The Race to Jenny B.

Day 36: Bemidji to Grand Rapids, MN--76 miles

After a great night's sleep (how could you have otherwise when you've ridden 115 miles?) we headed out toward Grand Rapids to meet up with Jenny B. and her family. We weren't sure how long it would take to get there because it was over 70 miles, but we gave her a rough estimate of 3:00 p.m. for our arrival.

We had a slight west wind--not as great as the day before, but good enough to amp our speed. And it was VERY overcast--actually a bit chilly. Perfect for riding!

But I noticed that we were both a little tired from yesterday's long ride. Today, it was more like "work" than I have noticed on other days. I think this is a good learning for all of us. Adequate rest is important! You need to get away from your routine things (whether it be bicycle riding or "regular" work) for enough time to give your brain a rest. Then, when you resume, you'll feel more refreshed and ready to tackle the challenges you face. This message is for all you people who work long hours and then go home and work on the computer and then go back to work the next day and wonder why it feels like you never left! When you leave--LEAVE and do something totally different to allow your brain to recover. That's when your brain does background work and can think of those big ideas you need but can't muster when you're tired. Think about it...my follow-up ride certainly made me do so.

A good part of the day was on the Indian Reservation in Minnesota--the road became two-lane but the shoulder was mostly OK. We had some bumps on the shoulder, but the road was too narrow for us to ride on. There wasn't much traffic, but it was moving FAST! It was a pretty nice day--we stopped at several places to have breaks, and were glad we had our own food because there was NOTHING around! Then we started noticing the flora around us. One of the highlights of our day was finding a fantastic flower we have never seen before. Turns out it was the Minnesota state flower--the Showy Lady's Slipper. What a beauty! We also saw tons of water birds as we wound our way along the Mississippi River. We made it to Deer River (the town at the East end of the reservation) for a late lunch at the Sportsman's Cafe.

At that point we had about 15 miles to Grand Rapids. I decided to do my best "Old Rum" imitation and sprint for the finish! In case you haven't heard of Old Rum, he was horse David's family had when David was growing up. If you took Old Rum out on a horseback ride, he would just mosey along until you turned him back toward the barn. Once he got a whiff of home, hang on! He would hurry back to that barn as fast as he could! So if I'm trying not to slow down, I think of Old Rum and try to imitate him as I sprint toward whatever town we're approaching for the evening! David really gets a kick out of this, but it gets us to town faster so he's happy.

So, Old Rum in mind, we made it to Grand Rapids by about 2:00 p.m.! This is a pretty large town--with NO rapids because they have a dam now. We wandered through toward our meeting place--a coffee shop called Brewed Awakenings. We were happy to camp there and have a latte and some chai while we surprised Jenny with being there early. They came and retrieved us and our bikes. Jenny, her sister Amy, her brother John, and his girlfriend Terry were all in on the rescue. Terry loaded our bikes into her van and the rest of us headed out to John's son Henry's little league baseball game! What a hoot! At this point, the wind had picked up and it got colder and colder. As we were watching the game, we wrapped up in lots of sweaters and had fun chatting. I really liked hearing the fun Minnesota accent in this part of the country--it's called the Iron Range because they do a lot of iron ore mining up there. The accent is very similar to that movie "Fargo" if you've seen it. I LOVE it, but the locals don't think they have an accent at all...

Then we headed to John's house. He and Terry live in a typical Northwoods cabin (at least as I understand it). It is a very charming one-room cabin with no improvements. That means no electricity or running water (oh, no! What about my mandatory shower???). It is really cute, and I can see why they live there. They have a lovely garden and John has a great woodworking shop (if you need chairs, stools, or a settee, he's your man). He has a generator in case of emergency, but they do quite nicely with just a propane (or natural gas) stove and a couple of gas lights. I was very impressed with the set-up, even though I missed my shower that night.

John and Terry are both fabulous cooks! That first night, we had some awesome Spanish rice and a great Mexican casserole! This is certainly the best restaurant we have experienced on our trip. And they serve VEGETABLES!!! Many of them are from their own garden! How wonderful.

We had a great evening getting to know Jenny's family (and P.S. Monkey is just fine too). Jenny and Amy had one tent outside, and David and I set ours up nearby. There's a privy on the property, and plenty of mosquitos to escort you wherever you go! We had a great night's sleep after that wonderful meal, and looked forward to a great day off the next day.