I am now in Granite Falls, MN. AT&T has no signal here, and it is just small enough of a town where there are no coffee shops with wi-fi access. They do have a public library though, which is where I am now. They limit the internet to four hours a day though, which is a bit sad. It isn’t like libraries are charged per bit sent.
I met a group of people my first day riding that were in Winsted, MN for a Christian music festival. I ended up using the lake in Winsted for my first bath of the trip. Lake water definitely has a better smell than BO. My merino shirts are holding up well though. One of the kids in the group, Adam, now wants to try and ride to Texas. I told him it would be better for him if he could find someone to ride with, as it gets a bit lonely on the road. You aren’t going to see anyone again that you meet on the road.
My next decent stop was Hutchinson. I am glad I came around that town when I did because they had a 24 hour wal-mart. Basically the only thing open after I waited out the weather in a coffee shop (that closed at 8pm). I met a couple people at the coffee shop, one who seemed really interested and asked how he could follow the progress of the trip. I like having a short domain for my blog. I picked up a thermal and a new case for my iphone that was on clearance. The case also gives my iphone a bit extra juice which has come in handy a couple of times. The towns between Hutchinson and Granite falls were sparse for a while, so I had to rely on GPS often to try to find a place that I could pick up some water.
Overall the past two days have been an interesting experience. I discovered I should not rely on google biking directions, as they might put me on a snowmobile path that hasn’t been cleared out likely since before last winter. More on that in the pictures (only some are being posted now). I think people out here are responding well to me riding on the highways, and I think it has something to do with my bike loaded up to the brim (making it easy to tell I am going somewhere far). I probably look like a homeless person though, as I haven’t shaved in 2 days and am pretty sunburned. Riding in the day is not a good thing.
PHOTOS!…
So this one is from the “giant cob” in Olivia, MN. The town really wasn’t for me, but the people were nice.
Bike loaded up to the brim
The next one is of a storm that was fast approaching and I luckily got to the next city for shelter just in time.
Crazy clouds that were headed my way.
I just thought this one looked neat.
Farmland
I will upload more photos when I get to Marshall, MN I think. I still need to figure out my route a little better so I can plan it around working in the day.