Gifts - Wind, support and speed!

Sunday morning, In Minnesota, Day #1:

Our colorful USA flag at Castle Rock reminds me of the camera. Snap, but quickly slip the little camera into the rear pocket of my biking jersey. I have a lot of miles to pedal today, and I've never bicycled a 100 mile day before. Winona by nightfall? That's 110 miles ahead. My map in the front bag pocket says 17 miles to Cannon Falls...

The weather is beautiful; 45 degrees, partly cloudy and a steady NW breeze at my back. I feel great! After singing in our choir at 8:00AM, I have music lyrics floating through my head.

With today's steady breeze, and the support I get from Jean, I notice I'm not cruising through life alone, but have such steady support.




It's Mother's Day. There are many families bicycling on the Cannon Valley Bike trail. I'm reminded of previous bicycle trips on this Cannon trail with Jean, John & Laura. Today's little bicyclists are weaving on the trail, so I swing wide to avoid mishaps. The trail's volunteer cashier is amazed that I'm beginning on a 300-mile trip!

Found the "Belle Creek" bridge, which flows through the Goodhue County dairy farm areas where my wife Jean grew up.


At Red Wing, the trail passes through a wildlife marsh. From my quiet road bicycle, I can hear a bunch of Red Wing blackbirds. I notice this bird has at least 5-6 unique sounds by varying it's pitch and tempo! In town, I bike down down main street Red Wing. This will not be a tourist day for me, as I'm concentrating on the traffic flow, and looking for lunch! Found Kwik Trip had a huge bowl of soup to eat with my sandwiches.

South of Red Wing, I followed the Mississippi River on the highway #61's wide shoulder. We have the tall Minnesota and Wisconsin bluffs on either side.

On a parallel track, a freight train is blowing his loud whistle. He's also heading Southbound. I'm going to race this Canadian Pacific train! I up-shift, and bring my speed up to 23 MPH. The 2 red train engines have a low chugging sound, and hundreds of metal wheels squeak and clatter faster as the train accelerates. Like an increasing tempo of a song, this is very invigorating! We cruise through Frontenac, and I race with the train for 3.5 miles.

I phoned ahead, and asked Florence & Joe Ryan if I could visit them at Lake City. They were home from a Mother's Day visit in Rochester. We exchanged stories, and I enjoyed their cool water. I refilled 3 water bottles. Southbound again at 4:30PM. My map says 44 miles to Winona. Keep cranking!

Here's Reed's Landing...

I ate steadily from my supplies of food all day, so I will NOT stop in Wabasha. The rhythm of pedaling is going okay, but it's getting tedious on a long road of 8-9 hours of pedaling. I hum the soprano's tune of our Latin song "Ave Verum", and find it's a soothing memory from 12 hours ago. My hotel will be on the far side of Winona...

Today: 110 miles.
Average speed: 14.7 MPH.