Monticello, Minnesota

According to yesterday’s weather forecast, today was to bring mid-morning thunderstorms and winds gusting to 40 mph.  Therefore we left St. Cloud at 6 a.m. and headed south.  About 10 miles into our ride we were hit with about 30 minutes of rain.  After that the weather got strange. We had periods where the sky was as dark as night and then periods when it seemed as bright as the sun at the beach.  Also, the winds kept changing directions.  Sometimes it blew from the west then changed to slightly northwest giving us tailwinds.  Other times it blew from the south giving us headwinds.  However, we must have had perfect timing because the strong winds did not start until we were just a mile from our hotel. As we write this entry we are looking out our hotel window watching the trees being whipped around and thankful we are not riding.

Maps:  Today        Trip to date

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St Cloud

Today it took 2 tries to get out of our hotel.  Our fist exit lasted less than 10 minutes as the thunderstorm overwhelmed us.  We checked back into the hotel but were going crazy flipping the channels. We were looking for a weather forecast that we liked which was hard to find.  We also watched parts of several movies before we flipped out.  After a 2 hour wait the rain stopped and we decided to go to St. Cloud, 40 miles south into a 15 to 25 mph headwind.  It only took us 5 hours but we made it.  Since the headwinds are to continue tomorrow, we plan another short day.

The lilacs have been in full bloom but today was the first day that it got warm enough for their fragrance to permeate the air.  Lilacs line the highways and their smell took our mind off the wind. 

Maps:  Today

            Trip To Date

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Little Falls

Do we look malnourished, in need of mothering, or are we just charmers?  It happened again when we went for breakfast at the Roadside Family Restaurant in Aitkin.  Babe, our waitress took charge of our meal.  We both wanted the “one pancake, egg, and 2 slices of bacon” breakfast special.  Babe did not think that was enough food for 2 hungry bikers and told the cook to make our blueberry pancakes larger.  Our one pancake extended far beyond the plate and was half an inch thick requiring us to eat it starting from the center.  Before we tackled our pancakes she insisted that we take 2 of her fresh baked cinnamon buns that were also huge. We each ate most of our pancake and took the buns for lunch.  Thanks Babe, we had a great breakfast and lunch and enjoyed your warm personality.

The beginning of our ride followed along the Mississippi as it headed west.  In Crosby both the river and we turned south. We pushed along until we got to Brainerd where we stopped for coffee to go with our cinnamon buns.  At the coffee shop we joined 2 motorcyclists at a sidewalk table and swapped stories.  From there we headed south toward Little Falls.  Finally, the winds were in our favor and they pushed us at 15 mph over the remaining 30 miles of today’ ride.

The Mississippi River at Little Falls changed its nature as it poured through a hydroelectric dam.  It was no longer the sleepy river we had been following.

Maps:  Today  

           Trip To Date

Pictures

Aitkin

Last evening was eventful.  After posting our blog, we went to the restaurant next to the hotel.   The bartender took a liking to us and gave us free beers and then reduced the check further by giving us a motel discount.  The euphoria of that kindness evaporated at 3 a.m. when a band of motorcyclists decided to roost after a night of drinking.  Joe asked one of the women to be quiet but about an hour later the noise started again with pounding on a door.  Before Joe jumped into action he sized up the 6 foot 4 inch monster in leathers and tattoos and decided to just slink back into our room.  The next morning hotel management was apologetic for the noise and reduced our room rate.  It was great that Joe lived to see some financial benefit from his disturbed sleep. 

The first part of our route was 50 desolate miles with no services and no cars. Joe likened it to cycling in Kansas but with trees.  Our ride started with cold temperatures and overcast skies.  By mid-morning the sun came out and we got to ride along the Mississippi River. Both of which gave us pleasure.

Our first and only stop was at Palisade Café in the town of Palisade.  One of our guide books reported that the café had the best pies on the entire River Road.  We could not let this claim go untested.  After viewing all the pies in the case and making a selection we agree that the quality of their blue berry pie is outstanding.  Just for the record we ate our pie before we ate our sandwiches and promised to test additional pies further down the road.   From Palisade we only had to cycle another 20 miles to Aitkin.  In hindsight we should have stayed at the café and eaten pie all night.  Our 20 mile ride was directly into a 15 to 25 mph headwind and took us 3 hours to reach our hotel.  

Today's Map 

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Grand Rapids

Because we extended yesterday’s ride, today’s journey was relatively short.  Neither the terrain nor wind conditions changed.  However, our surprise was the 32 degree temperature when we woke.  The desk clerk told us that if we wanted spring weather in northern Minnesota, we would need to stay around until August. While waiting for the temperature to warm up to a balmy 40 degrees, we ate a slow breakfast and drank lots of coffee. 

The most remarkable thing about today’s ride was the lack of traffic. For most of our miles we had the road to ourselves.  We enjoyed the Minnesota’s Forest History Center just outside of Grand Rapids.  The center houses a museum and a reconstructed logging camp staffed by docents in period costumes.  As can be seen from the attached pictures we enjoyed the experience with several groups of middle school children.

Today's Map 

Pictures

Deer River

Like yesterday we cycled gentle rolling terrain in cool weather.  Unlike yesterday, the head winds were not a big factor, but they still blew.  We cycled through the Chippewa National Forest with the hopes of seeing bald eagles that make it their home.  However, they were no where to be seen.  We did stop along the Lady Slipper Parkway where we were told that a large flock of birds off in a distance were pelicans. Since we associate pelicans with the ocean we were skeptical.  Besides, we wanted eagles.

Our day’s destination was the Gosh Dam Place motel.  In hind sight we missed some significant clues that would have had us call ahead for reservations.  As we turned off the highway we had a 12 mile ride to the motel.  Numerous campers and trucks passed us all pulling boats.  When we got near the hotel we saw a large lake and many resorts filled with campers and boats.  As we pulled into the motel’s parking lot we saw 2 dozen pickup trucks with boats.  In our defense, neither of us are fishermen and did not know that it is fishing season. 

As eternal optimists, we went into the packed bar/motel and asked for a room.  Lucky for us Linda, the owner, was very kind.  Despite being swamped with customers, she located a motel for us 12 miles away in Deer River and called for reservations.  While neither of us wanted to cycle another 12 miles we were thankful that we had a place to stay.  Linda is this trip’s first trail angel.  Being smarter, we have decided that we will call ahead for reservations at our future stops.

Maps:  Today
Pictures

Bemidji, MN

Bemidji, the first city on the Mississippi was named after its lake of the same name. It is an Indian name meaning the river runs through it.  The Mississippi River here is nothing like the mighty muddy found further south.  In Bemidji we saw a rendering of its famous lumber jack, Paul Bunyan, and Babe, his Blue Ox companion.  In addition, we had the opportunity to enjoy the town’s “art walk” where commissioned artwork sits on many of the corners in the historic district.

Today started out early with the bright morning sun shining through the window and the birds calling us to wake up and ride. The cool morning air was somewhat mitigated by the warm sun and the anticipation of our adventure.  Bemidji is 32 miles northeast of the Mississippi’s headwaters at Lake Itasca State Park.  Our ride to the headwaters was over country roads with no traffic.  Getting there involved an elevation gain of only 300 feet and the terrain was gentle rolling hills.  So far it sounds like a cyclist’s dream ride.  In fact, we even had a slight tail wind pushing us.  Our ride to the park was fast and easy.

It was sort of sad however, to see the Mississippi getting smaller as we got closer the headwaters.  Lake Itasca empties over a spillway and becomes the Mississippi.  Heading back to Bemidji we got to see the river grow, as it should.  We are looking forward to seeing this small stream evolve into the river that we know as the "Mighty Muddy". 

Leaving the park we found that the slight tail wind was now a strong headwind.  Our trip back was not the easy ride we had earlier.  By the time we got back to our hotel we wondered if we would ever cycle again.  However, as we learned early on during our first trip, “adversity becomes adventure after 2 beers and a shower.”  Lets hope tomorrow’s winds will be friendlier.

Pictures from Today (and yesterday) -- Pictures

Map of today's ride -- Map