Todays ride was almost entirely on the Minnesota Central Lakes and Lake Wobego rail-trails. I can not recall ever riding such a distance exclusively on a rail-trail.

When Minnesotans calls their state the land of 10,000 lakes, they must have gotten the idea from this area, as I passed by countless lakes.

A lot of this trail was tree shaded, which made a fairly hot day more bearable, though the brush and trees obscured the views. Where the lakes were absent, there were views of farmland. The farm buildings, were usually in the distance.

Sometimes the coverage of trees creates a tunnel like effect.

I’m not always a fan of rail-trails and bike paths. First of all the pavement is often loaded with expansion cracks, which makes for a bumpy ride. Second problem is in urban areas you have to be extremely careful whenever a road, alley, or driveway crosses the path. The extra care is due to danger from cars whose drivers are normally looking in the road for traffic, not down a bike path or sidewalk. In urban areas, I often end up riding in the street, where I feel safer.

The trails were not heavily used, but one guy stopped me and started asking questions as he was planning on doing a Minnesota to Seattle bike trip. He said he hadn’t encountered very many people doing long distance tours. His first question was would I change anything, if I was to do the trip over. After thinking about it for a second, I told him that I wasn’t a fan of the pocket-rocket backpacking stove that I brought. The pocket-rocket stove is very light and compact and great for boiling water, but the problem is the heated area is too small to warm up an even a small pan evenly. Also, it needs a wind screen. I prefer my old MSR X-GK which, though it doesn’t simmer all that well, has a much larger heated area and includes a wind screen. I have made great popcorn with the X-GK, but I wouldn’t even attempt it with the pocket-rocket. This guy said he wasn’t going to bring a stove, as he would live off of energy bars and the like. That didn’t sound very appealing to me, but I didn’t say anything.

I also told this fellow about the need to carry a lot of water or a purifier, and the need to take proper precautions in Grizzly county. When I mentioned the Grizzly issue, the fellow gave me an odd look. This guy gave me an energy bar for my input and we each peddled on our separate ways.

At the end of todays ride, I found myself in Sauk Center, Minnesota and discovered that no tent sites were available in the area. I did find a motel room in town near the I-94 interchange. I guess everyone is going to one of the lakes for the holiday week.

I rode 69 miles today. That brings the total to 1889 miles.