A few people have been in touch asking where we are, where we’ve been & how the whole adventure fits together.
We started in Seattle, Washington on 30th April & the map at the bottom covers our journey up to & including our ferry trip across Lake Michigan on 29th July. We’ve already moved again since then!!
We’ve made a few changes to our original plan along the way – we originally planned to cross the Cascade Mountains via Washington Pass on US20. Concrete to Washington Pass is 80 miles on US20. However, because Washington Pass was still closed due to snow, we detoured via Stevens Pass on US2 – Concrete to Washington Pass was 325 miles!
We’d planned to visit Canada, but a combination of Covid Rules at the time & being unable to get the necessary paperwork meant it didn’t happen. We went on a Tour of Montana instead & visited Glacier National Park, Lincoln & Helena.
We arrived in West Yellowstone at least 2 weeks earlier than originally planned. This coincided with Yellowstone National Park being closed due to flooding. I took a rare photo of West Yellowstone Entrance with no-one in shot! Our revised plan took us back into Idaho, where we visited the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway & then into Wyoming where we experienced the jewel in the crown that is Grand Teton National Park.
Our detour via Grand Teton National Park resulted in us arriving at Yellowstone National Park on the day it re-opened. There was a 4 mile queue of cars waiting to get in as we cycled past everyone on the hard should, until I got our first p*nct*re of the adventure! We crossed the continental divide in Yellowstone & visited the amazing thermals at West Thumb on our longest ride of the trip – just over 104 miles from Grant Village into Cody.
The remainder of the route from Cody to Minneapolis was as planned. However, a number of people we met as we headed East said we should ride in Wisconsin if at all possible. We’ve taken their advice & detoured across Wisconsin (instead of heading though Iowa & Illinois), but as I haven’t yet blogged about it, I’ll not give too much away!
We took the ferry across Lake Michigan & have spent the last 3 days following the shoreline South towards Indiana. Blogs on the ferry crossing & our journey South are also pending. I have a rest day on Wednesday, so hopefully I’ll catch up a bit then!
To date we’ve ridden on 69 days out of a possible 90 days & in that time we’ve travelled 4,116 miles & climbed 157,403 feet. The table below shows a bit more information about where we’ve been & for how long.
The numbers in the table are based on the actual routes we rode each day & include all the small detours we took for photo opportunities &/or coffee stops, slight mistakes in routing & general faffing about! The climbing figures in the table are based on what my Wahoo recorded on each ride (it slightly understates those numbers).
State
Time Spent (In Days)
Days Ridden
Miles Ridden
Feet Climbed
Washington
19
16
912
44,318
Idaho
5
4
157
6,775
Montana
28
20
1,238
46,512
Wyoming
11
9
581
25,397
South Dakota
15
11
653
23,654
Minnesota
6
4
240
5,328
Wisconsin
7
5
335
5,419
Totals
91
69
4,116
157,403
If there’s anything else you’d like me to include, just drop me a message – I’ve already been asked to do something about my favourite beers & cakes!!
Friday 22nd July to Monday 25th July – Stages 64 to 66.
Friday 22nd July – Minneapolis to Red Wing (Stage 64).
We had a final Big Breakfast at our hotel & were on our way by 9.30am, leaving Minneapolis via Minnesota’s State Capital city of St Paul. The first 45 minutes saw us navigating urban sprawl with the occasional interesting sight, like the Capitol Building & the view looking up the Mississippi river from Robert Street Bridge. We could just make out a tug pushing a raft of barges upstream, as a freight train headed down river.
Within 10 minutes of crossing the bridge, we picked up the Mississippi River Trail at Kaposia Park & found ourselves on the banks of the Mississippi itself. For the next 5 miles we rode along the defensive levee that protects the communities along the Mississippi from serious flooding. The ant sculpture was made from trash collected from the Mississippi river itself.
We crossed the Mississippi for the 2nd time at Newport on a cycle path by the side of the busy Highway 494. As we left the town behind us, we picked up a cycle path at Cottage Grove that took us through peaceful meadows that teemed with butterflies & dragonflies. Somehow we also found ourselves cycling around a busy sports day as the path took us past a local school.
We were aiming for the small town of Prescott, which marks the State Line between Minnesota & Wisconsin & the start of the Great River Road Scenic Byway. Passing the railroad swing bridge, we spotted the Twisted Oak Coffee Shop where we stopped briefly for a strawberry fritter & americano. We also topped up our water bottles.
The Scenic Byway climbed up to the bluffs above the river, where we stopped at the Great River Road Visitor Centre to learn more about how cargo is transported up & down the Mississippi. Dry Cargo Barges are 195 feet in length & 35 feet in width, enabling them to carry a cargo of 1,500 tons. The even larger Liquid Cargo Barges are 295 feet long by 50 feet wide & they can carry 2,500 tons. The vast majority of the wheat & grain harvest is transported by Dry Cargo Barge at some point on its journey from the Bread Basket of America.
A single tug can push a raft of up to 42 barges – they’re configured in a 7 wide by 6 long rectangle. The journey of 1,800 miles from Minneapolis to New Orleans takes the barges anything from 14 to 50 days, depending on the load & whether stops are required to pick up or drop off any of the barges.
The railroad is still active too, with about 70 freight trains a day travelling in each direction – the trains are upwards of a mile long! Vast volumes of freight are transported each day up & down the Mississippi, whether by rail or river.
The sculpture was again made from items removed from the Mississippi, there seems to be a small sub-culture of artists who use reclaimed metal in their works.
Returning to the Scenic Byway, we were passed at regular intervals by groups of Harley Davidson motorbikes – we had plenty of warning, as we could hear the throaty gurgle of their engines long before they reached us! We were back on rolling terrain, as the road climbed up to the bluffs above the river before plummeting back down to the valley floor – for this stage of the route, the river remained hidden from us.
As we reached the small community of Trenton, we turned right & headed for our overnight stop of Red Wing, on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi – our third crossing of the Mighty Miss in a day!
We found a great little bar in town where we had pizza & a beer to toast our first day of riding along the Mississippi. Tomorrow we’re hoping for more of the same, although rain is expected later in the day.
Stage Stats – 58 miles, 2,385 feet of climbing. Our first experience of the Mighty Mississippi on the Great River Road Scenic Byway.
Saturday 23rd July – Red Wing to Winona (Stage 65).
We were up early today & on our way by 8.15am, as electrical storms are now being forecast for early to mid-afternoon. We retraced our way back over the Mississippi into Wisconsin & on to the Big River Road, passing an artillery cannon at the gates to Red Wing Memorial Park.
Almost immediately we spotted a heron walking in someone’s front garden – we’d only seen heron either flying or wading in the water, so this was new behaviour to us. The early part of the ride was on a rolling road as it took us through woodland & occasionally offered a sneak peak of the Mississippi.
Lake Pepin is a natural lake on the Mississippi formed by the back-up of water behind the sedimentary deposits from the Chippewa river’s delta on the Wisconsin side. It’s about 21 miles long & 2 miles across at its widest point. There were a couple of overlooks where we pulled in & took 5 minutes to admire the vast vistas across the lake to Minnesota – the lake is a popular recreation site & we saw plenty of small boats out fishing with a few speedboats too.
Heading into the small town of Stockholm, we spotted Stockholm Pie & General Store – we had to stop, just to see what pies they offered. The answer was every type of fruit pie under the sun!!! I chose a slice of warm cherry pie topped with vanilla ice cream & it was a serious contender for best pie of the adventure so far!
As we set off again, we were on the final section of small rolling hills as the road continued through woodland. Heading through Pepin we stopped at a Historic Marker where we learned that Laura Ingalls Wilder (author of the Little House series of books – the tv show Little House On The Prairie was based on her books) was born near here.
I took advantage of the town’s oversized deckchair to rest my weary bones! The old railroad station has been renovated & restored to something like its original condition. Much of small town America takes care of its historical monuments & as a visitor its a really interesting way to learn about a town’s past.
Leaving Pepin, the scenery had changed & we were back among the wheat & maize fields again, but soon enough we crossed the Chippewa river, with the railroad visible in the distance. We also passed a number of slow moving tributaries that were covered in pondweed, resulting in the water having a green film over the surface.
We also saw that the sky was changing colour – it seemed to have an orange tinge to it, a sure sign that a storm was moving in! This was confirmed by a driver who spoke to us as we were riding into Alma – a big storm was due within the next 1/2 !
We decided we couldn’t beat the rain, so might as well enjoy a 2nd coffee & cake stop at Hotel de Ville – a tasty piece of peach pie & turtle ice cream (no animals were injured in the making of the ice cream!). We were also treated to a tour of the back garden, which the owner said was based on a Baroque European theme.
As we left Alma, we were right next to the Mississippi & ahead of us the forked lightning started giving us fair warning the storm was closing in. We’ve generally ridden well within ourselves on the adventure to date, but this was a moment when we needed to make some distance quickly. There was a bit over 20 miles to go until we reached our motel in Winona, so we took turns to ride hard on the front – my greater weight is an advantage on the flat, so I took slightly longer turns & we managed to maintain about 18 mph for the next hour.
You can see from the last photo how dark it was, as Sean’s rear light & the car’s headlights really stand out.
The video footage give an idea of what was happening & how I was feeling about things.
The rain arrived for the final 15 miles or so of the ride – to begin with it was gentle drizzle, but it soon became a full on monsoon! In no time we were soaked from head to toe, but unlike the UK, the rain was actually warm, so wasn’t too bad to ride in.
Just over an hour after leaving Alma, we were crossing the Mississippi back into Minnesota & making our way to the Super 8 in Winona. Once I’d checked in I took a couple of short video clips of the weather & the state of my kit – damp would be typically British understatement!
Stage Stats – 74 miles, 1,958 feet of climbing. Our final night in Minnesota.
Sunday 24th July – Winona to Tomah (Stage 66).
After yesterday’s deluge, the weather was back to normal this morning – hot & sunny with a light breeze. Heading out of Winona, we finally saw our first (& only) paddle boat steamer before crossing the Mississippi for the last time as we returned to Wisconsin.
We’d be following the railroad for most of the day, starting as we crossed the Wisconsin spur of the Mississippi before heading for the wetlands that run alongside the Great River Road.
After 5 miles we took a right turn at Marshland & left the paved roads behind. We entered the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge on the Great River State Trail – we would be riding a combination of farm track, gravel, crushed limestone & mud for 21 miles as we rode between the many ponds & lakes. We were in prime osprey territory & I managed to capture a shot of one as it was perched on a branch.
Every now & again we would see a paved road, but for the majority of the next 10 miles we were alone. On one stretch of gravel, a tree had fallen in last night’s storm & it was strewn across the entire path. I forgot to take a photo, but we ended up having to remove the panniers from our bikes & the pair of us had to lift our bikes over the fallen tree!
Although we didn’t see any more wildlife in the morning, the views of the wetlands were beautiful & we also had some protection as the trees kept the sun at bay.
Sometimes the lakes would appear to be in the middle of a field & other times the lakes stretched away into the woodland.
There was even a river where there appeared to be a beach on one of the banks, while looking in the opposite direction we could see the railroad crossing the river on a trestle bridge.
We briefly re-joined the road at Onalaska – it considers itself the sunfish fishing capital & “Sunny” (a 20 foot long by 12 foot high plastic fish) is their way of reminding everyone of the fact! The fish was impressive in its own way, but I preferred The Crossroads pop-up ice cream shop, where we stopped for a brief break!
On the outskirts of Onalaska we picked up the LaCrosse River State Trail for a further 23 miles. It follows the route of the abandoned Chicago & Northwestern Railroad between LaCrosse & Sparta.
The surface was crushed limestone except where the route crossed restored bridges. We passed maize fields one minute, then headed back into prairie & grassland.
There was a siege of 9 heron in a field of soya beans – it looked like they had found a source of food on the ground, although from such a long way away, it wasn’t clear what they were doing!
The last few miles of the State Trail ran alongside the current railroad & delivered us to a renovated Sparta Station – my one disappointment is the station sells tee-shirts & keyrings, but not coffee or cake & I’m sure they’re missing a trick as many people join & exit the trail here.
Sparta is only a small town, however it had 4 unusual displays – a 19th century man on a penny farthing, a covered bridge, a helicopter & a tank (the last 2 were displayed by the American Legion).
Our route then took us to the entrance of Fort McCoy an active military base. We found ourselves on a public gravel road that took us past one of a few areas where training exercises take place.
At one point we ended up on a sandy trail that was only just rideable & we worried that we may be on private property. However, just 2 minutes later we found ourselves back on a paved road about 5 miles from Tomah, our home for the next 2 nights. We toasted our big adventure on 3 separate bike trails & our trip across an army training ground – we lived to tell the tale!!!
Friday 15th July to Sunday 17th July – Stages 59 to 61.
Friday 15th July – Huron to Oakwood Lakes State Park (Stage 59)
Today marks the beginning of a 5 day block of riding with the aim of reaching Minneapolis next Tuesday. The plan is to then enjoy 2 of days of Rest & Relaxation off the bike for the second time on the adventure (the previous occasion was Helena on 15th & 16th June – just before we set off for Yellowstone National Park).
We woke up to blue skies, with cotton wool clouds & from our rooms it looked like perfect riding conditions. When we stepped outside at 9am we realised it was over 80 degrees fahrenheit already (at 9am) & for large parts of the day we’d be riding into the Easterly headwind, plus it was humid. I hadn’t slept well overnight, but you simply have to get your head in the right place & enjoy the day – I could be at home working, instead of having the adventure of a lifetime!
Leaving town, we took the same route as the railroad, crossing the James river along the way. The route missed the World’s Largest Pheasant, so I was glad I got my photo opportunity in yesterday!!! The first 20 miles on Highway 14 were Easterly into the wind on a long, straight road, taking us past the big Grain Elevator Building at Cavour.
Reaching Iroquois (population 266), we took the chance to stop at a gas station to top up our water bottles, enjoy a cold sprite & wolf down a Hostess Cherry Pie (not worth a photo, it’s a mass produced, processed pie). Iroquois has even come up with its own motto – Small Town, Big Dreams.
After our brief stop, we took Highway 39 North for 8 miles, giving us some respite from the Easterly headwind. Occasionally there were stands of trees to break up the fields of wheat & maize – there were quite a few farmers out on the road, move their equipment around. The majority continues to be John Deere, always easily recognisable by the green & yellow paintjob. We also crossed the railroad, although I’m still unclear which is the right & wrong side of the tracks when we’re this far from civilisation!
At the 28 mile point we turned right for what I knew would be a 32 mile stretch of road that would be straight into the headwind – I chose not to tell Sean how long the road was, as I didn’t think it would help to know that the next 2 1/2 to 3 hours were likely to be seriously draining.
We both remarked on the huge grain silos in the far distance – they were enormous! I’m stood on the bottom of the ladder in the second photo, you may just be able to make out my pink jersey.
The road was perfectly straight & we could see every undulation in the road laid out in front of us. In that time, we saw one house of note & I managed to find a few roadside flowers to get a photo. Other than that the view was constant for the hour it took us to cover the 11 miles.
As we reached Spirit Lake, the road took a couple of small twists & turns – as if that wasn’t enough excitement, we also spotted 3 mule deer in the field outside a house & then saw 2 pelicans on the lake. Suddenly our wildlife cup was overflowing!
It was a brief interlude & normal service was restored as we continued eastwards into the wind. We were getting very low on water, to the point that we were getting more than a bit concerned, as we hadn’t seen a town of any sort since Iroquois, almost 40 miles previously. I knew there was a bar in Badger, but I didn’t know if it would be open at 2.30pm on a Friday afternooon – there was only one way to find out……
James gave us a friendly welcome when we pushed through the door of Paul’s Place. He topped up the 3 water bottles we were both carrying – there was a couple of sips of warm water left in my final bottle! In addition, we had a refreshing coke & Paul brought over some freshly made, warm popcorn. It may sound like a small thing sat at home, but these are the sort of things that can restore your morale in a heartbeat when you’ve been battling a headwind for the last 32 miles. James also asked where we were headed, when we said Oakwood Lakes, he said to look out for Charly at the local bar.
We thanked James for his generous hospitality & set off for the final push to Oakwood Lakes, 18 miles away. Our spirits were lifted by James’ kindness, the sugar in the coke & the right turn that meant we would be heading South for 4 miles! As we reached the left turn to head East again, we were also hit by the realisation the next 4 miles were going to roads be on gravel – a reminder of how fragile our morale really was!!! A gravel road into a headwind after 64 miles was draining physically & mentally, but we made it & re-joined the paved highway for the final 10 miles to Oakwood Lakes State Park. As we made our way to the Visitor Centre, we passed a lake where 5 egrets were perched, hunting for their dinner.
We set up our tents & then had a horrible realisation that we would have to cycle 3 miles back to The Wagon Wheel, to get some food – our only other option was to not eat & as you’ll already know, we’ve both lost a lot of weight already & can’t afford to lose much more. The first photo was taken on 26th April & the second one on 14th July.
Still in our cycling kit (we swapped shoes), we set off to The Wagon Wheel – what a great decision we made! We were clearly exhausted as we walked into the bar & sat down. “Excuse me, what IPA’s do you have?” It’s my icebreaker question, as it immediately signals I’m not from round these parts & generally gets a conversation of some sort started.
It wasn’t needed this evening as we were clearly smelly cyclists – Don, Joel, Vicki & Sharon wanted to know where we’d started (we have a stock answer which was Huron today & Seattle back on 30th April) – they all belly laughed & said that’s a long ride in the this weather! We’d made friends within 5 minutes when we said we’d stopped in Paul’s Place in Badger – Charly & James are buddies.
Let me introduce to our new friends – Charly (the owner) & Karie (our barmaid) are with Sean & me in these two photos.
From left to right – Sean, Joel, Don, me, Vicki, Sharon, Charly & Karie. A big thanks to Allen for taking the photo of us all. We’d known everyone for less than 90 minutes at this point!!
We had a great evening chatting & making friends with everyone. We also found out what a Wagon Wheel Token is used for (thanks for demonstrating Joel, Don & Sharon) – it entitles the holder to a free drink & we seemed to be permanently in possession of one each – we still have them as souvenirs! Thank you Vicki for buying our pizzas – Sean & I so much appreciated everyone’s kindness & generosity. I made sure to buy a round too, I didn’t forget my manners!
This had been the best night of our adventure so far & then it got even better – Joel & Vicki invited Don, Sharon, Sean & me on a boat ride on the lake as the sun set. We had to say yes & we had a wonderful time watching the sun go down with superb company. Here are a few of the photos I took.
My evening in The Wagon Wheel is imprinted in my memory & I won’t forget it in a hurry – we were at a very low ebb when we walked in the door, yet we’d made new friends by the time we wobbled back to our tents on our bikes less that 5 hours later! Thank you xxx
Stage Stats – 78 miles, 2,011 feet of climbing. A naughty headwind for the majority of the day. A sunset cruise & new friends made.
Saturday 16th July – Oakwood Lakes State Park to Marshall (Stage 60)
We were up bright & early, with our camping gear packed away by 9am. Today we’d be on the hunt for breakfast, as there wasn’t a shop open when we left. As we left Oakwood Lakes, we took one last look at the egrets fishing for their breakfast & one flying away to try another pond.
For the early part of today’s ride it was overcast, but the humidity was high – it made finding stops on the ride even more important. Our first hope of a stop required a small detour into Bruce after 8 miles, but everywhere was shut. Back to the long, straight road we went & passed some cows having an early morning dip.
Our next hope was the small town of White on County Road 6, but again we were out of luck for breakfast. We did find a small gas station where we could top up our water, but they didn’t even serve coffee – there were slim pickings this morning. I did manage to find a packaged blueberry muffin, but the processing stage removed the flavour!!!
As we left White, we knew our final hope for food was now 21 miles away, so we were hoping for some distractions to take our minds off food. There was an unexpected change in scenery, as we entered a 30 mile corridor of wind turbines – they were in every direction & there must have been a few thousand of them in total.
We did have one other moment to savour, as we crossed from South Dakota into our 6th State – Minnesota. The North Star State & Home of 10,000 Lakes are just 2 of its nicknames. We’re looking forward to seeing what it has to offer over the next week or so. Early indications were that maize & wheat will be regular riding companions for us.
After 42 miles of riding & surviving on a muffin, we finally found a gas station that was open & had a sandwich counter – Ivanhoe had come to the rescue & I was going to enjoy a 6 inch chicken salad sandwich for lunch! The lack of food up to this point had made the cycling hard work, so it was time to regroup & prepare ourselves for the final 28 miles.
Our luck had changed for the better, as we picked up a slight cross/tailwind & the road very gently tilted downhill. I was able to sit on the front & churn away at 16 miles an hour, which meant we made significantly better progress that we expected on the way into Marshall.
The road in took us past the town baseball pitch & also the Veterans Memorial. The earlier than expected arrival at the Travelers Lodge gave us a chance to wash & dry our kit this evening, while we tucked in to Bourbon Chicken & Mashed Potatoes.
Stage Stats –70 miles, 1,499 feet of climbing.
Sunday 17th July – Marshall to Redwood Falls (Stage 61)
We were up & on our way by 9am, as we wanted to do as much of today’s ride as possible before the temperatures got too hot – it was already 85 degrees when we started & forecast to hit the mid-90’s later. There didn’t appear to be many water stop opportunities either!
Leaving town on Highway 23, we had the road pretty much to ourselves for 14 miles as we headed North towards Cottonwood – it was fields of maize, wheat & potatoes all the way until I spotted a lake off to the left, with some impressive houses on the far shore. I also saw an understated sign advertising guns – we’re already weighed down with kit, so I didn’t stop!!!
Turning right onto Highway 9, the road stretched ahead of us as far as the eye could see – for 6 miles it didn’t deviate from due East. There was one photo opportunity where some yellow flowers gave me a chance to set up a colourful interlude!
The road twisted around Tyson Lake, where a couple of Pelicans were fishing for breakfast. Then we were back on an arrow straight road through Echo (the name reminded me of the Jack Reacher book Echo Burning) – this was one of two potential water stops, so it was disappointing when the only gas station in town was self service, with no shop. By the time we made a right turn, we’d been on Highway 9 for 16 miles & it had offered up just the one slight change of direction!
Turning right onto Highway 7, we reached the small town of Belview – again the gas station was self service, with no shop. However, the Belview Bar & Grill was open, so we popped in to see if we could get a drink. The barmaid was really friendly & chatted to us as she took our order for a soda & some iced water. We had a refill of the soda & topped off our water bottles & as Sean went to pay, the barmaid said there was no charge.
The generosity of people in American small towns continues to take us by surprise – almost without exception, whenever we stop in a proper bar or restaurant, we’ve been looked after & made to feel so welcome. We didn’t exchange names, but we did make sure that she knew how much we appreciated her kindness.
We continued through town on the 7 & took a left turn…….
…..onto gravel!! This was a surprise to us both, as my mapping software hadn’t shown any off-road riding today. We ended up riding 4 different gravel roads over about 8 miles – they were all slightly different; the first road was thick, loose gravel which was sketchy, there was some dry gravel with occasional piles of loose chippings, a fast section of hardpacked limestone (see the happy faces) & some soft dirt with gravel thrown over it – slow going!
We eventually made our way back to tarmac & within 3 miles we’d made our way into Redwood Falls & found our motel for the evening. We’d made really good time, so were at least 2 hours early, however the owner of the motel managed to find us a couple of rooms that had already been cleaned. He then sorted us out with a microwave meal, protein bar, yoghurt, juice, an apple & some water – we must have looked very hungry & to be fair, we ate everything he gave us!!
Stage Stats –47 miles, 184 feet of climbing. 8 miles of bonus gravel riding!
Gav's Cycling Adventures 