Showing posts with label Bike Touring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bike Touring. Show all posts
Friday, July 19, 2013
New blog site - Life Without Pie
For those of you that followed the bike trip - just wanted to let you know I've started a new blog. It's no transcontinental bike ride, but a lot of good stuff about nutrition and exercise. My link doesn't seem to be working - its www.lifewithoutpie.blogspot.com
Hope to see you there!!!!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Day 30: Kasson, MN to La Crosse, WI
We tried to get an early start this morning, but its so hard to get up early some mornings. Even with eating breakfast at the hotel, we didn't get out of town until 9:15 or so.
We had a 95+ mile ride ahead of us today with 18 mph cross/headwinds from the South. Luckily the ride into Rochester was mostly downhill and we were able to cruise along into the city within an hour. After hitting the Aldi Store for some cheap snacks, we were off for Winona. The ride to Winona was a long 40 miles from Rochester with terrible bumpy shoulders. The roads in Minnesota have been the worst that we've encountered so far. It seems like they do upkeep on the road but the shoulders are awful!
We arrived in Winona around 3:30 PM and rode around town a bit to take a few photos. Winona is a beautiful historic town on the Mississippi River. It was almost 4:30 by the time we left town and we still had 35 miles or so to ride. I was getting antsy to ride and thus was really agravatted when Marc got a flat tire right outside of Winona. It seems like he is getting a lot of flats lately.
After leaving Winona, we were looking to pick up the Great River State Trail that would take us down to La Crosse, WI. We were suppossed to be able to pick up the trail just miles after crossing the Mississippi River. Well we rode on for 10 miles and could not find the trail. Finally we hit the trail about 15 miles down from Winona. It was a dirt two track trail and not the paved trail that we were expecting, oh well. We were lucky to find the trail all together. About a 1/2 mile into the trail, I heard Marc talking to someone so I turned around and circled back to where he had stopped. He had run into two younger guys that were riding cross country from East to West.
We stopped to chat with these guys for a while. They recommended that we take the Elroy-Sparta Trail down to Madison, WI. Its a partially paved bike trail that runs about 130 miles from La Crosse to Madison.
We swapped stories and routes for a few minutes. These guys were traveling about 50 miles per day. They were really shocked to hear that we were riding 80 miles/average per day. (Now I'm wondering if we are trying to do too much!) They were camping every night and eating rice and beans for dinner every night. Ugh - that sounds terrible. I was glad that we saved enough money to stay in motels and eat out.
It was 6:30 by the time I pulled chatty Marc away from these guys and we were on our way again. The route along the trail was fast with a tree lined path running along side of the Mississippi River. It was beautiful.
At mile 95 or so, we arrived back into civilization. I pointed out a few motels to Marc but he wanted to ride by them as they had no restaurants nearby. So we rode on, tired, grumpy and hungry. It was 8 PM by now and we had last eaten at noon. We finally found a motel downtown La Crosse and arrived at exactly mile 100. Wow, it was a long day - almost 11 hours on the road. I'm surprised that I'm still up. Marc went to bed about 45 minutes ago. I must be getting used to all this exercise or something!
Tomorrow we are going to try to find the Elroy Sparta Trail to Reedsburg - about 82 miles.
We had a 95+ mile ride ahead of us today with 18 mph cross/headwinds from the South. Luckily the ride into Rochester was mostly downhill and we were able to cruise along into the city within an hour. After hitting the Aldi Store for some cheap snacks, we were off for Winona. The ride to Winona was a long 40 miles from Rochester with terrible bumpy shoulders. The roads in Minnesota have been the worst that we've encountered so far. It seems like they do upkeep on the road but the shoulders are awful!
We arrived in Winona around 3:30 PM and rode around town a bit to take a few photos. Winona is a beautiful historic town on the Mississippi River. It was almost 4:30 by the time we left town and we still had 35 miles or so to ride. I was getting antsy to ride and thus was really agravatted when Marc got a flat tire right outside of Winona. It seems like he is getting a lot of flats lately.
After leaving Winona, we were looking to pick up the Great River State Trail that would take us down to La Crosse, WI. We were suppossed to be able to pick up the trail just miles after crossing the Mississippi River. Well we rode on for 10 miles and could not find the trail. Finally we hit the trail about 15 miles down from Winona. It was a dirt two track trail and not the paved trail that we were expecting, oh well. We were lucky to find the trail all together. About a 1/2 mile into the trail, I heard Marc talking to someone so I turned around and circled back to where he had stopped. He had run into two younger guys that were riding cross country from East to West.
We stopped to chat with these guys for a while. They recommended that we take the Elroy-Sparta Trail down to Madison, WI. Its a partially paved bike trail that runs about 130 miles from La Crosse to Madison.
We swapped stories and routes for a few minutes. These guys were traveling about 50 miles per day. They were really shocked to hear that we were riding 80 miles/average per day. (Now I'm wondering if we are trying to do too much!) They were camping every night and eating rice and beans for dinner every night. Ugh - that sounds terrible. I was glad that we saved enough money to stay in motels and eat out.
It was 6:30 by the time I pulled chatty Marc away from these guys and we were on our way again. The route along the trail was fast with a tree lined path running along side of the Mississippi River. It was beautiful.
At mile 95 or so, we arrived back into civilization. I pointed out a few motels to Marc but he wanted to ride by them as they had no restaurants nearby. So we rode on, tired, grumpy and hungry. It was 8 PM by now and we had last eaten at noon. We finally found a motel downtown La Crosse and arrived at exactly mile 100. Wow, it was a long day - almost 11 hours on the road. I'm surprised that I'm still up. Marc went to bed about 45 minutes ago. I must be getting used to all this exercise or something!
Tomorrow we are going to try to find the Elroy Sparta Trail to Reedsburg - about 82 miles.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Day 27: Brookings, SD to Lamberton, MN
Good News! We got Marc's wheel replaced this morning and we were back on the road by 12:30. Thanks due to the guys at Sioux River Bicycles in Brookings. Marc had to endure a bit of harassment first for pulling a Bob trailer with his expensive Bianchi Racing Bike. (Racing bikes, like his, are really not meant for bike touring.)
All I can say about today is that its really tough leaving mid-day for a 90 mile ride. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the idea that we had so miles to cover in such short time period. Marc was confident that we'd make it to Springfield but I wanted a more attainable goal. We tried our best, but only made it 79 miles today. We decided to stop in the small town of Lamberton, MN around 6:30.
The ride today was fairly uneventful. It was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the mid- 70's. The biggest challenge was the 20 mph cross winds. The winds were tolerable but when semi-trucks passed it was brutal - like someone slapping you in the face (hard). Our helmets would have been ripped from our heads had they not been strapped down. Every time I saw a semi-truck coming I had to brace myself, shut my eyes and hold on to my handlebars for dear life. The wind gusts would knock you off the bike if you weren't prepared!
Tonight we are staying at a quaint little motel in the small town of Lamberton. I'm surprised this small town even has a motel. However, it is just down the road from Walnut Grove ( another town from Little House on the Prairie) so they do rely on traffic from the Laura Ingalls Wilder fans.
When I inquired at the front desk about a local restaurant, I discovered that the only eating establishment in town was the American Legion Hall. When I told Marc that we'd be eating at the Legion, he said "Great! Cheap Beer!"
The Legion was hopping! There were about 28 seniors playing Pinochle and several other guys hanging out at the bar. I can definitely tell that we are now in Minnesota. The accents are different and there are lots of people of Norwegian and Danish heritage.
One glance at the Legion's menu would give anyone a a heart problem. Everything on the menu came from the fryer - well everything but the cheese bacon burgers. There was fried fish, chicken, shrimp, potatoes, cheese, Reuben balls, mushrooms, cauliflower, etc. Our meals were delicious but very filling. I had an order of the broccoli cheddar balls and they were excellent - like Broccoli Cheddar Soup deep fried. No pie though! I'll have to skip the pie tonight as there are no other options in town.
Tomorrow we have a 70 mile ride to Mankato to stay with my friend Jess' parents. I just text'd Jess and told her that I'm going to mess up her old room and poke fun at all her baby photos. (Hee Hee, Jess! ) Seriously, I am looking forward to seeing her parents and the homestead where Jess grew up. I was also advised that I need to look for barn kitties. Aww!
All I can say about today is that its really tough leaving mid-day for a 90 mile ride. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the idea that we had so miles to cover in such short time period. Marc was confident that we'd make it to Springfield but I wanted a more attainable goal. We tried our best, but only made it 79 miles today. We decided to stop in the small town of Lamberton, MN around 6:30.
The ride today was fairly uneventful. It was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the mid- 70's. The biggest challenge was the 20 mph cross winds. The winds were tolerable but when semi-trucks passed it was brutal - like someone slapping you in the face (hard). Our helmets would have been ripped from our heads had they not been strapped down. Every time I saw a semi-truck coming I had to brace myself, shut my eyes and hold on to my handlebars for dear life. The wind gusts would knock you off the bike if you weren't prepared!
Tonight we are staying at a quaint little motel in the small town of Lamberton. I'm surprised this small town even has a motel. However, it is just down the road from Walnut Grove ( another town from Little House on the Prairie) so they do rely on traffic from the Laura Ingalls Wilder fans.
When I inquired at the front desk about a local restaurant, I discovered that the only eating establishment in town was the American Legion Hall. When I told Marc that we'd be eating at the Legion, he said "Great! Cheap Beer!"
The Legion was hopping! There were about 28 seniors playing Pinochle and several other guys hanging out at the bar. I can definitely tell that we are now in Minnesota. The accents are different and there are lots of people of Norwegian and Danish heritage.
One glance at the Legion's menu would give anyone a a heart problem. Everything on the menu came from the fryer - well everything but the cheese bacon burgers. There was fried fish, chicken, shrimp, potatoes, cheese, Reuben balls, mushrooms, cauliflower, etc. Our meals were delicious but very filling. I had an order of the broccoli cheddar balls and they were excellent - like Broccoli Cheddar Soup deep fried. No pie though! I'll have to skip the pie tonight as there are no other options in town.
Tomorrow we have a 70 mile ride to Mankato to stay with my friend Jess' parents. I just text'd Jess and told her that I'm going to mess up her old room and poke fun at all her baby photos. (Hee Hee, Jess! ) Seriously, I am looking forward to seeing her parents and the homestead where Jess grew up. I was also advised that I need to look for barn kitties. Aww!
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