The 25 mile day worked OK for my tibialis tendon so the next day I upped it to 40 miles, riding to Hutchinson MN. The first part of the ride was on a paved bike path. It even had a stripe in the middle. Nice touch.

Within 10 miles I was on regular roads, but pretty nice ones with little traffic. I passed through the towns of New Germany, Lester Prairie, and Silver Lake along the way. Hutchinson is a nice town, and is on the shores of a couple of lakes. Someone built a cool tree house in their front yard.  I think my daughter, Ellie, would love it. Maybe she and I could build something similar in our backyard sugar maple in the fall.

On my way to dinner I happened on a bike store, Outdoor Motion. I have been worried that I will break another spoke on the side of the back wheel where the cluster of gears (the cassette) prevents easy replacement. To do so requires a special tool that fits the cassette, as well as something called a chain whip with which to grab the gears. (BTW: Don’t google “chain whip” w/o the word “bicycle” or you get some kinky stuff.) I had bought the tool back in Minneapolis, because there is absolutely no substitute for it, and it’s light:

The chain whip is heavy, and in a pinch, I figured I could grip the gears in a vice at a car shop. (I’m assuming bike shops will be scarce over the next 1000 miles or so.)  But at Outdoor Motion, the service technician, Luke, cut off the heavy part of a chain whip leaving me with the business end, which can definitely be clamped in a vice if needed. He even ground down the sharp edges to make it toolkit friendly.

Thanks Luke!

For dinner, I went to Zella’s in the center of town. They have a menu of straightforward dishes prepared from fresh local ingredients. I had a delicious salad, which was a take on a Cobb, but with Romaine, which seems an improvement over iceberg.

For an entrée, I tried their bacon wrapped meatloaf on a bed of mashed potatoes over whole grain toast. They somehow made it elegant, and it seemed perfect for the upper Midwest. Across the street was a small urban park with a beautiful building.

Today (Independence Day – July 3rd) I tested my tibialis tendon on a long ride, 70 miles. Leaving Hutchinson, I soon entered Renville County and planned to ride County Road 11 nearly the entire way to Granite Falls. The wind, which has been at my back for several days was head on (though not strong). But much worse, RENVILLE COUNTY DOESN”T MAINTAIN THEIR ROADS. Route 11 was poorly paved, and there are joints every 5 to 30 feet. Hitting each one at 10 to 15 miles an hour causes a significant thump, jarring to both bike and rider. This image was in one of the rare sections where they had at least put tar in the cracks. You get the idea.

Arrived Granite Falls, which is a little down at the heels. The motel had screwed up my reservation, so had to give me a Jacuzzi room as their only available.  I’ll never use it, but CC is like a Labrador, she loves the water.