Isn't It Delightful?

June 12, 2022

Frontenac State Park, Minnesota

The first delightful thing is that the first day of my first monthly mini-tour has arrived. I'm not going to get into how I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and could not get back to sleep because I was too excited to get this project underway. Nor will I write about how I thought about packing up and hitting the road at that early hour, but instead hung around another three hours for my daily walk with The Feeshko and Diggity, who are heroically allowing me to conduct this mini-tour. Instead, I am going to get right into describing my day. After all, that's my job--a job for which I am very well paid.

The next delightful thing was the weather. The temperature was moderate--63 degrees (F) when I started the ride, and 78 degrees when I finished. No blisteringly hot sun. No crazy, sweat-inducing humidity.

I do have one nitpick, however, and it's the same nitpick all cyclists have. I had a 7-10 mile per hour headwind. It was a manageable headwind, but when it lasts all day it gets a little irritating

Another delightful aspect of my ride was the route I chose. As I wrote on the first page of this journal, I'm pretty familiar with the roads in my part of the country. But I haven't ridden the backroad to the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Sioux Tribal Community for a couple of years now. That's because it's not a particularly good road for cycling due to the high volume of cars heading to the tribal casino and also due to the seriously messed-up shoulders.

Despite those shortcomings, it IS scenic. In between long stretches of view-blockers, you get nice views of the Vermillion River and many wetlands. You might even get passed by a pace line of at least 20 roadies, who will shout things like "passing on your left," "good morning," "hello," and "good job climbing with that load," like I did.

I thanked the guy who made that last comment. He was right, I was climbing impeccably--and who knows, if I had been riding my roadie bike I might have kept up with them for a few miles.

One of my many cycling skills is that I can keep a straight line on 12" of usable shoulder without running into the rumble strip more than once or twice.

My first wildlife sighting: Hornless unicorns.

Son of Bing Bong poses with the Vermillion River.

The road improves as you get closer to the Prairie Island Casino. That includes the shoulder. It's okay with me that the traffic volume increases too, as long as there is a proportionate widening of the shoulder.

I went a mile off route to pay a visit to the heart of the Prairie Island Indian Community. It used to be very poor, but the addition of a casino made it quite prosperous.

Thousands of Minnesotans need their Sunday morning gambling fix.

The Prairie Island water tower rises above the reservation's first-class sports complex and community center. The evil cement waste containment towers of the NSP nuclear plant loom menacingly from about a mile away.

Many old, washed-up bands play at the casino. I've heard of Duran Duran, but I don't know any of their songs. I DO know a song that refers to them though.

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I'm pretty good at avoiding conversations with other people when I'm on a bike tour. I can engage when necessary, but I prefer not to. Every once in a while, however, I'll make an exception when I sense the conversation might contain some intellectual stimulation.

Today I had one of those intelligent ones. I was eating a three-pack of chicken tenders outside of the Red Wing Kwik Trip, when a guy took a look at Son of Bing Bong as he walked past and said "bike riding, huh?"

"Yup," I replied. I liked the "ask the obvious/reply with one word" dynamic.

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A few more Red Wing pictures coming up, folks. I took one when I came across my first poor farm. And there is a shot of the downtown area of this historic Mississippi River town. And a must-see site if, like me, you are a fan of "World's Biggest" things.

Historic Red Wing with Barn Bluff in the background.

Red Wing is the home of the Red Wing Shoe Company. It's appropriate that the town should have the world's largest boot.

As a fan of the world's largest ANYTHING, I had to get myself in a gigantic boot picture.

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The next 15 miles were a bit of a grind. The increasing headwind was mostly responsible for that. I just wanted to get to my destination. When I got to Frontenac State Park, I was greeted with the expected 3/4-mile, 10% climb. I made it up there a little easier than the last time I came here. That time I was wearing a large backpack while riding a mountain bike.

I continued on to my campsite. It's in what they call a "Cart-in Site." People can park their cars a half-mile away, grab a cart, and wheel their camping gear to one of seven very private campsites.

In lieu of a cart, I rode my bike down the rugged path. I was pleased to see I still had 5G coverage down there, so I busted out my new Bluetooth Keyboard to start typing the stuff you are now reading. It was pretty cool at first. Unfortunately, the 5G kept going in & out and it took forever to load pictures. And of course there was no wi-fi. Heck, there wasn't even water available.

It's okay, I don't need flush toilets or showers. I will sacrifice those things for the complete privacy I enjoyed at this campsite. Besides, I do just fine with bandana baths and peeing in the great outdoors. I do need drinking water though, so it's a good thing I knew about that situation in advance so I could load up with water at the ranger station.

I got tired of fiddling with the journal. And I was just plain tired. And hungry. And a little tipsy from a trio of Minnesota beers. I decided I could catch up on the journal tomorrow when, hopefully, I had better 5G coverage.

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Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 41 miles (66 km)

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Scott AndersonIf you ever ride out to Frontenac again, give the back door entrance through Hill Avenue a try.
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2 years ago

Paul MulveyThanks for posting this route. I looked at a route from Minneapolis to Milwaukee, taking advantage of the paths out of Minneapolis, the Sparta Trail, and then into Madison and trails to Milwaukee. Your journey on this route aligns with the route I had from Hastings to Frontenac, albeit without the detour to the Casino.

PS - This comment seems so much more official using the word 'albeit'
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Paul MulveyGreat job with your route planning, and even better job with the "albeit." It's a fine word, albeit an oft forgotten word.
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2 years ago

Kathleen ClassenType your comment here
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2 years ago