Rolling for an 87

Robin Fondow and I rode our bikes for 87.2 miles on Thursday, 2 July. Wow.

We left from Roseville, Minnesota and rode up to Hinckley, a mere seven plus hours in the saddle. This was a training run for Robin who is planning on riding to Green Bay, Wisconsin in a couple of weeks.

Robin is loading up here in Wyoming (Mn). Just as we finish hydrating and snacking the Fourth of July Parade marches along in front of the store.

In the background from the parade is the bike path we are taking from Hugo up to North Branch.








Okay here we are at lunch in North Branch. We are off the bike path now and riding along highway 61. Lunch in North Branch was quite good, especially the chicken salad. The banana smoothie was good, but not spectacular. It was big on ice, which probably helped me down the road.

After lunch in North Branch, we hit Highway 61 and got used to cars racing by at frightening speeds. I want to thank the citizens of Pine County for their great roads and wider shoulders. Much appreciated.

The brick house was in Rush City. The building is from 1896. Hard to believe. The last photo was from behind the A & W in Pine City. We had a great breakfast in Pine City on our way back.

We took highway 14 and the county road 15 on our way there, because the MS 150 brochure showed that was the way to go. We discovered the next morning that the roads on highway 23 were much better. Oh well.

The picture from the outdoors is the view outside our hotel window. Karyl asked if we were camping outside. The last thing we wanted to do was to haul camping gear for one night. We stayed at the Travel Lodge just west of Highway 35, and we ate at the restaurant that was across the parking lot (that was about as far as we could walk).

I learned a couple of lessons on this trip. One, I can travel long distances on a bike. Maybe not day after day, but I can definitely do it. Secondly, it is interesting to learn on to bike. It is not a series of sprints, like my commutes to work. When I was out on the road I just tried to keep my rpm between 60-70, no matter the grade of the road.

This was one of those times were you learn that you can do more than you think...