Click the map for route detailsThe ride
Today, with over 150 miles, was a little more than I had bargained for, to be honest. That's over 9.5 hours of riding time and about 14 hours of chamois time. Nice. But now I am in Little Falls and should be able to make it all the way home tomorrow, which will give me a full rest day Wednesday.
I left the ACA route in Aitkin today and went down the Great River Road instead. Speaking of Aitkin, it is a nice little town, and when I went into the local coffee shop, I met a nice couple from there, who were nice enough to buy me my frozen coffee drink, just for talking to them. Following the Great River Road was a mediocre idea, though, because highway 210 was not much fun to ride on, and the stretch from Brainerd to Little Falls, 30 miles on 371, would have been a four-lane highway. Luckily, I met a fellow cyclist from Deerwood in Deerwood, and he hooked me up with an alternate route to Little Falls. It was very pretty, but when I was tired and still had 30 miles to go, there was no alternative but to finish because it was out in the middle of nowhere. Right in the middle of it. Here are the highlights:
Little House on the Praire, 2007
Freedhem's just another word for "nothing left to lose"
One happy chicken in every cubic footGrand Rapids
And now I'm here, camping in Charles A. Lindbergh State Park, which has more mosquitos than anywhere else in Minnesota that I've seen. Amazing. Speaking of mosquitos, check out these little buggers. I'm not sure what they are, but they completely took over Grand Rapids tonight. They were harmless and only interested in each other, so it was easy to get up close and inspect them. Here's a little video I took that may show what it was like a little better. It was dark, though, and my camera is little:
Animal Attacks
Mosquitos are one thing. It is also fairly common to be chased by dogs on a bike tour. In fact, I had my first dog chase yesterday. Unfortunately for the dogs, they were a little Wiener sausage and a Westhighland terrorist, and their legs were just way too short to keep up. Usually, dogs are not a problem anyway, though, for their bite is not very accurate when they are running fast and they typically go after the bike's tires rather than the riders legs. And I can outride most dogs. If that is not possible, it really helps to suddenly swerve and forcefully bark at them. That startles them sufficiently to give you time to escape. Sometimes they will even run off, tail between legs. That's as far as it has ever gone between me and mean dogs.
Today, however, I was chased by a different kind of animal. The red-winged blackbird. Actually, several of them. These birds are peculiar. What they do is to sit on the power lines running along most county roads and wait for unsuspecting cyclists. You are riding along, minding your own business, when at first you hear a merry chirping sound, close by, slightly up and behind. Then you look behind you, because you are generally interested in the wildlife around you, and you see a red-winged blackbird diving down at you, about a foot from your face. Luckily, it veers off, but immediately dives at you again, all the while chirping not merrily, but angrily, you now realize. There is not really much to do but to continue riding and hoping that he will veer off every time and not peck a hole in your neck. Luckily, that seems to be what they do, it's all for show. Some show.
Mississippi River Crossings
Mississippi River Crossing 14
Mississippi River Crossing 15
Mississippi River Crossing 16
Mississippi River Crossing 17
Mississippi River Crossing 18Road Kill Tally
Another quiet day today. Hardly anything on the road. The skunks are using this to build up their lead. I see a lot of turkey vultures and crows out, so I am lead to speculate that perhaps skunks are not actually killed in greater number, it is just that nobody wants to eat them because they smell so bad. Of course, this is not reflected in the statistics, but it is also pure speculation. We will see what happens.
- Skunk: 7
- Bird: 5
- Deer: 4
- Frog: 4
- Racoon: 4
- Cat: 2
- Opossum: 2
- Porcupine: 1
- Turtle: 1
- Snake: 1
- Fox: 1
- Mouse: 1
Who will take home top honors?
I would put my money on opossum as a dark horse contender.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think you might be onto something there. I have some statistics from our tour West to East, which I will publish after this is done, but the 'possums did well. That's all I'll say.
ReplyDeletePeter, the great expert on dead and dying animals of all kind.
I believe the Grand Rapids invaders were Mayflies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayfly). Forgive me, I am not savvy enough to use html to create a link to the entry. I stress their past existence since they only live for a day or two before expiring.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bob, that's exactly what they are. But what are Mayflies doing out in July?
ReplyDeleteI can only speculate on behalf of the bugs but I think the mild winter and early summer have combined to bring us mayflies in July. The mayflies may be one insect to keep tabs on as you travel south, as their presence indicates high water quality, but you have probably passed the point where insects still live in the river already seeing as how you are halfway through the corn belt...
ReplyDelete