After a few miles of rolling through bluff country, there awaited me a thrilling 2-mile downhill into the town of Lake City.  I had ridden it about 15 years ago and I was looking forward to it again now.  I stopped for a minute at the sign warning truckers of the 8% grade.  I made sure no vehicles were behind me because I wanted to take on this wild descent with reckless abandon.  YOWWWZZAAAAAA!

Not only is the hill exhilarating, but it's also very scenic--particularly at the point where you come around one of the curves and suddenly the forest opens up and right before your eyes is a big view of the blue waters of the Mississippi.  (That's right, up here the Big Muddy is blue.)  Just don't look at the beauty for too long because you're still going maybe 40 m.p.h. and there are more curves up ahead.

So I'm reaching top speed, involuntary tears streaming from my eyes, working to maintain control and cautiously peeking at the view, when I see the first large mammal of my entire journey.  But I didn't say, Hey, look--a deer!"  No, I said, "HOLY SHIT!" because the thing just appeared right in front of me.  There was a metal guardrail on the left side of the road and I don't know if the large doe went under it or jumped over it . . . she was just THERE!   When she saw me she lowered her head and raced across the road.  I instinctively squeezed my brakes for a fraction of a second.  Had I not done so, I'm certain I would have hit her.  In an instant, she was gone.

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In the city of Red Wing I met the first self-supported bike tourist I had seen since the Natchez Trace.  Her name was Chelsea and she was riding from Portland, OR to New York City.  She was a little frustrated because she had just spent an hour going in the wrong direction on the Cannon Valley Bike Trail and was just now getting back to where she started her day.  Nevertheless, she was friendly and she had a very positive attitude.

I am so familiar with the roads between Red Wing and Hastings that I barely paid any attention to the last 26 miles and I didn't feel the need to take any pictures or to write anything about it.  I was just focused on getting home to my worrisome wife, my broken-boned daughter, and my loyal dog.

I am home now, but my trip to Lake Superior is not yet complete.  I will be celebrating an anniversary, taking my daughter to a couple of doctor's appointments, and celebrating the Memorial Day weekend with some old friends.  Then I will get back on the road for another four or five days until I reach my ultimate goal.  I won't be posting any updates from here so please check back in a few days.  Thank you.