Day 56 - Virginia, MN to Hoyt Lakes, MN - Two Far 2020 - NTF (Not Two Far)

July 25, 2020

Day 56 - Virginia, MN to Hoyt Lakes, MN

Tailwinds!

Heart

Comment

The joy of cycle touring has returned! After two rides when neither of us had a good time, it was so good to have a happy day on the bike. The tailwind helped a lot, as did a short ride with plenty of stops. We even got rained on for six miles and it didn't dampen our spirits.

The forecast for the last few days has predicted an all day rain event for today. This morning, it looked as if we might have a clear window from about 11AM to about 1PM. We decided to go with that. It had quit raining in Virginia by 10:30AM, so we started out. Kerry wanted to see more of the town, so we took a ride through downtown.

Virginia had a nice downtown. There wasn't much activity on a rainy Saturday morning, but it looked like an active business district.

Something about angle parking in town seems so appealing. I'm really not sure why that is. It's certainly protects cyclists from getting doored!

This one was on the high school - prominent local athletes I'm sure

After our jaunt through town, we were back on Hwy 53. Just outside of Virginia, we went by this old, very large, open pit iron mine.

This is a view of the Rouchleau mine, closed since 1977.

Virginia is near the eastern edge of the Mesabi iron range.

Our hopes for a rain-free day diminished about halfway to Hoyt Lakes. The sky behind us got darker and darker as our wonderful tailwind pushed the storms toward us. We knew there was a town coming up. We were about three miles away when it seemed that the storm was going to catch us. We pedaled hard and reached the shelter of a gas station canopy - no exaggeration here - one second before the downpour started. We were so lucky!

Watching the rain from our dry spot by the gas pumps.

These ATVer's got caught in the storm and met up at the gas station.

We waited under cover for about 40 minutes. The rain finally stopped and we decided to go on. We had only about ten miles left to ride. I was in too big a hurry to leave. Less than a mile after we left, the rain started again. It wasn't heavy and there was no lightning, so we just rode through it. It rained for six miles or so, then we had four miles to dry out before we got to our motel. In the end, it was a pleasant day of cycling.

Today's ride: 27 miles (43 km)
Total: 1,643 miles (2,644 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	8
Comment on this entry	Comment	0