Today ended at the top
After a great rest day yesterday, seeing family, and meeting new friends we headed south through the twin cities metro's extensive bike trail network. One of our first stops was Art's cousin who had agreed to take our bags for the day to Red Wing. Awesome. It is quite amazing just how much not having to carry another 30-40 pounds of gear with your makes for your day. Riding bagless had me feeling like I blended in more with the locals. Before we would get more waves or looks of excitement. A biker knows a heavy load when they see one. Usually that heavy load means adventure. There were so many people out on the trail. Fast peletons, moseying families and everything in between. It was good to see what happens when you have good infrastructure. Even met some folks training for their first RAGBRI run. They had lots of great questions about what/when to eat, how to deal with heat as well as complimenting my helmet brim. They had a pair of their own which is what started our conversations.
Other highlights of this section were seeing downtown St. Paul, the river barges, Pine Bend nature area, lock and dam number 2(actually running) and some metal sculptures I'm pretty sure have been on the Sculpture Walk in Sioux Falls previous years. All in all the miles seemed to roll by quickly.
We were on trail pretty much all the way to Hastings which is where we stopped for an awesome lunch burrito. Then it was on to Red Wing. The highway was OK eventually. Had one honker that got mad because I wouldn't let them sneak by me when there was also no shoulder as well as oncoming traffic. Sigh...... Sometimes you just can't teach people that the midwestern schootch by ya is not appropriate for all situations.
We met again at the brewery in Red Wing and got supper and our bags. We discovered there's no camping in Red Wing so it was another 13 miles down the road to Frontenac State Park. Thankfully MN has a no turn away policy for bike travelers because the regular campground was full for the holiday weekend. We camped at one of their "secret" sites off one of their overflow areas.
Also I should mention that the campground is at the top of the bluf so we had a 1ish mile 400ft ish 8 percent ish grade climb. Oooooof. You'd better believe I went to the scenic overlook. It was definitely worth the view though I may want to have the assistance of a gas pedal next time I come up here.
'til next time
-Matt
Miles Ridden Today: 86.38
Feet Climbed Today: 2, 241
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