G,B and K's Excellent Adventure

Every 4th of July for almost as many years as I've been married, the missus's clan assembles in Clear Lake, Iowa to celebrate and enjoy some quality family bonding. My wife's family has ties to the area that date back to the 19th century and they own a lakeside cottage. By car, its just 2 hours south off of I35 but I have always wanted to bike it.

Coincidentally, my nephew G just turned 18 and graduated from high school so I figured it was as good a time as any to follow the advice of Harley Davidson's new marketing slogan -- "Screw it, Let's Ride". My son-in-law B had taken the week off anyway so decided to join us. Using Gmaps pedometer and some Minnesota and Iowa Bike maps, I plotted a route from St Paul down to Clear Lake of about 162 miles. The weather forecast looked very promising with winds from the north, low humidity and temps in the 70's and 80's.

We left at about 7:30 Wednesday and rode with the missus to her job in Eagan. We continued south finally getting out of the Metro and with the help of the tailwinds, made it to Northfield by 10 AM. I have been to Northfield a few times in the past and always found it a charming town. Apparently, something has screwed up either their Karma or mine because I found the citizens a generally inhospitable bunch. The girls in the coffee shop we stopped in were pretty surly and one local told my nephew to get his bike off the bench it had leaned against for about 2 seconds. Dam, I thought it was the town of Cows, Colleges and Contentment -- need to work on that last piece a bit, eh?

Continuing south, we ran into a few road closings due to bridge repair and maintenance and after a few short detours, made it to Faribault where we dined at Taco Johns. I know, not exactly gourmet but the alternatives were worse. We picked up the Sakatah Singing Hills Trail for a few miles west until we headed south on low traffic farm roads. There was virtually no traffic and without exception, all vehicles including trucks, gave us plenty of room when they passed.


We continued southeast until we reached Waseca, MN at about 2:30. Our original plan was to overnight here as it was about halfway at the 80 mile mark. It is also the last town with any lodging opportunities until the Iowa border. But with tailwinds from the north at about 15-20 mph and the route out of Waseca due south, B and I convinced my nephew that it would be wise to press on and take advantage of the great weather. After fortifying ourselves with some food and drink, we pressed on.

We passed through the small towns of New Richland, Hartland and Manchester before reaching the outskirts of Albert Lea. Here are the boys taking a break in New Richland.

As we were stopped, trucks carrying sections of wind turbine towers passed by under full police escort. One of these passed us the next day and it is a daunting experience to have a 50-75 foot section of metal pass you at 60 mph.

We reached Albert Lea and were able to find suitable accommodations -- suitable because not only was there a Green Mill in the parking lot but a Starbucks across the road. We had ridden 114 miles in under 8 hours and my average speed was just under 16 mph. To say the tail winds were favorable is an understatement.

The next morning, we headed out in cool temps and with lighter winds, but still from the north. We crossed into Iowa at Emmons and followed quiet, scenic roads all the way down to Ventura, Iowa on the western edge of the lake. Arriving at noon, we covered another 50 miles in just about 4 hours for a grand total of exactly 163 miles. The missus and I did a few more rides over the weekend and I ended up with about 205 for the weekend.

A great trip with perfect weather and quiet roads. My nephew completed his first ever century, B finished his single longest day and we all had a great time riding together. Other members of the family may sign on for next year.

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.

Cheers