Radar showed a pretty big storm coming my way so I ate a slow breakfast and then packed slowly and then had another cup of coffee… Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer- I was antsy and the radar only showed green and light yellow- how bad could it be? After about a half hour of pleasant riding on slightly hilly county roads with little traffic, a light rain started falling. Not so bad. An hour into the ride I was soaked and it was raining steady- not super hard and not much wind- just a steady soaking rain. It wan’t that cold (in the 60’s) so I had my raincoat on but not my rainpants or shoe covers. The biggest problem was I couldn’t use my phone- for directions (I was off route) or for photos. When the phone is wet and my hands are wet, I can’t swipe the screen to get the phone unlocked or open. So I wasn’t exactly sure which little roads to take and I missed pretty landscape photos and a stunning photo opportunity of a silo with “Eat Good Cheese” on it in Wisconsin. I rode through rural neighborhoods and parks and really wasn’t sure which way to go at one particular intersection of county roads- the intersection of FF and V to be exact- when I saw a building down one road a short ways. It turned out to be a plant nursery with a cafe! I dried my phone and me off so I could use my phone, had lots of hot coffee and two pieces of pie while waiting out the storm for about an hour. What good fortune! When the rain diminished to a light drizzle, I took off again. As I got closer to the Mississsippi River the hills became larger and the landscape was very nice with large bluffs- the first rocks I had seen since western North Dakota- marking the edge of the valley. I rode into Red Wing about 2:30 and I’m now drying my shoes, gloves, etc. with the hair dryer. Thank goodness I had a very short ride today. Daily mileage: 37, trip miles: 2,138.
The county roads I rode today had little traffic and were just hilly enough to be interesting:
My route took me through pretty rural neighborhoods and parks:
This is Roger at the Oasis Eatery. I told him he could sleep comfortably tonight knowing that he saved someones life today:
Bluffs marking the edge of the Mississippi River valley:
The Mississippi River is quite braided around Red Wing. There is a Wisconsin channel and a Minnesota channel with a good sized island between them. The WI-MN state line is the middle of the island. The WI channel and then the MN channel:
Dave Bikes America 