When my brain came up with the idea for this tour, I had no illusion it would be anything very important in the bicycle touring world.  I simply thought it would be interesting and fun for the only person involved.  (That would be ME.)

Still, the show-off part of me insisted on journaling the experience for the world to see.  I convinced myself that the novelty of a wintertime tour in a northern state would be enough to pique the interest of a few readers.  That's all my enormous ego needs--just a few readers.  "Full steam ahead," said the journal writer in me.

Now that the tour is over, I have to believe the journal was quite disappointing to a large percentage of those readers.  I think some apologies are due.

1. To those who admired my little project but thought they'd see greater distances and less whimpiness, I apologize.
2. To those on the other side of the spectrum, who found the idea of riding in the snow repulsive, I apologize.
3. To those who hoped I'd chicken out before the tour even began, I apologize.
4. To those who hoped I'd take a fall, thereby failing to reach my "Zero Wipe-out" goal for the 21st consecutive year, I apologize.  (I came close a couple times though.)
5. To those who went a step further and hoped to read about me crashing into a snowbank and suffering a severe case of frostbite on all my extremities before I was found, I apologize.

I apologize because none of those exciting things happened.  It seems the only people I DON'T have to apologize to are the ones who:

1. Had low expectations
2. Were planning their own four-day, 60-mile, wintertime tour in the eastern Twin Cities suburbs and were looking for THE definitive guide on how to do so
3. Actually LIKE goofy, substandard journal writing
4. Understand the joy of snow shoveling 

According to the latest Harris Poll, there are about 60 people in the first list and about 7 people in the second list.

A Summary 

I spent three nights in motels, zero nights camping, zero nights with friends and relatives, and zero nights with Warm Showers hosts.

I averaged something like 16 miles per day, which includes my "rest day."

My tour was conducted entirely in the United States.  I rode in a total of one state and five cities.

All four days began in sub-freezing temperatures and they all involved a little riding through snow.  Only one day involved riding while snow was falling.  Occasionally, it was falling pretty heavily.

All of my miles were either on my bike or my feet.  No airplanes or buses or trains were involved.  I saw a few of those things in the air, on the roads, and on the rails though.

I didn't see one other bike tourist.  What's up with that?  I did see two regular cyclists though--one on the first day and one on the last day.  I waved to both of them and they waved back.  I also saw a few bike tire tracks in the snow, so I know there are a few riders out there.

I counted 13 yelps of excitement and five face licks when my dog greeted me at the front door.  When Diggity finally calmed down, I took this picture.

Heart

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Thank you Cycleblazers, you've been a great audience.