Day 26 – The inconvenient route.
Tyler, Minnesota to New Ulm, Minnesota
Tuphat Girls catered both our dinner last night and our breakfast this morning, and it was all good food with lots of fresh fruit and veggies. That always scores with me. Pollie, our ride director, told a good story last night when she made her evening announcements. She said that a week or two ago, she had a dream that there was a beautifully paved bike path that stretched from Seattle, WA to Washington D.C. This was our route, with perfect little turnouts for waterstops, with these great huge oak trees all around for “facilities.” Then Pollie talked about a new husband who died two weeks after his wedding from lung cancer, and about how many stories we’ve heard and people we know who are suffering from lung. This ride is not about the convenient route. What fun would it be if we never had headwinds like we’ve had all week, if we never had mountains to climb or poor roads to navigate? That’s not what this ride is about; it’s all about the inconvenient route.
This morning was a chilly morning, and it was so cozy to wake up to the brisk air, all cuddled up in my warm sleeping bag. Getting out of that sleeping bag was another story. After a great breakfast and some good Minnesotan rolling hills, I warmed up soon enough. Even though Minnesota is giving us the same South Dakotan headwind, at least she’s giving us much cooler temperatures. Another beautiful morning, we enjoyed the green and the rolling hills with small farming towns that are becoming more and more frequent. We’re going through more Laure Ingalls Wilder territory, riding over Plum Creek and by the sod houses on the prairie.
By the afternoon we were enjoying a SE wind, which meant a crossheadwind, but felt awesome. I lead our group of five for probably twenty miles, just because it was the first time in days that I felt somewhat “on.” Being in front, seeing the whole road ahead of me, through the familiar terrain of Minnesota, was definitely the highlight of my day.
Coming into New Ulm was a strange feeling because those roads could have so easily been Rochester roads. New Ulm’s a cute little town as well, and it was a good feeling coming in knowing that we were finally getting our rest day again. Everything was going great until the very last 0.2 miles to the college we were slammed with a HUGE hill before us, with a massive gradient, leading up to the college. Awesome. All we could do was laugh.
We’re just relaxing tonight. Sitting outside the Martin Luther College dormitory enjoying the cool night breeze.
Tuphat Girls catered both our dinner last night and our breakfast this morning, and it was all good food with lots of fresh fruit and veggies. That always scores with me. Pollie, our ride director, told a good story last night when she made her evening announcements. She said that a week or two ago, she had a dream that there was a beautifully paved bike path that stretched from Seattle, WA to Washington D.C. This was our route, with perfect little turnouts for waterstops, with these great huge oak trees all around for “facilities.” Then Pollie talked about a new husband who died two weeks after his wedding from lung cancer, and about how many stories we’ve heard and people we know who are suffering from lung. This ride is not about the convenient route. What fun would it be if we never had headwinds like we’ve had all week, if we never had mountains to climb or poor roads to navigate? That’s not what this ride is about; it’s all about the inconvenient route.
This morning was a chilly morning, and it was so cozy to wake up to the brisk air, all cuddled up in my warm sleeping bag. Getting out of that sleeping bag was another story. After a great breakfast and some good Minnesotan rolling hills, I warmed up soon enough. Even though Minnesota is giving us the same South Dakotan headwind, at least she’s giving us much cooler temperatures. Another beautiful morning, we enjoyed the green and the rolling hills with small farming towns that are becoming more and more frequent. We’re going through more Laure Ingalls Wilder territory, riding over Plum Creek and by the sod houses on the prairie.
By the afternoon we were enjoying a SE wind, which meant a crossheadwind, but felt awesome. I lead our group of five for probably twenty miles, just because it was the first time in days that I felt somewhat “on.” Being in front, seeing the whole road ahead of me, through the familiar terrain of Minnesota, was definitely the highlight of my day.
Coming into New Ulm was a strange feeling because those roads could have so easily been Rochester roads. New Ulm’s a cute little town as well, and it was a good feeling coming in knowing that we were finally getting our rest day again. Everything was going great until the very last 0.2 miles to the college we were slammed with a HUGE hill before us, with a massive gradient, leading up to the college. Awesome. All we could do was laugh.
We’re just relaxing tonight. Sitting outside the Martin Luther College dormitory enjoying the cool night breeze.
posted by elizabeth at 11:15 PM
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