedlots, is what finally convinced me to be a vegetarian.
I arrived at the first little town, Dolliver, population 65. I didn't see anyone around. I took a few photos and rode away.
This was a very flat route, and I felt strong today, and made good time. I was in the big chainring almost all day.
I rode past a "road closed" sign onto several miles of brand new pavement. It looks like the resurfacing had just been completed, and they hadn't taken down the "road closed" sign yet.
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I went north for one mile, into Minnesota for the first time today, to the town of Elmore, population 549. This was a nice, friendly little place that was the boyhood home of Walter Mondale, who was the first presidential candidate I ever voted for, in 1984, when I was in 18. Old people like me will remember that he lost, very, very badly.
I decided I had time to have a rare sit down breakfast today, and went into Kathy's Kitchen, where I had scrambled eggs, two pancakes, and a bottle of Diet Pepsi, while I watched an ancient black and white episode of Gun Smoke on the TV. Somehow this only cost $4.87.
The friendly owner asked about my trip; "Has anyone bothered you?"
I laughed and said no. At least she didn't ask about my tires. I'm tired of talking about them. Now that I think about it, I don't believe a woman has EVER asked about, or commented on the condition of, my tires on a bicycle tour. Good for them! Another reason I generally prefer the company of women over men.
I backtracked the mile from Elmore and was back in Iowa. The ride continued to be nice. There was very occasional traffic, but it was all well behaved.
I stopped in Rake, population 185, looked around, made one of the several pee breaks I did this morning - I was drinking a lot of water and pop today - then walked into the library and talked to the elderly librarian for a while. She told me she was "half Norwegian", from her father's side. She seemed proud of this, and less proud of her mother's side; they were from the presumably much less exotic Huntington, West Virginia. She told me that outsiders sometimes move to Rake, but rarely stay, "because it's very boring here."
Back on the road, traffic picked up just a little bit, but it was still very, very light by most cyclists' standards. Most of it was trucks hauling grain. They all gave me plenty of room.
I rode into Scarville, population 77. There wasn't much there except for a nice little park with a bathroom with flush toilets. But it's the little things that make a difference while bike touring.
From Scarville I rode north into Minnesota, where I'd be for the next few days.
I passed a sign that said the road was closed three miles ahead. But there were no other details, and the day's excitement was provided by the uncertainty of whether there was a bridge out which would force me to backtrack. Sure enough, it was a bridge, but the work had already been completed, or nearly completed, and I rode through the barrier, avoiding eye contact with the worker in the vehicle with the flashing light.
The first Minnesota town was Emmons, population 365. I walked into "Lair's 66", an old-time full service gas station, where they actually pump the gas for you. I went into the tiny office where there were a few sodas for a sale, and an antique candy machine, and talked to Lynette, the nice lady working there, for a while. A man walked in, and hearing my (somewhat faded) eastern Kentucky accent, laughed and said "You're not from around here!"
I was concerned about heavy traffic getting to my destination for the day, the town of Albert Lea, population 18,396, but it was easy. More quiet country roads, then an abrupt transition into the town, where the traffic was surprisingly light.
I almost rode past a bike shop, the first one on this trip, and went in. I told the owner that I didn't know if I needed anything, but I felt obligated to stop at the first bike shop in 34 days.
I couldn't find anything in the shop to buy, but he allowed me to use one of his floor pumps to put air in my tires. YIKES: They were were both down to only 20 or 22 PSI! I'd started the trip with 50 PSI in them. I pumped them back up, thanked him, and rode a few easy miles on back streets to my hotel, conveniently located next to a Casey's. Readers of this journal (if there are any left) can predict what I purchased and consumed from my favorite convenience store chain.
I should finish this trip in five days, on Tuesday the 22nd, unless, of course something goes wrong. I'm ready to sleep in my own bed again ;)
Today's ride: 97 miles (156 km)
Total: 2,283 miles (3,674 km)
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(Sorry, I couldn't resist getting back at you for claiming Warren, Illinois as your hometown after I ripped on that poor little community in my journal.)
2 months ago
Do you EVEN know what that sounds like?
Does your stomach??
2 months ago
Perhaps you know this already, but you actually CAN hear the corn grow; https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/warriordeath1/day-34-rest-day-in-muscatine-ia/
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