Last night got a bit interesting. I was dozing off in my tent when an animal started making some scratching sounds nearby which woke me up. I looked outside my tent and saw a largish raccoon on top of the pannier I keep my food in. I yelled at him as I got out of my tent and looked for something I could throw at him. I keep my sneakers right outside the tent door, but under the fly, so they are accessible, yet don’t get soaked with rain or dew. I grabbed those sneakers and threw one at the raccoon. It missed him and ended up in the woods. The coon retreated about 15 feet into the woods and then turned and looked at me. It seemed to me he was sizing me up, basically determining whether I was a real threat or not. At that point I slapped a tree with the other sneaker and yelled “GIT.” He retreated till he was out of sight.

I figured this coon or one of his cousins would be back. I decided to hang the pannier from a tree limb, like you would in bear territory. The only other good option would be to store it in the bathhouse until morning. I wasn’t about to put it in my tent in case a bear came around.

I got out my line and found a likely branch. I then thought about what I would use to get the line over the branch and realized a half full water bottle would be perfect for the job. I secured a water bottle to the line. My first throw was short and I yanked on the line to retrieve it. The bottle promptly came back and smacked my left shin, leaving a welt. The second throw was good. Knowing raccoons are good climbers, I secured the pannier about halfway between the branch and the ground, hoping raccoons would not or could not climb the line down to the pannier.

I went back to my tent and sleeping bag. Sure enough, late at night I hear another round of scratching. By this time it was dark so I yelled “GIT” and shined my flashlight at the coon, who was looking for the pannier with the food. This was enough for the coon and he vanished into the woods. In the morning, I found my food pannier hanging, undisturbed..

During the morning ride, I was pursued by another Minnesota dog. This time, I didn’t yell at the dog, but tried the water battle experiment which was enough to stop him. I’m not sure if the water hit him or just the sight of the water coming in his direction was enough to do the job.

I also crossed over to Wisconsin, and split from the ABA route and map. I’ll pick up another ABA segment when I get to Michigan.

The part of the ABA route from Osceola to Hudson is through a network of rural roads. I had to stop and check the route at practically every intersection. By lunch time, much to my surprise, I had covered 60 miles. I found a Five Guys restaurant and ordered a burger and shake and tried to figure out how I was going to finish the day.

I figured I had another 20 miles in me, which would put me near Prescott, WI. However, I couldn’t find either a campground or an ecomically priced motel nearby. I ended up compromising, and booking a room back across the river in Hastings, Minnesota.

This motel is 23 miles from the Five Guys, making 83 miles for the day. The total is up to 2109.

Last night, before calling it a day, I took a walk to downtown Milaca…

for an ice cream.

They even had a park with a Sherman tank. You don’t see those outside of museums very often these days.

Todays ride was governed by the weather and as always, distances between campgrounds and/or motels. The weather forecast had rain late morning and again in the evening. There was one other factor, I was almost out of food. The ABA map appeared to show some places where groceries or lunch could be purchased along the way, but then again, it is the Forth of July.

After 40 miles or so, the sky was starting to look gray, so I pulled into a small county park in order to get a weather update and assess likely stopping points for the day.

The weather radar showed one band about on top of me and nothing after that, though the forecast still showed evening rain. I decided to wait this rain band out and try to find a good stopping point while I waited. I found motel rooms were available in various towns ahead of me and a quick check of campgrounds also showed availability, which wasn’t surprising, given the weather forecast.

I prefer camping to motels, and decided to make Wild River State Park on the Minnesota side of the St. Croix River my destination. It’s a bit off the ABA route, but looked like a place I could get to and get set up before any late afternoon thunderstorms popped up.

This meant that I wouldn’t get into Wisconsin until tomorrow. However, I’m getting through Minnesota in four and a half days, which is only a half day more than my best case projection of four days. I’m more than happy with that.

Once the rain slowed to a light sprinkle, I set off. I found an open Dollar General and got some basic survival rations. All the restaurants were closed for the 4th of July. I made made it to the campground with only a few sprinkles occurring about 3/4 of the way there.

Right now my tents up, and I am battling with an aggressive band of mosquitoes, though my last few drops of repellent should be enough to stave them off, till I leave tomorrow. A short walk through bands of even more aggressive mosquitoes yielded this image of the St. Croix River and the Wisconsin bank.

Today I covered 58 miles, which is starting to feel like an easy day. Total mileage crosses two thousand, with a total of 2026.

Yesterday I was kind of spooked by the lack of tent sites in the area. I set my sights on getting to Curly’s Corner Bar, which apparently let cyclists camp in the yard. This bar was about 65 miles away, which is getting to be my target mileage these days.

The first part of the ride, was a repeat of yesterday’s rail trail experience. This cute covered bridge was recently built just for users of this rail trail network.

In total, between yesterday and today, I covered about 95 miles on rail-trails before jumping onto some rural roads. Soon after leaving the rail trail network, I came to a detour sign, local traffic only, road closed in one mile. Dilemma, try sneaking through and risk having to backtrack or just take the detour. Consulting with Google Maps made me think that there was bridge work going on, which I couldn’t sneak around. I decided to take the detour.

After a mile or so on the detour route, I saw a road going the right direction. Consulting with Google maps made me think it went through and would reconnect with the highway I needed to be on.

No sooner had I started down this road when I heard the unmistakable sound of paws in a hurry on pavement and it wasn’t far away. I turned and saw a pit bull looking creature in hot pursuit of me. I didn’t speed up, but yelled at him and reached for a water bottle. A squirt in the nose might stop him if the cursing didn’t. Fortunately the curse worked and he turned back. This is only the second time on this trip that a dog came after me.

Next my unofficial detour route turned to dirt/gravel which is probably why it wasn’t the official detour route. After a number of miles I reached a crossroad that was paved and according to Google would bring me back to my route past the construction.

About a quarter of a mile down this road, another loose dog started after me. This one looked like a hunting breed. He stopped, like the first one, when I yelled at him, so the water bottle experiment wasn’t needed.

Back on the route, I stopped for a breather and decided to check the map update system, which is a ABA online message system that gives up to date info that may not be included in the latest maps. Good thing I did because it noted that Curly’s was closed.

Next available stopping point was the town of Milaca, another 13 miles on, which has camping in the city park. I called the number to see what the situation was. Turns out they only had 4 sites, one of which was reserved. Despite the hot weather and 65 or so miles I already had done, I put on the afterburners to see if I would end up with one of the remaining sites. It turns out my rush was unnecessary, since all three remaining sites were available when I arrived.

No shade here, but at least I have a safe place to sleep.

79 miles today for a total of 1968 miles covered. Google says I’m only 75 miles away from Osceola, WI.

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.

Only slight breezes today, and a very hot sun, though it is comfortable in the shade. The mostly flat roads ran through fields of corn, potatoes and some soybean so there was no shade there. The farm buildings were well away from the road, so if not much interest. Occasionally there would be a sign for a town, but some of them would only consist of of one business or a business and one short street. Here is the town of Lawndale.

When the greater landscape is uninspiring, I tend to shift focus down to the details. For instance, the flowers often can be inspiring.

However, today my thoughts drifted to the problem of roadside garbage. Beverage containers are everywhere. Based on frequency of the various brands on the shoulders of the roads here, I think the people of Minnesota prefer Coors and Bud Light for beer and Sprite for soda. Once I thought about this, I figured I needed a picture for my blog. I really couldn’t find a Bud or Coors can in good condition as the mowers rip the cans to shreds. I ended up with this, instead.

Over the years, I’ve thought long and hard about this problem. I believe that a container tax will not work, because they can not be made high enough to make a difference. Fines for littering never seem to be enforced, so they have little effect.

What I think might work is to hit the producers with clean up taxes based on amount their product is contributing to the problem. Each state could do clean up of an “average” highway and figure distribution of taxes based on frequency of each vendors product in the haul. If the tax hit was high enough, it would motivate manufacturers to move away from inexpensive single use throw-away packaging which is really the root of the problem. Cigarette, fast food and junk food vendors would also be taxed.

I wonder if the are better alternatives to solving this issue. I don’t have enough faith in the “goodness” of people to believe that education would work by itself.

Tonight I am camping at the city of Ferguson Falls Delagoon Park.

59 more miles today. Total is 1820.

It’s the last day of the first month of this adventure.

First, I’ll give you some stats. 62 miles covered today for a total of 1761 in 30 days. This is not my total mileage, but point to point mileage. Total mileage would be a bit higher, but I haven’t been tracking that. That’s an average of 58.7 miles per day or 411 per week. One thing that’s changing a bit is that I’m thinking in longer timeframes now, which is why I calculated miles per week, as well as per day. The per day average is far more than the 40 to 50 that I originally expected to achieve.

I have crossed parts of 5 states, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and North Dakota. I have also travelled completely through 2 time zones and am currently in a third.

I’ve had two mechanical issues, a slow leak in my front tire and a flat in the front tire. I suspect the slow leak was due to a failed patch in the tube that I originally had in that tire. I first noticed it on that very hot day when I had such a big, difficult climb to do. I’ve wondered if the patch failed because of the heat that day. As far as the flat goes, it’s impossible to know for sure, but based on the tiny hole I eventually found in the tube, I’ve speculated that that leak was due to running over a piece of tire cord wire.

I also grew a beard for 30 days, but took care of it today. The mustache is still there for now.

Todays ride was pretty routine. One semi-funny event occurred when I stopped at a convenience store to take a badly needed bio break. I was just outside the bathroom, when a man stopped me to ask a bunch of questions about my adventure and equipment and so on. I hope I wasn’t too short with him.

A lot of people wave or honk their horns when they see me. I don’t often do more than nod back. Sometimes I’m almost embarrassed by my feeble replies to these greetings. I still sometimes get choked up a bit when people say complimentary things about me and my adventure, but not as often as when I first started.

I really enjoyed my week long tour of North Dakota. I decided that since I was finishing North Dakota today, I would reward myself with a restaurant lunch and dinner and a motel room.

Lunch was at a very busy place called Randy’s in South Fargo. It was one of those kind of places that serves breakfast all day. I ordered French Toast and eggs and finished with a slice of carrot cake. I would recommend this place if you are passing through the Fargo area.

After lunch, I rode through downtown Fargo, which seems like a pretty happening place, then over the Red River to Moorhead, Minnesota. The place where I crossed, didn’t even have a sign saying you were entering Minnesota, hence no picture.

After picking up supplies at Walmart, I rode down to the river and followed it for a ways. This picture shows part of Fargo on the far side of the rapids.

Finally I arrived at the motel, the Bison Plains Lodge, which seems like a decent place.

First of all, I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this journey with their comments. It really helps me to know that people are interested and following along. It also helps me stay focused on getting blog posts out every day. Some days, like today, I have plenty of time to put together a post and other days, it’s been more of a scramble. Lastly, by commenting, I feel you are joining me for a small part of the adventure.

Yesterday, in the evening, a second cyclist showed up at the Honey Hub. I’ll be darned if I can remember his name, but he was cycling the Northern Tier route in sections. Last year, he cycled from the west coast near Vancouver, if I remember right, to Glacier National Park. This year he is going from Glacier to Chicago in time to see his mom graduate from college. I believe he said he works for Google in the Silicon Valley.

Todays journey started early, as I believed the weather forecast predicted an easterly wind of up to 15 MPH in the afternoon and I wanted to get as far east as possible before it kicked up. My plan was to get to the Little Yellowstone County Park Campground today, which was due east on highway 46 about 54 miles away. Since my roommate for the night said he was a late riser, I quietly gathered my gear from the Honey Hub, packed my bike and peddled over to the town park for a cold breakfast of Granola, almonds and raisins. By 6:30 I was on the road.

Cycling conditions this morning were about good as it gets. The terrain was flat, very light tailwind, very light traffic, the road had been recently paved and there was a wide shoulder. I had my old Trek in high gear and for much of the time, we must have been moving along at close to 20 miles per hour. No real time for reflection, as the great cycling became the focus of my attention.

By 10 O’clock, I had covered 50 miles and reached the only business on that part of the route, a convenience store and gas station. I bought water and an ice cream, and also had my lunch. My original planned stopping point was only 5 miles down the road, so I considered going further. The next possible camping place was the Enderlin town park, about another 20 miles on. Since I had most of the day to cover those twenty miles, I decided that would be my campground for the day.

Due to higher temperatures, a bit more traffic and narrower shoulders, the riding wasn’t quite so nice as in the early morning, but I made to Enderlin’s town park by 12:30. That easterly wind never materialized, I wonder if I misread the forecast or if the weatherman messed up.

Total mileage for the day, 74 miles, far more than I had planned on. Total mileage 1699. Tomorrow I believe it very llikely that I will be able to reach Minnesota.

That was quite a thunderstorm last night. I slept a bit damp, but well.

With a shorter ride today and little of apparent interest along the way, todays ride was a good one for reflection. However, there was one interesting sight right outside Napoleon, that put the reflection business on hold.

A row of vintage threshers that a farmer had collected and placed in an interesting arrangement. It’s called Dinosaurs in the Prairie. I took a little walk here and found this farmer’s corn looking pretty good.

Back to reflecting…

Back in February I decided that I would take on this adventure and from that time through to now, the whole process has energized me. Sometimes when I’m peddling through a tough stretch, I’ll remind myself what I’d be doing if I was home. No adventure, no wrong turns, but a lot of the same, safe routines. For me, this excitement and sense of exploration really motivates me to keep going.

Even before I left on this adventure, the thought occurred to me that I should try to find something that would excite me in the same way after this adventure is over. I even mentioned this to a couple of friends. One reply was that you would have plenty of time to think about it over the next three months. The reality has mostly been different, as my mind has been busy with navigating, eating, finding shelter and writing this blog.

However today was different, and that same question came to mind. One thing that is clear, is that finishing my bachelor’s degree must come first. I believe I can do that in two more semesters. One philosophy class, one english class and two more of the dreaded Spanish classes. What then? Should I take all the short stories I have written and put together a book? Should I do more research on the City Point and Army Line Railroad and perhaps write a meaningful book about it? Something else?

Would I do another long bike adventure? Probably not…but some shorter ones could be in the cards.

Tonight, I’m staying in a unique place. I’m in the Honey Hub. This is the basement of Peter and Ginny Miller. Peter is an ex-Apple employee and triathlete, who has joined the family business of beekeeping and spends summers in Gackle, North Dakota tending to his bees. The rest of the year Peter and Ginny tend them in Northern California. They move the bees back and forth, as well. Peter’s father was a Marathoner and beekeeper who wanted to incorporate honey into energy bars. He partnered with several other people to create Honey Stinger. By the way, Honey Stinger products are available from REI!

The Honey Hub is set up as a refuge for passing cyclists. two beds, WI-FI, a bathroom with shower, a laundry, an assortment of Honey Stinger products and cold drinks. If you prefer, you can set your tent up in the yard. There is no charge, but you can make donations. Jason says that since COVID, activity has been slow, I’m the first visitor in a week. He said that before COVID, they would have cyclists almost every night.

40 miles covered today to reach Gackle, but it was enough, as the last couple of days left my legs a bit tired. Total mileage is now 1625. There are not a lot of services between here and Fargo, I’m going to have to plan meals carefully.

Scott and I had a nice time catching up with each other. Scott has spent his working life with state and local politics. He has made a nice life for himself in North Dakota. It’s interesting how connected people are in a state with less than 700,000 residents.

Scott made some brats and sweet corn for me and helped me put new tape on my handlebars and we had a few sips of Bourbon, about which Scott is quite the expert.

Scott mentioned that it was almost exactly 700 miles to his mothers house in Wisconsin. If I maintain a 50 per day pace, I’ll be visiting more relatives in about 2 weeks.

I originally planed to go the 50 miles to Hazelton and camp there. The last 14 miles were dead into a south wind and were really tough ones. I pulled into the gas station/convenience store which was the only business in the town and had a sandwich, ice cream and a water. By now it was a little past 2. The next town, Napoleon, had a camping area in the city park and was only 26 miles away. Also it was due east, so I wouldn’t have to battle the wind so much. I decided I should just make use of the afternoon and go there. The land here is flatter than Western North Dakota, so the going wasn’t too tough.

The result was a big mileage day as I covered 76 miles, when I had planed for 50. Total mileage is 1585.

I cooked potato soup in the picnic shelter and now, as I write this, a nasty thunderstorm is blowing through.

Next to my tent last night was an old caboose. This one was open so you could take a peak inside. It’s basically a home for the railroaders and includes some seating in the cupola, so they can keep tabs on the train.

This morning, as I was packing up, three cyclists rode by. I guessed that it was part of Jeff’s group, though I expected that there would be four of them. I finished packing and got moving, figuring I might catch them, if they stopped for supplies or something.

Well after about 20 miles, as I entered New Salem, I just could see them in the distance climbing out of the town. With a nice temperature and a tailwind, I put on the afterburners trying to catch them. I chased and neither gained or lost much ground on them. A few times, I kind of gave up, but then would get another burst of energy and try to close the gap. It was frustrating to be so close, yet be so far. I estimated I was about a mile back the whole time. Finally one of them noticed me and they stopped and waited for me. It must have been a 45 minute chase.

It was Jeff’s group, but Jeff was no longer with them. Those past few days that were so hard for me, were too much for Jeff. The three remaining riders had one of their wives driving a support car for a few days, and these guys had most of their gear in the car, which is why I had such a tough time catching them. Actually, the car had taken Jeff into Bismarck ahead of them, so he could catch a flight home. They planned on staying in motels most of the way forward.

I rode with this group until we were about 5 miles from Mandan, and then we parted ways. By this time, with all my gear, I was having trouble getting up the hills with them. It was a fun chase and I enjoyed riding with them. I don’t think I’ll be able to catch them again, since they will be traveling so light.

In Mandan, I found a city park and broke out the sausage, bread, cheese and an orange. They were having a celebration for a new art initiative for the town, so besides talking to a couple of residents, I got to hear some nice speeches.

Because of the chase and favorable conditions, I was way early, so figured I’d find a new can of fuel for my stove and perhaps some handlebar tape. On the way into Bismarck, I ran into this business. I considered going in and telling whomever was there how much I liked their website, but decided against. For those of you who have been subjected to some of my puns, often the inspiration comes from this website.

Darn thumb. This is the alternative.

Anyway, it’s time to go meet up and catch up with Cus. Scott.

63 miles today for a total 1509.