Journey with Jeff

July 17, 2018

Day 30 – Worthington to Mankato, MN  –  111 miles, 1,660 feet vertical

🎶 There’s a bright, golden haze on the meadow
There’s a bright, golden haze on the meadow
The corn is as high as a elephant’s eye
And it looks like it’s climbing clear up to the sky 🎶

🎶 Oh, what a beautiful mornin’
Oh, what a beautiful day
I’ve got a beautiful feelin’
Everything’s goin’ my way 🎶

Yes, it was that kind of a day.  Even though we had a century-plus ride in store, it didn’t matter.  The sun was coming up.  The sky was blue with those white powder puffs that would keep the temperature moderate.  And it was just, plain and simple, a great day to go for a bike ride. 

The hammer train was down to three riders, so out of desperation, they invited me back in.  We covered the first 30 miles in less than an hour-and-a-half (for a 20+ mph average paceline speed) and pulled into the first SAG stop.  Unfortunately for me, I had hit a rock just near the SAG and when I started out again, I found the front tire had punctured.  Our mechanic Rob was close by and gave me a hand, and it’s a good thing too.  The rock had caused a small sharp edge on my rim that needed some filing and repair.  

By the time I resumed, I was back of the pack. So, I got to ride with Robin, who had been assigned sweep for the day.  After some nice conversation, I picked up speed and rode solo the rest of the day.  This gave me the opportunity to start my fourth book for the trip. (Audio book, remember?)

We had been seeing mostly farmland for the last few states, but this area of Minnesota in particular was all corn and soybeans as far as the eye could see.  So, picture … 100+ miles of corn and soybeans.  The crops just went on and on and on.  It really brought into sharp relief how dependent this area was on agricultural exports.  When you hear about Chinese tariffs on soybeans, well, … these are the soybeans that will be tariffed.  

Please enjoy these photos from today’s beautiful 112-mile ride (construction detour at the end), and check out our progress map at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com

Thanks for following. 

…Jeff

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

July 15, 2018

Day 28 – Rest Day in Sioux Falls, SD – cumulative totals so far, 2,000+ miles, 77,000+ feet vertical

As I mentioned yesterday, I would take up Joanne’s only-half-serious suggestion to play golf and turn that into reality.  The course next door was snooty-private, so I found a course about a half-hour drive from Sioux Falls and we headed out for a 9:20 tee time.  The fun part was that it was in Iowa, thus adding an eleventh state to our unofficial itinerary.  (The official state tally for the bike trip is holding at ten, plus Ontario, Canada.)

The course was part of a casino resort complex in the middle of miles of soybean fields and without a tree in sight.  The day started out blistering hot and sunny, but cooled off after a while when some clouds popped up and a slight cooling breeze could be felt.  

We got some really nice sets of rental clubs that took a hole or two to get used to, but which we both really liked.  I shot a 41 on the front nine and was playing pretty well (notwithstanding a couple of strategically allocated mulligans.). By the back nine, though, I started looking like my old self.  And wound up with an 88.  

Q: What do they call a mulligan in Scotland?  A: Hitting three.  (So, ok, ok, it was more like a 98.)  Anyway, it was a super nice break in the rest day routine.  How odd, that we had to walk through the casino to get to the pro shop and the golf course.  Not!  (These casino owners  are pretty sneaky.)

In the evening, we drove into town to have a wonderful dinner with Tom and Abbe.  Tom’s brother, Dan will be joining us soon for a couple of days of riding.  The rest of the day was spent unpacking and repacking, reallocating new supplies, and taking care of logistics.  Yesterday, I replaced my chain, and I will be putting on new tires in the next day or so.  

It was wonderful having Joanne come out to visit for a couple of days.  She flies home tomorrow and we then pick up where we left off.  That’s all for now, folks.  More riding tomorrow.  

Talk then.

…Jeff

 

July 14, 2018

Day 27 – Mitchel to Sioux Falls, SD – 72 miles, 1,420 feet vertical 

Why Holy Cow?  Take your pick:

• A) Holy Cow, we just passed the 2,000 mile mark!  Seriously – 2,000 miles!
• B) Holy Cow, it’s Bastille Day (🎶 Allons enfants de la Patrie, Le jour de gloire est arrivé! 🎶)
• C) Holy Cow, there were a LOT of cows on today’s ride.
• D) Holy Cow, my wife, Joanne flew out here to meet me for a couple of days. 

So, all of the above are true, but the correct answer of course, is D. 

We passed the 2,000 mile mark today as we headed into our third rest day in Sioux Falls.  And, it’s Bastille Day and a reminder that we’re missing all the action in the Tour de France this year.  And yes, there are a LOT of cows all along today’s route.  Still a lot of corn, but also … cows. 

And yes, Joanne is here with me. 

Our last rest day in Casper had to be earned with a 119-mile killer ride into a headwind (see my post: Survivor, Wyoming!)  By contrast, today was an easy 71-mile stroll.  Like yesterday, the skies were sunny with giant white cotton ball puffs of clouds that gave us moderate temperatures and magnificent vistas of the miles of farmland in this area.  

Everyone rode at his or her own pace today.  There was no rush.  The weather was amazing and we knew we could relax in Sioux Falls, unpack our bags and spread out for a change.  It is extraordinary that 70-plus mile rides are now (yawn) ordinary.  

Not much to report on the ride itself other than a) more of South Dakota, b) more farmland with corn and soybeans as far as the eye can see, c) more cows – lots of cows, d) more small towns with populations in the low three-digits, and e) more friendships, more laughs and more smiles.  Oh, yeah, there’s some sort of Harley motorcycle rally in town this weekend, which meant there were miles of motorcycles and motorcycle riders all day long.  Made me wish I had at least one of my Harley’s here.  (Actually, no, I am having a ball on this ride without a motor, thank you very much.)

Tomorrow is another well-earned rest day and we’ll all be chillin’.  There’s a nearby golf course and Joanne asked me if I wanted to play.  She almost fell off her chair when I said, “Sure, let’s do it.”   We’ll see.  Not setting the alarm tonight. 

Not a lot of photos, but please enjoy them anyway.  As always, watch the growing line of green dots at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com.   And check back tomorrow for my post, “So, Sioux me.”

July 13, 2018

Day 26 – Chamberlain to Mitchel, SD – 71 miles, 910 feet vertical

We didn’t realize until our afternoon Rap talk that today was Friday the 13th.  No black cats.  No mysterious hexes.  No witch’s covens.  Just a nice, wonderful, relaxing – and FLAT – day for us to lick our wounds and recover from yesterday.  

There was no doubt about it – yesterday was a brute, … between the overall length, the relentless headwind, the hot sun sapping your energy and … oh yeah … the FLIES.   And, we lost an hour of sleep.  No doubt about it, yesterday kicked our butts.  

So, it was relief all around when last night’s thunder, lightning and rain storm cleared out this morning and gave us a top ten weather day.  The only effort was a short climb out of Chamberlain to start, and fighting through the morning humidity.  (I will apologize right here and now for some haziness in the early photos.  It was just so humid and the lens kept fogging up.)

But after the burn off, we had sunny skies filled with beautiful white puffy clouds.  The cloud cover provided us with mild temperatures that were just so much better than yesterday.  And the roads were dead straight and flat as a pancake.  

Today was all about recovering from yesterday and so we all took a breather for a relatively easy 71-mile day.  This gave us ample time to stop and visit the Tractor Museum in Kimball – a fascinating time warp exploration of farming, past and present.  Most of the day was spent riding past miles and miles of corn. 

On arriving in Mitchel, we visited the Corn Palace.  I thought this was going to be another hokey tourist trap, but it was actually quite interesting and historic.  The giant murals on the exterior and interior of the building are all made from real corn cobs, sorted for color, sliced down the middle and nailed to the appropriate spot.  Corn cobs by the numbers.  And, they tear it down and redesign it every year. 

That’s it for now folks.  One more little 72-miler tomorrow stands between us and our third rest day in Sioux Falls.  

Please enjoy these photos (and again, I apologize for the humidity-induced halos).  Don’t forget to check out all the green growing at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com

Thanks for following.