Currently on day three of our trip, we're in Winona, MN and have a few hours to kill before continuing on, so I guess I actually have to write something.
We spent Tuesday morning waiting around Northfield until some freight showed up at the bike shop; I then promptly forgot to pack the stuff we needed (26" folding tire and a chain). The extra couple hours provided me with time to say goodbye to some friends and get hooked up with free sandwiches from our favorite Hoagie town employee. She even drew an eerily accurate picture of Jason on his bike, so that he wouldn't forget to eat it on the trip:
We rolled out of town around 1:30 in the afternoon and headed to Cannon Falls along 19. I always make a point to avoid 19 when riding in the Northfield area, but it really isn't that bad in the middle of the day.
Once in Cannon Falls we hopped on the Cannon Valley Trail for the twenty miles to Red Wing. I've heard Northfield cyclists rave about this trail for a couple years, and was curious to see if it lived up to the hype. Overall I found it to be flat and pretty boring, but about mid-way through we did get passed by a guy in a full kit riding a flat bar road bike, so that almost made up for it.
After the trail we made a brief stop in Red Wing for some dinner items, but the rapidly vanishing day light kept us from exploring the town. We pedaled another ten odd miles to Frontenac
State Park, and spent much of the ride chatting with a middle aged Redwingite who was riding a vintage Trek, decked out in New Balance running shoes, baggie shorts, and what appeared to be woodshop safety glasses. Once reaching the park we were rewarded with this:
Yesterday morning we were on the road by around 10:30. Even though we got an earlier start and rode less miles, the rolling hills of 61 made it feel like a lot more work. We got to John A Latsch State Park around 4:30 in the afternoon and called it good. We're taking today as a chance to rest up and explore an actual city, and will probably cross over into Wisconsin sometime tomorrow.
