Mile 2568.1 - Heading north again

Despite entreaties to stay longer, it was finally time to escape the gravitational pull of Minneapolis. Again with the awesome bike infrastructure. I started on the Midtown Greenway, an abandoned rail bed that has been changed into a cycling highway. It is fantastic. It is physically below most of the roads, so there are only a few street crossings, there were plenty of users, and there is both a bike shop and café that are accessible from the greenway. There was even one street crossing that the cars have a stop sign, but the cyclists do not. Yeah, right of way! Minnesoters, keep electing people who care about bikes, it really shows in your state.

The greenway took me to the west river parkway, and soon enough I was crossing the Stone Arch Bridge over the Mississippi again. I linked up to the Diagonal Trail leading out of St Paul, and then found several of the suburban streets I was traveling down had a separated bike path following alongside. Just outside White Bear Lake, in a municipality my phone claimed to be called Benson, I reached mile 2500 in just over 212 hours of riding. The map doesn’t show a Benson, but located me in the vague area around Bald Eagle Lake.

Taking 61 north, I passed into Chisago County. Sweet home, Chisago. Along the highway is a paved bike trail that isn’t on any of the three maps I had with me, but I took it anyway. In a town called Wyoming, I stopped at a gas station for a fluid refill. I pulled in behind two kids on bikes and as I was telling the guy behind the counter about my journey, the kids stood behind me, somewhat awestruck expressions on their faces. Riding the 45 miles between there and Minneapolis was probably a heroic feat to them, but that was just my morning.

Further along the road, as I was approaching Pine City, I saw a sign for roadside brats and pork chops. Sure enough, I got to the intersection of 61 and 70 and there were a couple canopies set up with a few tables and a grill. I stopped for a brat, which was really quite tasty and talked with a family for a while as we were eating. After answering several of the parents’ questions about the trip, they asked their son who was probably 5 or 6 if he understood what we were talking about. Once again, I wish I had a map of the country on me to show him. Regardless, the parents were impressed.

In Pine City, I came across an A & W and stopped in for a root beer. Few beverages rival a tall frosty mug of draught root beer.

Happily full of street brat and root beer, I continued up towards Hinckley as the sun was getting lower in the sky. Several miles later, I hit the day’s major obstacle. At Minnesota Highway 23, County 61 crosses over Interstate 35. I was within 4 miles of town and needed only to cross the bridge over the interstate to finish those miles. The bridge, however, was not there. They were reconstructing the bridge and were at the point of pouring giant slabs of concrete over the grid of steel rebar. But there was just no way for a bike to get across there. I looked at the maps on my gps and phone, and estimated that the unpaved roads on this side of the interstate would take 8 miles longer to town. I really didn’t feel like 8 miles of unpaved road was in order for the evening. So, grumbling, I rode down the entrance ramp, past the sign saying bicycles were prohibited, and onto the freeway.

The interstate would have been the most direct way into town, getting there in about 3 miles, but I didn’t want to risk it. I wanted to just get across, up the exit ramp and continue on 61 into town. Getting across the northbound side was no problem at all, there wasn’t a car in sight from that direction. The problem was that the median was a low drainage ditch with brackish water several inches deep and a couple feet across. By myself, I could have easily jumped over it, but I can’t jump as far carrying a 65lb bike. I should try sometime and see if I can jump while holding her at all. I walked along the median, looking for a place to ford across. Finally, maybe a quarter mile from where I had started, I found a spot where there was no standing water, just a dark, sucking mud. I pushed Penny across and up onto the pavement on the other side. Circling back, I made it up the ramp and was back on my way into Hinckley.

I opted for a room rather than the tent, got some unsatisfying dinner from the white castle next door, and bunkered down for what turned out to be a mostly sleepless night. It was well past 4:30 when I finally got to sleep but was up again before 9. Sigh.

Day 36, Minneapolis, MN – Hinckley, MN
97.1 miles in a cool time 7:07:07. Now up to 2568.1 miles in 217:01:38 and today’s high speed was 25.1