A Whole New Perspective On My Home Territory

November 1, 2022

Cannon Falls, Minnesota

Normally, the first day of November in Minnesota would be a full-fingered glove, wool cap, long pants, multi-layered torso day. Not THIS first day of November though. We had some of those cold days last week, but for the next couple days we're looking at record-high temperatures. That's why I suddenly became inspired to start this mini-tour so early in the month.

Still, it was pretty cool this morning (40-degrees), so I waited until about 10:30 a.m. to get started. I pedaled away from my house with great joy, but I didn't get very far before I had to make use of my phone.

I thought it would be funny to go back and add my bike lock to the fence with hundreds of other locks. It didn't have quite the humorous effect I was hoping for.

While I was goofing around with the locks, a cyclist came along. She noticed my panniers, I guess, and came to a stop alongside me. "It looks like you're on a bike trip . . . how far have you come?"

"Oh, about 15 blocks." I felt like I was in the spotlight and had forgotten my lines. After a couple seconds, I mustered up some more words. "I live in Hastings and I'm just starting a little out-and-back trip on the backroads between here and Cannon Falls."

"Wow! That's a long way to ride a bike," she exclaimed. I had to laugh, but I humbly accepted her praise.

I also had to check in on the Vermillion River falls. Thanks to one of the driest summers on record, the falls are much less spectacular than normal.

Two pictures and a video before I even got out of my hometown. I felt pretty sheepish about that (Ha!), so I knew it was time to get serious and start riding into the countryside. About five miles later, I was on gravel. (Hip Hip Hooray!)

I soon discovered another biproduct of our dry summer: dusty clouds produced by passing vehicles. Fortunately, I didn't have many of them to deal with.

"There will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. They will be stumbling blocks or stepping stones; it all depends on how you use them." -Friedrich Nietzsche

"When you see rocks in the road, no matter whether they're stumbling blocks or stepping stones, swerve around them." -G-2

I was riding happily along when I noticed a little side road that apparently led into a game refuge. It looked like the kind of road that would add to my quest for bumpiness. Plus, I was sure it would be almost a guarantee that I'd see some wildlife in there.

I used to play golf at a course near this area, and I seem to remember that whenever I played there, I'd see deer and wild turkeys wandering around on the fairways. OBVIOUSLY, I was going to turn onto that road.

In the end, the road only went about a quarter-mile and I didn't see a single wild animal. The good news is that it was a most pleasant quarter-mile of cycling. The dirt road was completely covered in fallen leaves, and I can't imagine my old mountain bike handling the surface any better than Son of Bing Bong handled it.

I'm smiling because NOBODY likes viewing wild animals as much as I do.

Many leaves on the ground mean few leaves on the branches. Ergo, the trees don't block the view as much as they do in the summer.

There were a few ups and downs after I got back onto the main gravel road (Michael Avenue) and then I rose back up into that fine Minnesota agricultural land.

"If you're lonely when you're alone, you're in bad company." -Jean Paul Sartre

"If you're lonely while plowing, you just park the tractor in the middle of the field and find some company." G-2 (He's right. We've seen several idle tractors sitting in the middle of several farms.)

The next important site on the route was a place that I haven't seen for a couple of years. It's quite fantastic, really--at least for this part of the country. Basically, it's a huge piece of property owned by a family that has a ton of money that they can spend on a very expensive hobby.

No doubt you are wondering, "what's the hobby?"

Here it is: They buy old structures that are scheduled for demolition, pay to tear them down, transport them from all over the state, and rebuild them on their own property. The structures include, but are not limited to, a gas station, a railroad depot, a drive-in movie theater, a church, dozens of windmills, and many quite historic pavilions, barns, and stores.

I took a few pictures, but rest assured there is much, much more than I had access to from the road. During the last week of July, they open it all up to the public during their annual Little Log House Antique Power Show.

The Little Log House is the property's namesake.

They even built a replica of the famous Hastings Spiral Bridge.

This church was torn down brick by brick, moved ten miles down the road, and rebuilt brick by brick. It now hosts wedding almost every weekend throughout the year.

Well, a guy can only gawk at such things for so long. There was more gravel, more bumpiness, more Exiscyclism, more of the great outdoors, and a couple of towns to explore.

"Sit as little as possible. Give no credence to any thought that was not born outdoors by moving about freely." -Nietzsche

"Give credence to this: 'Moving about freely' definitely includes moving about on your bike." G-2

After about eight miles of continuous gravel, I had no other option but to turn onto a mile of pavement. I have to admit, it felt kind of nice--especially on the hands. I never ride with cycling gloves anymore. They feel gross. But I can see where the extra padding might be kind of nice on bumpy surfaces. (Interestingly, I have no problem riding with other types of gloves and mittens in cold weather.)

I came to the little town of Miesville. It only has a few hundred people, but it has a nice Catholic church, a genuine mid-western supper club, and one of the hundreds of bar & grills that claim to serve the best burgers in the state.

The best part of my day began as I rode south of bustling Miesville. That's the part where I latched onto some gravel roads I've never ridden before. They were super-duper nice. They were also surprisingly hilly, which was also nice.

Back to pavement for the last few miles into Cannon Falls. No need for a shoulder on Highway 17, because there were no cars.

The main reason I wanted to take Highway 17 was because of this place. It's Pachyderm Recording Studio. Some pretty fine albums were recorded in this little out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere studio--not the least of which was Nirvana's "In Utero." Who woulda thunk it? And who woulda thunk they'd lock me out of the place. ME!?!?!!!!

After riding all that bumpiness, I was a little dejected about not getting into Pachyderm to showcase some of my musical talents. Maybe I should have pushed the button on that speaker box outside the gates and sung a couple verses of "Heart Shaped Box." No doubt, that would have gotten me in.

It was 71-degrees (F) when I arrived in Cannon Falls. That's almost unheard of this time of the year. Tomorrow's predicted temperature of 74-degrees will set an all-time record. If it actually happens, that will be SWEET.

I had exactly one hour to kill before I could check into my motel. I'll tell you how I killed it on the next page.

I'm a little disappointed in Ride With GPS. They cheated me out of about 8 miles of gravel by claiming Michael Avenue was a paved road. I assure you it was NOT paved. It was gravel, and sometimes it was pretty rough gravel--the kind of gravel where you have to shift from one side of the road to the other to avoid the worst of it. Give me back those eight miles, and I'm right on track to achieve my goal of 50% bumpy.

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Today's ride: 31 miles (50 km)
Total: 514 miles (827 km)

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Kelly IniguezGloves - IDK if they would be of interest to you, but I've been riding with fishing gloves for the past couple of summers. There's no pad, so perhaps not of use to you, but they keep the sun off, and are easy to remove. There would be some palm protection in case of a fall. They have fingers, but not finger tips. They really delay the season where I have to put on winter gloves. I am getting soft in my old age - I whine when it's cold enough for tights and long fingered gloves!
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2 years ago

Keith KleinHi,
Well that was different. But I mean that in a good way. It’s just the kind of ride I like to do on my wider-tired bikes. Too bad about the lack of turkeys, though.
Cheers,
Keith
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Kelly IniguezHmmm, fishing gloves . . . interesting. I like the idea of gloves with no finger tips. That way I wouldn't have to remove the gloves to operate my phone and its camera.
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2 years ago

Rich HarrellThat is a LOT of locks you put on the bridge for Freesko!
I also like G-2's interpretation of what Fred said.

Great mini tour!
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Rich HarrellFred was good, but G-2 is great.
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2 years ago

Nancy GrahamThere are some very interesting things near YOUR town and I am pleased to see them through your eyes from your bike seat! That Little Log House place would be really cool to visit.
Great post Greg — I will now read on…
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2 years ago

Rachael AndersonI love the quote by Nietzsche and It definitely includes bicycling and hiking. This and the church of the great outdoors sums it up for me! Thanks.
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Nancy GrahamThanks Nancy. I hope I don't run out of interesting things to show from MY Town.
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2 years ago