Date: June 26th, 2019 Miles Traveled: 69 Weather: Mostly cloudy in the morning, mostly sunny in the afternoon. Warm. Summary: Woke up at around 6:30AM, cooked up some oatmeal and chatted with Linda, our previous host, before setting out on the road at around 8:30AM. Traveled on highway 60 for 15 miles or so before exiting towards St. James, a small town where the local movie theater plays a single movie each week and in some cases, no movie at all. Coming from New Jersey, a place where movie theaters you’d be hard pressed to find a movie theater without 2 or more screens, I found this to be q ..read more

Date: June 28th, 2019 Miles Traveled: 41 Weather: Partly cloudy and HOT Summary: Packed up camp at around 8:00AM and continued along highway 35, what the locals refer to as “old 16”, for dozens of miles. Experimented with ways to keep the sun off of my neck. Rode into Luverne, Minnesota and decided to check out a place called the Rockland County Historical Society. There, we met Betty, a 97 year old sweet heart of a woman who serves as the head steward of the museum. Betty not only gave us an exceptionally detailed tour of the facility, but also introduced to us what is thought to be the thir ..read more

Date: June 24th, 2019 Miles Traveled: 27 Weather: Mostly cloudy. Cool. Summary: Woke up around 6:30AM, made (or rather, failed to make) some pancakes for breakfast, and left Big Woods Nerstrand State Park at approximately 8:00AM. Cooking flapjacks in a tall pot with a diameter no wider than your fist is difficult to say this least… Pedalled along a couple of rural roads and highways into the town of Fauribault, Wisconsin, a historic looking town with buildings from the 1800s. Followed Frank into a pawn shop in downtown Fauribault (because why not?) and met one of the creepiest dudes I’ve eve ..read more

Date: June 27th, 2019 Miles Traveled: 51 Weather: Windy, rainy, and cold in the morning, clear and hot in the afternoon. Summary: Had a delicious pancake breakfast courtesy of our previous hosts, Kathy and Craig. Waited for a storm to pass through before setting out on the road at around 11:00am. Weighed our loaded bikes for the first time using Craig’s hook scale. My bike: 80lbs. Frank’s bike: 90lbs. Battled spitting rain and a relentless southern wind for a mile or two. Since I actually like riding in the rain, I reveled in the challenge. This was what made bicycle touring awesome for me ..read more

Date: June 22nd, 2019 Miles Traveled: 40 Weather: Clear in the morning, mostly cloudy in the afternoon. Warm. Summary: At 5:30am, I woke up, quickly packed up my tent, and descended down from the empty ice hockey rink nestled in a large park (my stealth camping spot) into downtown Red Wing, Minnesota. Stopped at a bakery called “Hanisch Bakery” and got two way-too-sugary donuts for breakfast. Mistakes were made. Rode a mile or two to the trailhead of the previously mentioned “Barn Bluff”, locked my bike to a post, and proceed to hike up the mountain. Enjoyed some gorgeous views of the Mississi ..read more

Date: June 25th, 2019 Miles Traveled: 32 Weather: Sunny and steamy. Barely a cloud in the sky. Summary: Woke up around 7:00am, packed up camp, and left Sakatah Lake State Park after having some good ol’ instant oatmeal for breakfast. Pedalled along the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail for a couple miles before briefly exploring the town of Elysian, a town that looked as if it was part of a movie set for an old Western film . In addition to the town saloon, the city hall, the “mall”, and the printing business established in 1893, they even had… a public payphone. Continued along the Sakatah S ..read more

Date: June 20th, 2019 Miles Traveled: 44 Weather: Clear in the morning, overcast in the afternoon. Warm with a slight tailwind. Summary: Said goodbye to my previous hosts in La Valle, Wisconsin and rode onto the Great River State Trail, a multi-use dirt path that runs right alongside the Mississippi River. Stopped at a pavilion called the “Great River Landing” and attempted to play the public drums and xylophones there. Bicycled with a face mask over my mouth for a couple miles to prevent having flies and gnats for lunch. Had my first bald eagle sighting of the trip. Had lunch outside of a del ..read more

Date: June 23rd, 2019 Miles Traveled: 13 Weather: Mostly cloudy. Cool. Summary: After packing up my bike at around 7:00AM, I rode through the Carleton College arboretum, pedalled along some local streets, stocked up at a grocery store, and stopped at a local coffee/lunch place called the Hideaway to charge up my body and my power bank. Later today, I would be meeting up with my cousin, Frank, after 28 days on the road. Although this is Frank’s first experience bicycle touring, he was the individual who originally got me into serious road cycling a couple years ago and will be joining me for t ..read more

Date: June 21st, 2019 Miles Traveled: 50 Weather: Overcast in the morning, partly cloudy in the afternoon. Moderately warm. Summary: At 7:00AM, I packed up my tent and texted my previous host to check whether or not I should lock the front door to her house before I departing for the day. Not only did she say to keep the front door unlocked, but she insisted that I take her tandem bike in the garage for a spin and eat some of the fresh strawberries growing in their backyard garden. Needless to say, I obliged. After pedalling out of Buffalo City, I continued along highway 23 and enjoyed views o ..read more