It would be tough to top the ending to yesterday, as it was perfect, but then so again was today. Slept in, then enjoyed coffee as we watched a bald eagle soar over the lake.  We had a wonderfully relaxing morning, doing not much of anything other than enjoying the view from my cousin’s lake cabin.  A day trip into St Paul and probably the most magnificent Cathedral we have seen in America.We struggled to lay low and actually get some much needed rest, but did stroll down the beautiful residential streets of St Paul for about an hour.We shared more stories about the family then prepared for the evening’s get together with the other cousins.  Meet cousins Tony, Stacy and Marya…..Love you guys and sincerely hope we can get together again SOON! That evening we caught up with lives and the next generation, Kata and 7 month old, Noraover a wonderful spread of salad, roasted vegetables and salmon…it was made to order for me!!  Oh, and fresh raspberry shortcake; obviously we need to start biking to work this off.

It was tough to leave the beautiful lake house this morning, but our legs were eager to move.  We wound our way out of the sleepy neighborhood and back on the roads.About ten miles down the road we crossed St. Croix Natural Riverway into Wisconsin,over a miniature waterfall and into the cute town of Osceola.

The rolling hills had become a bit more aggressive and the wind was starting to build out of the north.  The direction would not be so bad if we were heading directly east, but our course Zigged north and Zagged east all day.  After 18 miles, we decided we needed more energy, so stopped for a hearty breakfast.  If we’d known the hills were going to be this tough, Tony and Joyce may have been stuck with us another day.

We passed a lot of picturesque barns, pastures,a vineyards and even a ski resort; yes, it is that hilly.  By noon, we were still full from breakfast, but stopped at Pap’s for some more water.It was a Gorgeous day and a very scenic ride, the white clouds against the blue sky were mesmerizing, but the wind and hills we beating up our rested legs.  We know Minnesota is known for it’s lakesbut from what we have seen, Wisconsin has a lot too.

We rode a variety of roads, all of them up and down and all roughly paved at best, by the time we’d checked in after 64 miles, we were shot.

Another gorgeous but windy day and another zigzag in and out of the wind.  Many lakes, ponds and picturesque farms; noticeably more farms than in Minnesota.  Again the day was spectacular,  if it were not for the continuous hills and very feisty wind.  While the hills are considerabley more taxing, the scenery was infinitely more interesting.Speaking of interesting…!On very few occasions our route is under construction; do we try to make it through, or take the (inevitably more mileage) detour route?!  We conferred with the locals and they “assured” us we could go through the construction, after all, it was Saturday….obviously, we made it.

The fields were filled with flowers, the farms loaded with horses and cows.

We are still looking for the local cheese, as this the the “country’s dairyland” and home of the “cheeseheads”. A few occasions today, we wound through thick forests, hearing the wind whipping through the treetops; we were happy to have the break, but not looking forward to facing it directly.  For miles we rode through winding roads along the Chetac Lake past weekend and resort homes.  The hills we climbed were short, but constant and super tough grades.  We felt like we had just done the Glacier climb and still had 20 miles to go.  It didn’t help that we could see the ridges in the distance.

We stopped at noon after 40 miles, more for a break from the hills and wind, than to eat, which was a good thing as the bar/grill where we stopped was selling a lot more beers and bloody mary’s, than food.  After lunch the clouds had darkened and wind increased and we prayed we would not get rained on.  We don’t remember much after lunch other than the wind and hills, but then, we don’t remember much of the day except the wind and hills.  Thank goodness for photographs to remind us what we saw.

We rode all the way through Hayward, passing the Fresh Water Hall of Fame as well as what looked like a darling town.  But our “in town” hotel was almost within the city limits.  Sixty three tough miles and six and a half hours on the bike seat; we would not be touring the town.

Fergus Falls, Minnesota to Hayward, Wisconsin

366 miles

One Day Off

Had to dig deep in our bags for cold weather gear this morning.  It was 39° when we woke, so we waited for it to warm up to 43° before we started riding at 7:30.  Our one mile climb in directly sunlight warmed us to the point of shedding our jackets.  A delightfully windless morning, perfect day to ride.  Our first hour or two we passed numerous farms

and pretty ponds then we were surrounded by trees, it was so quite you could hear the crickets.Last night, we discussed the option of not following the course entirely, but we were enjoying our surroundings so much, we missed our course turn, so ended up on the short cut anyway.

We saw several deer, still struggling to take a picture of them, before they see us.We were promised elk by several warning signs, but they never materialized.  At one point a black bear cub wandered up to the road, but my frantic dive for the camera scared it away before we could get a shot off.  Our rolling hills were a much more manageable grade and frequency, allowing us to enjoy the silver birch and ponds.We reached our destination by 1:00, so had lunch before checking in.  We were feeling pretty good from our 50 mile ride and started looking at going a bit further.  A plan in place, we took a quick ride around Glidden to see the record Black Bear (665 pounds, 7’10” overall)and the wall of heros! These are likinesses of the people from Glidden who have served, dating back to WWI.  We were back on the road by 2:00, passing our first farmhouse of the day.Though the sky had looked threatening all day, the clouds were finally breaking up;our ride into town was equally as beautiful.All across the north, homes have displayed the American flag, but this house is truly heartwarming.Now we will rest, 68 miles done.

Forecast today is for thunderstorms beginning at 6:00 a.m. with rain continuing until noon.  So we were blessed when we departed at 7:15 to wet roads, but no rain (or thunderstorms).  Even with the cool 50° temps, low ceiling and threat of rain, it was a beautiful morning.Once again we rode a tree lined road with ponds, lakes and rivers on either side;still mesmerized by the birch and beautiful fern floor of the forest.With no farmhouses or sun to light the day, we noticed the pretty flowers along the road, the simple barns and a very interesting pine. It started to rain about 9:00, just as Musky Jack’s appeared.  We dashed inside for coffee to take the chill off, but skipped the coffee and went straight for the Cream of Asparagus and Potato Soup. As we dove into the bathtub size bowl of soup, the sky opened up and it poured.  Forty-five minutes later, the rain eased enough for us to venture out again.

Another 25 miles and we stopped for lunch, not because we were hungry, but we needed to warm up. However the AC was so cold, that warming up didn’t happen.  We debated staying in Woodruf, but we still wanted to bike………this is where you call us crazy.  After an hour we ventured out again, between the raindrops. Oddly enough, it was a wonderful ride.  Thankfully the road was mostly flat and we had no wind in our face, so despite the rain, it was a wonderful ride.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures of funny signs, pretty resorts, picturesque lakes and other good stuff.

Our hotel showed up just in time as our legs were beginning to tire.  Perfect time to stop…..69 miles!  Jerry finally gets to try the local beer, accompanied by Pork Chops with a Jack Daniel’s glaze…now that is a great ending to the day!

Heavier than fog, yet lighter than mist, but definitely 10 warmer than yesterday…..another beautiful day to ride.Of course, sleeping in and not leaving until 8:30 had nothing to do with the disposition!!   We rode past the nostalgic part of Eagle River on our way out of town this morning. We mentioned interesting signage from yesterday’s wet ride; today we can show you the types of things we saw. interpretation for this one….?!? and when was the last time you saw S & H GreenStamps?

We rode through the township of Three Lakes, though we certainly counted more than three, but all beautiful.We passed everything from cabin rentals, private homes  to nice lodges and condos.The winding and hilly roads that surround all the lakes had protected us from the winds we had heard running through the tree tops,but once out in the open fields, we felt the full effect. Not happy about wind in the face and more hills than we had had in days, but it was a shorter ride today, so no room for complaining.

We arrived in town shortly after noon, again seeing a great display of the American flag,too early for check-in, we stopped for lunch.  We had planned on trying to get a massage with our extra time this afternoon, but the hot tub at our hotel had jets so strong they would propel you across the tub, so no massage necessary.

We had to pedal a mile into town for dinner, but it was worth it. Still haven’t found any Wisconsin made cheese, but “settled” for locally made ice cream….to die for!  As we pedaled back to the hotel, the sky was getting ugly, no worries tonight, we were undercover!