A Leisurely Pace

After last night’s fantastically quiet evening in solitude, I woke this morning to clear skies. Wind, from a not-so-favourable direction. But clear skies. You take what you get on the road.

The plan today was relatively simple: Get to St. Joseph, MN. About 100 km away. The plan was made even more simple as there was absolutely no urgency behind today’s schedule. Warm Showers host Stephanie had offered to host me for the night but she was going to be working a bit late so we had agreed upon an 8:00 PM arrival. Obviously, that gave me an abundance of time to get there.

While time was certainly on my side, the weather was a bit less supportive. The wind certainly had no intention of helping me – as evidenced by my slow average speed on the day. Plus, there had been a recent trend of afternoon showers so I was hoping not to get caught up in that should that trend continue. So, I decided to hit the road at a reasonable hour (i.e., shortly after 9:00 AM) and hope for the best.

Given the leisurely schedule for the day, I set course for St. Cloud, MN. St. Cloud is about 10 km from St. Joseph but is a much bigger city so it has significantly more amenities, like Wendy’s. I figured if I’m going to have time to fill today, why not do so with a Frosty?

Apart from the wind, the ride to St. Cloud was pretty easy. There was a trail running parallel to the highway for much of it so navigation was pretty straightforward. Although, that didn’t stop the Google lady from frequently telling to me “Turn right then make a quick left” when the reality was “Go straight”. Side note: The challenges associated with GPS mapping and routing really make me think about self-driving cars. I just don’t see it happening for quite some time. I mean, the technology of the cars is one thing. Then there’s the infrastructure involved (roads, insurance, traffic, etc …). But then there’s the navigation of just getting from A to B. Admittedly, the fact that it works at all is pretty impressive. But it has a LONG way to go before I’d be willing to let go of the wheel.

As I continued to pedal my way north (to the Grand Canyon?) I passed through Clearwater, yesterday’s potential destination, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Given how long it took me to get there today, I definitely would have been doused by the downpour of the previous day. Absolutely doused.

The rest of the ride went well and I valiantly fought the wind along the way until I arrived at Wendy’s around 1:00 PM. Yes, I still had seven hours to fill before meeting up with Stephanie but, seemingly right on schedule, the dark clouds were starting to appear. My plan seemed to be working out.

I ended up spending over an hour just chilling over a Frosty at Wendy’s. Seriously chilling. The air conditioning was definitely doing its job. Brrrrrr. As I stepped back outside and into the warmth, I quickly realized that I would be staying a bit longer – although staying outside in the warmth. The dark clouds that were previously in the distance had made their way to Wendy’s. I’m no meteorologist but a deluge was clearly imminent. I don’t know what that smell is that often precedes a big downpour but that smell was certainly in the air. And I wasn’t about to hit the road until those clouds passed.

The downpour did in fact come a few minutes later and lasted about ten minutes. Then it was gone. However, there were more clouds in the distance. Based on the winds, I figured I could make it to the library (a few kilometres away) before the next deluge. I did. I even had time to made a quick stop at a bread outlet for some cheap lunch supplies.

I was planning on going to the library to fill some time and maybe do some blog updates but decided I didn’t want to leave my bike unattended. So, I used the WiFi for a bit (from outside) while the rain fell before preparing for the next legs of my journey.

The next legs included Dollar Tree and (sigh) Walmart. And both legs came with a deluge of their own. Although, not as heavy as the previous two. In both cases, I was under shelter when they hit.

Dollar Tree didn’t have the cookies I was looking for – I actually couldn’t remember the name of said cookies which made the search a bit tougher – so I moved on. On the flip side, Walmart had more than enough food supplies to restock my “cupboards”.

Despite having so much time to fill, the afternoon was passing surprisingly quickly. I decided to head to St. Joseph and fill the final few hours there. That way, if it rained I’d be that much closer to my day’s final destination.

The ride from St. Cloud to St. Joseph was incredibly easy as there’s a new (and beautifully paved) trail that runs the whole way. I would later find out that the trail continues all the way to Fergus Falls – a destination I figured to be hitting in two days. Anyway, the trail to St. Joseph is so new that Google doesn’t even know about it. Fortunately, I had texted Stephanie to update her on my progress and she told me about the trail as well as some of the local restaurants and such in St. Joseph.

Stephanie had mentioned that there were two pizza shops in town. I hadn’t given it much thought but I hadn’t had pizza since the journey began. Now that it had been mentioned, I suddenly had a craving. It turns out the two shops are right across the street from each other. I ended up choosing Gary’s Pizza and it was a VERY good choice. Seriously, I don’t know if it had anything to do with biking 100 km into the wind but that pizza was fantastic. It was a large (14″) and I ate the whole thing. Without effort.

Eventually I made my way to Stephanie’s which completed my ride – a ride where I somehow managed to stay dry the entire time (well, sweat not included). I considered myself very lucky in that regard given the number of times it rained. I also considered myself lucky to be hosted by Stephanie as she was super friendly, welcoming, generous and easy to talk with.

At the risk of repeating myself (why stop now?), today was another great day.

Today’s totals:
Distance: 102.68 km
Ride time: 5:17:53
Average speed: 19.45 km/h
Maximum speed: 38.25 km/h