Spring 1997 - Cincinnati to Yukon
Journals - 20 May 1997
Day 50 - Mississippi River, MN
20 May 1997 (cloudy and cool; some sun! mileage = 70) -- X - We were up
well before 5:00 and we ate oatmeal and got packed. We got back on the bike
trail and headed west. We came to a high, long bridge over a ravine carved
by the St. Louis River where it meets another. Quite spectacular. Then we
got to Charlton which was like Morrow, OH -- a tourist area based on the
bike trail. Here we did a wind survey and decided not to go north and
rejoin 2. The winds were from due north, so we went west on 210. After some
fairly long grinding, we got to Cromwell. We stopped at a small restaurant
for lunch. Quite good and it solved our food supply concern. (We like to be
well stocked!) Next we did a nice, long grind to McGregor. We stopped at
micro towns on the way to do V.M. and try to get H2O. McGregor was a great
place. We stopped at their rest area and hand pumped the best free H2O
we've had so far. Next, we stopped at a bakery and got yummy things which
we ate at another nice picnic area. April said that if I got some yummy
donuts, she could ride more. (I held her to it with 20 more miles! [A -
which he said would be 14!]) Then we went to the grocery store. On the way,
I noticed another bigger picnic area. Easily, the highest picnic table/per
capita I've encountered. Anyway, at the food store, A was in buying food
and, as usual, some old guy took an interest and wanted to B.S. with me at
length. When he found out the answer to the 3 questions (1) Alaska, 2)
Cincinnati 3) 96 days), he about flipped and started telling everyone, who
he, naturally, knew. Some of them got interested, too. I made some
(hopefully innocent) joke about him raising $ for us. Well, when he left,
he insisted on giving us $5. Good grief. What have I done? More
importantly, can I do it again?! So we took off again into bonus mileage
(over 50). We had a slight tail wind component to a stiff cross wind, but
our nice, wide shoulder was gone. At one point a house on a truck came by
and A and I worked out the "wide load! wide load!" drill where we bail. At
the end of this nasty stretch, we set out into some dirt farm roads in
search of the Mississippi. I stopped and asked a farmer for directions. He
was a young, hard-working guy who was very nice, so I asked him what he was
doing and what he grew. He was spreading wood ash from a power generating
plant onto his field with a manure slinger. It enriches the soil for his
hay crop which he sells as feed. He also "dairies" 40 head. Anyway, on to
the River. When we found it, there was a public boat ramp with a grassy
area and no prohibitive postings. So we are camped right on the banks of
the young, but already impressive, Mississippi River. We are also in plain
view of the road. EVERYONE stares at us as they drive by. A - Chris has
slipped back into his old ways of underestimating 1) how early the alarm is
set and 2) how far we will be riding in the day! Boo!
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