August 31, 2023
Wobegon Trail
We woke to sunny skies with winds. Weather forecast is the same as yesterday with the exception of increasing winds throughout the day. Wind, though, is not as much of a factor on tree-lined rail trails.
Today’s ride was on the Lake Wobegon Trail, a trail made famous by a public radio program by Garrison Keillor - A Prairie Home Companion.
The trail from Avon to Albany is a nice trail with some patching, mostly flat with a few small risers. The miles to Albany passed quickly and then we turned on the spur to Holdingford. A nice trail turned extra nice as this surface had been redone earlier this summer. 10 miles further on we passed the Holdingford and opted for lunch at the BoHo restaurant based on a recommendation from a cyclist we chatted with earlier in the day. It was also quite noticeable that this restaurant caters to the cycling world given the decorations, etc.
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The real goal, however was the covered bridge prior to Holdingford. As covered bridges go, it wasn’t old and been built less that 20 years ago but we found a small plaque dedicated to the Minnesota 13.
Seems the era of Prohibition led to the development of some famous moonshine as the local Polish and German residents needed a “cash crop” as dairy and farms products weren’t in high demand.
After lunch we decided to keep going up the trail but turned around at the Sterns County line as the trail surface degraded quite a bit. Funny how that works as we have seen the same thing in states all over the country.
The ride back was a repeat of the ride forward. The one exception was a bridge we crossed which had a replica train bell. As the “legend” goes, a train derailed there in the late 1890’s and a local kid rescued the train bell from the engine which was then sinking in the mud. The engine and a rail car were apparently never rescued a sunk into mud at the crossing where they remain. The bell became the family dinner bell and is apparently still at the farm.
Overall, an excellent ride through the Minnesotan farmlands.
Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 66 miles (106 km)
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