Following our rest day at New Ulm, we left for Owatonna, MN on Day 28 (July 22) . We rolled through the metropolis of Mankato on Sunday Morning. It was very quiet. By 9am, no one was up yet. Must have been a wild Saturday night in Mankato. We had easy rolling hills through the day, with a steep drop and rise into and out of the Minnesota River Valley. The wind finally shifted direction, as did our direction of travel--headwinds continued. After 75 miles, we arrived at the Steele County fairgrounds in Owatonna, our camp for the evening and teammate Vern's hometown. We were welcomed enthusiastically by a large group of Vern's family and friends. Vern's lovely wife Karen and several friends and relatives put out an incredible "tailgate spread" of pies (pictured) that had to be seen (and eaten) to be believed! Thank you Karen and FFOV (friends and family of Vern)!
That evening in Owatonna, the rain blew in in a succession of thunderstorms. My tent seemed to keep things pretty dry. The rain conveniently stopped for us to break down camp and have breakfast. As soon as I launched my Day 29 ride at 6:30am, the next wave of showers came through in a big way. I could barely see through my glasses. I was drenched. This was not Seattle-style mist. Fortunately, it stopped in about 30 minutes--followed by a huge rainbow, a good omen for the rest of the day.
By late morning, we rolled through Rochester, MN home of the Mayo Clinic (sign pictured), the Honest Bike Shop and Midwest Bail Bonds Co. (pictured, honestly), and Ane and Liz two of our Ride teammates. As in Owatonna, we were enthusiastically welcomed to Rochester by Ane's and Liz's families and friends with warm hospitality and great food (including custard squares and rhubarb pie). Thanks to all for the fine welcome! The tail end of the day's ride took us into the Mississippi River Valley, with beautiful hills and roads with tire-eating potholes. We wrapped up our 93 mile day in Winona, MN in style--at Winona Ryder State University (WRSU).
WRSU was one of the first colleges in the growing trend to offer naming rights to celebrities to augment university revenues--the only limitation is that the celeb's first or last name must already be in the name of the school. Recent school name changes have included Huey Lewis and Clark (& the News) College; the University of Brad Pittsburgh; Lucille Ball State University and Donna Reed College (the latter two were posthumously named). WRSU provided a nice dry place to dry out our tents and wet clothing--and another night of sleeping off the ground.
More to come,
Marty
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