Day 29 – 🎶 The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota 🎶

July 16, 2018

Day 29 – Sioux Falls, SD to Worthington, MN    70 miles, 1,420 feet vertical

After my little car-enabled golf trip to Iowa yesterday, we entered our fifth official state on the journey today.  You betcha!  It’s Minnesota, don’t-cha-know?  Minnesota, home of Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor and News from Lake Wobegon.  Minnesota, the state that elected former Governor Jesse “The Body” Ventura, and former (I really miss him) Senator Al Franken. 

And according to Weird Al Yankovich, you will also find The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota.  Boy, I hope we get to see THAT!!  (Worth a listen.)

We were all pretty “chill” after our rest day in Sioux Falls, and so, with a 7:30am start, a beautiful sunny day with those now-familiar white cotton puff cumulus clouds, and another easy 70-mile ride, you just couldn’t ride “too slow”.  

The main scenic attractions today were miles upon miles upon miles of corn and soybean fields as far as the eye can see.  Oh yes, and also, our other friends – the mile-long freight trains that seem to parallel our route and follow us east-to-west and west-to-east.  

Early arrival in Worthington meant an obligatory stop at the local DQ for shakes or blizzards or whatever followed by the last half-mile mosey on over to the hotel.  We have two long hard days ahead of us (111 and 99 miles, respectively), so no one is complaining about some extra time in the hot tub, or lying out in the sun, or … what was I thinking? … a nice nap before dinner.  

Please enjoy these photos from the day and don’t forget to check out the lengthening line of green dots at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com

Thanks for following.

…Jeff

AF54216E-66C7-4AF9-9B22-FC5CA8220E85
Joanne heads to the airport while I set out for today’s ride.
2B70A2AF-12AB-478F-85B4-ABD7677C14D7
We start out with eight miles of scenic bike paths.
74B0D4A3-3FBD-44FE-B6B4-BD87923967FE
Lovely bridges.
E0717140-5CBC-43CA-9973-7B8ACFE101B6
More lovely bridges.
15918F7C-0CE7-4E90-BA78-A96A9EB3CAD2
“Hey guys, get out of the way …!”
81824C94-4349-4529-B6BA-250EB61B9514
“Hey guys, get out of the way …!”
E781C7B5-131A-4D3F-B94B-98DBEFCBFC0A
I could do this all day.
497DFBEE-3499-4B65-A795-7AECE8216ED7
Exiting Falls Park…
28432942-A80B-4FC0-931E-0611E2B79152
If you look closely, you’ll see this freight just starting to switch onto the spur…
4218FE4C-EBBE-470F-95FA-B64D9246C1EA
… and there she goes …
27929158-6041-41D1-A3FD-3A319E14B923
…followed by a mile (seriously) of tanker cars.
256A3B18-56A0-48E8-BF2D-FB766388AA2E
At 24 miles, we cross the state line into Minnesota.
378AE77A-27CF-420C-B8C4-F73C7B5102C0
Brad shows us how many states we’ve ridden through. That’s right: gimme five!
DE57B8CF-2352-4797-957E-A3221434C8D4
Ok, pop quiz: how many Manley men are there in Manley?
E2672B82-5154-441E-8049-E3DB5D273822
Quaint old (and I do mean old) gas station.
73A61656-87D2-4723-B7DB-3B380CE60C21
I’m filling up the tank with premium!!!
2443D044-CFD6-4206-AA41-EC17AA20C373
Today’s “typical” vista.
E224A324-D00E-463F-BEA0-A01D31BA12E3
Today’s “typical” vista.
E4692B99-4330-4331-B4B8-A3DE95A88FE6
Close-up of massive wheels on the tanker cars.
B987ECAF-F0EC-482F-9408-2BDD9F702509
Our only SAG stop today – but it’s in a nice shady spot!
55B3A500-0A46-4550-9DCF-81552E240B29
Oops, caught with my mouthful (again)…
678E1A54-37E5-4371-A8C0-6FE35295BE1F
Town of Magnolia.
3A1A375B-EA52-44F3-AE82-45C5CEB3BAA8
And how do you make YOUR asgrow?
51B2C60A-C859-4AF1-80BF-BC166873EDCA
More farmland.
E737B096-09E8-4917-AADC-D713F1418422
Yup, … only about ten miles to go.
FA563A04-09BF-472E-9E4E-65D18AFC577D
I dare you to try to photograph Abbe when she’s NOT smiling.
C9310097-9B8A-4B36-BD1B-DFBB2B6979F0
Nice reflection…
414DE31E-4117-4AD4-B5E0-8077FEB962BB
“You see, Officer, I was NOT speeding!!”
D5752A8A-516B-4577-9825-5F18BCC77F9B
Late afternoon Rap talk to prep us for tomorrow’s long 111-mile day!!  It’s load-and-go at 6:30 am.

5 thoughts on “Day 29 – 🎶 The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota 🎶”

Leave a comment