August 29, 2023
Kinesthetic Sense Saves Cyclist's Life
Sakatah Lake State Park
The lights of nature didn't go out until about 9:30 last night, but the lights behind my eyelids were out by about 8:30. I laid down on the picnic table for relaxation purposes only, but promptly fell asleep. I'm not sure what time it was when I transferred my body from the table to my tent.
It was a nice, warm night. The campground was completely quiet except for the kinds of noises one hopes to hear in The Church of the Great Outdoors: Owls, crickets, cicadas, and about thirty seconds of frenzied coyote howling.
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I woke up before any of the sleepy heads in the campground, including Jesse and his family. I know that because I walked around the entire loop. I counted eight RVs and two tents in a campground with something like 80 sites. I guarantee, every one of the sites will be filled this weekend.
Which reminds me--I didn't exactly come up with perfect timing for this winging-it tour. Right in the middle of it is the three-day Labor Day Weekend, which is the last weekend of family camping before school starts. Campsites may be hard to come by--even in Minnesota's least popular bike touring sector. I guess I'll have to deal with that when the time comes.
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After scouting the campground and recording my findings, I took a hike on one of the Nerstrand Big Woods State Park's trails. I assume it was one of the most popular trails judging by how wide and overly well-groomed it was. Plus, it leads to a waterfall. Everybody loves a waterfall. I know I do.
I admit to being a little disappointed in the volume of water running over Hidden Falls. The creek was darn near dry.
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That sunrise wasn't the actual sunrise. The actual sunrise happened almost an hour ago. The sunrise in the video was just the sun rising over the hill. Nevertheless, it came at the right time to surprise the heck out of me while filming. I think it narrowly beat out Hidden Falls as the highlight of my hike.
(I apologize for the sound quality in the above video. I don't know why my narration was breaking up. The only thing you might have missed, though, was me saying, "view-blocker . . . view-blocker . . . view-blocker . . . ")
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I know the previous section of this page was all about hiking. Let's get back to the important stuff: Breakfast and Cycling.
I'm one of those rebellious kids who, from an early age, always ignored the wisdom of my mom, both of my grandmothers, and every health and dietary expert in the world. "A nutritious breakfast is essential for good grades/a productive workday/successful bike touring," they say.
I generally argue that I DO eat breakfast. Coffee is my breakfast.
But once in a while I will stray from my stubbornness by indulging in a greasy morning meal of bacon and eggs. Other times, I like a sweet breakfast treat, and I'm not talking about donuts or danishes or jellyrolls or fancy pastries. I'm talking about pre-packaged, heavily sweetened cereals.
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By 10:00, I was finally back on my bike. Outside of the state park, I opted for a few miles of gravel roads. You know, just for fun. And fun they were, except for that one time when a big utility truck went by, and its wake of gravelly dust befouled my eyes, nose and mouth.
Some of the gravel was disturbingly loose and I almost crashed on a fast downhill curve. ALMOST!
When I was in high school, my wrestling coach told me I had excellent kinesthetic sense.
"What does that mean," I remember asking.
"Look it up," I remember him replying.
Luckily, I knew how to use a dictionary, and now I know that it means he thought I had a good knowledge of my muscles and joints and balance, and what my body can and can't do.
I believe, all these years later, that my "excellent kinesthetic sense" allowed me to keep upright while barreling through the loose gravel, coast out of danger by feathering the brakes, and come to a stop at the edge of a pretty steep roadside ditch.
Enough bragging! I admit, I was pretty happy when I returned to pavement a mile or so later.
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I used the wi-fi in Faribault's public library to enter my post about yesterday's ride. Then I moved on to the REAL southwest Minnesota.
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For some reason, I was looking forward to riding the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail. Normally, I don't care about rail trails, but the very name gave me visions of pretty hills that sing. I like hills to a certain degree, and I definitely like singing.
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https://extension.umn.edu/natural-resources-news/wild-edibles-cattails
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https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/63518-Melanoplus-differentialis
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The trail took me all the way to Sakatah Lake State Park. It was a very nice place to camp. Well, very nice after I slathered DEET all over my body.
Then I set up my tent and started writing in my notebook about my day. Hopefully, I'll be in a place to catch up on the journal tomorrow.
Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 71 miles (114 km)
Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 13 |
Comment on this entry | Comment | 4 |
Just kidding.
Take it easy this weekend. Likely to be plenty of bozos driving oversize motorized vehicles at high speeds, probably under the influence of beverages, and not paying much attention to bicyclists.
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