Minnesota: Ross’s birthplace

July 13, 2021

Today, for the first time on our trip, we were able to experience that mythological weather event called a tailwind. Our route today was south by south east and we had a 10-15 mph wind out of the north by north west. A perfect tailwind. Tailwinds are kind of funny. If you ride into a cross wind or head wind you really know it because you can feel it. With a tailwind you think that there is no wind. The only way you can tell the there is a tail wind is that you are riding in two gears higher than normal, it seems much easier than normal and you are going much faster than normal. Today was a fast day for us and we averaged 11mph, which is fast for the senior members of the team. FYI, Ross’s average over the route was 14 mph.

The plan for today was to get to Fergus Falls, Mn. We left Fargo later than normal. We had a raucous time on the town last night and decided to sleep in a little. We got rolling a little after 8 am. Within a mile we crossed the Red River which separates North Dakota from Minnesota. We were in a new state and one that we are very familiar with. We could not find a Welcome to Minnesota sign. It took us a while to get through the towns of Fargo and Moorhead and onto secondary roads. So it was a slow start to our day. The secondary road was pretty good with very low volume of cars. Our route had towns every 6 miles or so and most of the towns had a C-store. We also got introduced to Minnesota rumble strips. In Minnesota the rumble strips are at irregular intervals, about every 6 to 20 feet apart. The strips are actually cracks that go across the entire road and shoulder. The crack has a depression so that our bikes give us a jolt as we bump across the crack. Not a fan of the bumping-bump ride.

Today we had our first flat tire of the trip. Janet had a big shard of glass embedded in her back tire and it went through the inner tube. It was a easy patch job on the side of the road and we were on our way after 20 minutes. A few miles after the flat we stopped for lunch at a cafe in Barnesville. When we get on the road early we tend not to stop for lunch until after the ride. With the late start and the slow start getting out of the cities, we decided to stop for lunch. This usually means that we will be riding later into the afternoon. After lunch we had 35 more miles to go. We were commenting that the terrain was very flat and that there were only farm fields and no animals. One of our favorite things to do is talk to the cows and horses as we ride by. Today there were no farm animals. However, we did see some wildlife. We passed a bald eagle sitting in a tree by the side of the road. A little while later we saw a doe and a fawn in a field on our right running toward the road. The fawn came up on the road at the same time as me and veered to run parallel to the road behind us. The mom doe crossed the road about 20 feet in front of me.

After a while we finally rolled into Fergus Falls at about 4 pm. We met Ross at a brewery and discussed our dinner plans. The plan was to camp in a campground about 2 miles south of town. We decided to go to a grocery store and buy fixings to cook dinner. After shopping we headed out to the campground. As we were checking out the campground and picking a site Ross’s foot slipped off his pedal and he put a pretty good gash on his shin. It wasn’t too deep but our pedals are grimy and some of the grim got into the cut. There was no showers at the campground and it would be difficult to properly clean the cut so we decided to get a hotel room. The hotel was a 5 mile ride back to the north of Fergus Falls. After checking in we went to a Chinese buffet restaurant. Bicycle tourers at a buffet restaurant is quite a sight. We definitely got our money worth.

Tomorrow we will be starting the central lake bike trail. This is a 100 mile bike trail from Fergus Falls to St Cloud Mn.

Bridge over the Red River. This river runs north and always floods in the spring.

Barnesville a typical small Minnesota city downtown

Saw this guy in a park by the road in Rothsay. It is a prairie chicken.

Today's ride: 64 miles (103 km)
Total: 1,903 miles (3,063 km)

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