My old colleague, Mindy Thurin, picked me up from my hotel and we went out for breakfast together. It was nice catching up with her. Was feeling kind of sad that Mindy is the last scheduled visit with family or friends until I get to Seattle. I’m wondering how that is going to go for me.
I was back at the hotel a little after 8:00. As I was leaving the hotel to start my ride, I met a group of four cyclists who were biking towards Elroy. It was nice to hear about their trip and share a little about mine. I was biking by 8:40.
Started out by biking the last seven miles of the La Crosse River Trail. Then I was on a series of trails through the city of La Crosse. A section of these trails were called, The Marsh Trails. And, as the name suggests, they went through a marsh area. Which was fine, until the “Trail Closed” sign.
I would have normally just went around the sign and took my chances, but since there was a phone number on the sign, I decided to call it. It put me in touch with a switchboard operator who transferred my call to someone else. Voicemail. I called again and the operator transferred me to another person. Voicemail. Third time was voicemail too. So I called a fourth time to thank the operator for trying. Then I went around the sign to see if I could get through.
Maybe a quarter mile down the trail there was some flooding, but it didn’t look too bad and I biked through it – didn’t even get my feet wet. Maybe four inches deep.
I thought I was home free, until I got to the next section of flooded trail. It looked very deep and I didn’t feel like risking it.
So, I turned around and went back. I was able to find an alternate route on some city streets. And these streets had excellent bike lanes that took me all the way to the bridge over the Mississippi River.
The bridge had a narrow sidewalk that was protected from the traffic, so I felt safe on it. I had to stop once on the bridge to let a couple of pedestrians pass me going the opposite direction.
Crossing the Mississippi was definitely a landmark, and I was excited about accomplishing biking this much of America.it also put me into the state of Minnesota (and there was a sign!!).
The downside of crossing the Mississippi is that it has large bluffs on both sides, and I had to climb up them to continue my journey. After fueling up at a gas station, I began the slow climb. It was about 600 feet of climbing over two or three miles. I was in my lowest gears, which meant I was going four to five miles per hour. Time and pressure. I just kept pedaling and eventually made it to the top. The view was amazing.
From the picture, you can see what beautiful weather it was. The temperature was in the 70’s and the wind was light (but in my face). I biked through the valleys for about 20 miles on the country roads, and it was the best scenery I’ve seen the entire trip.
I made it to the town of Houston, MN just after Noon and stopped at the local bar and grill for lunch. Houston is also the start of the Root River Trail, which I will be on the rest of the day. At lunch, I decided that I would book a hotel in the town of Preston for the night. That gave me 42 more miles to bike in the afternoon.
The Root River Trail is a paved trail with lots of trees. So it was shaded and I was protected from the wind. There are lots of towns on the trail, and I stopped a few times to take breaks, eat a snack, and refill my water bottles. Again, the scenery was amazing.
I made it into Preston at 5:15. For the day, I biked 80 miles and climbed 2,000 feet.
Tomorrow looks like a good day for biking. Cooler, cloudy, and a slight tailwind. There is a chance of rain, but I’ll see how that works out when I get there.
Welcome to MN Jim, the pictures are wonderful. Love Dad.
Beautiful pictures Jim. You are living your best life!
Sorry you ran into all that water but glad the crossing of the Mississippi was easy. Nice pictures. Great seeing the deer.
Sorry you ran into water on the trail but glad crossing the Missippi was easy. Great seeing the deer.
The deer usually don’t Poe for a picture, but these three did. They seemed very curious about me.
Hi Jim!
Even thought I don’t comment much, know that I am following your trip and read every blog that you do. I really enjoy the pictures you are taking – it gives me a much better feel for where you are and what you’ve ridden through.
Keep the rubber side down!
So happy that you met up with Mindy for some breakfast! Looks like you had some nice weather going into Minnesota and I LOVE seeing the bike lanes being used in La Crosse.
Great seeing you Jim! I got a huge laugh out of the Marsh experience. The views truly are amazing around here.