Biking with Bill

FRONT PAGE NEWS?


The razzing began before 6:00am this morning as the Worthington, MN “Daily Globe” newspaper was passed around at breakfast. There-ON THE FRONT PAGE- was a picture of me and my TREK and the headline: “Cyclist stops in town on way to New Hampshire”. The story told the details of our cross country tour, and my efforts to raise funds, awareness, and increase membership in the Rails to Trails Conservancy.

Unfortunately, the kidding continued after one of our gang overheard a group of senior citizen ladies at the McDonalds in Windom, MN ask: “Which one is Bill?”, when some ABB cyclists entered the restaurant. Our first SAG stop happened to be in that McDonalds parking lot–30 miles from Worthington. Apparently the “Daily Globe” is read far and wide, and it is also evident that there is a real lack of serious news in Southwest Minnesota on this day.

Today’s challenge was a 102 mile ride to Mankato,MN. I think many of us worried about today more than we had to. There was concern about the wind after we learned that the gusts were actually 30 mph yesterday, and that it had blown Jim off the road on his recumbent bike. The record heat in the area was also on our minds. But, once underway this morning it was just “forget the worries and DO THE RIDE”. The milder winds were mainly cross winds and the heat was never a factor. It was a beautiful blue sky day in rural Minnesota. We saw enough corn and soybeans in fields today to feed China.

We started and finished our ride on Rt 60 East, a busy divided highway. In between, we enjoyed the peace and scenery in the farm belt on quiet county roads. The town of St James seemed like a comfortable and attractive place to live. At Madelia (“Pride of the Prairie”) we ran into road construction, but detoured ourselves out of town. Dan, Keith and I helped Nancy repair her flat tire along the route–after all she is a Team RTC member, and probably needed a little help.

Dan and I biked into the town of Lake Crystal hoping to find some lunch. We did. We also found Dave (CA) and Jim (Hawaii and CO), our biking friends who were classmates at Annapolis and are doing this trip together. Good guys.

Another 100 mile day is tap for tomorrow, but I am not going to WORRY about it. I have no control over the weather.

Bill