Bees in My Bonnet

So I suffered my first injury on our bike ride. We were zooming long a beautiful trail, when all of a sudden, a bee flew into my bike helmet. Before I could get him out, zappo, right on top of the noggin. He got me, but fortunately, I always wear a hat under my helmet to keep the sun from turning me into the burning man. That meant that the bee's stinger only went part way in...enough for a good burn, but not enough to do much damage.

We first hit the road in Pelican Rapids, leaving town in a fog bank. We rode nearly 20 miles without being able to see more than a half mile in front of us. Here is some of the fog ... with me in my aforementioned bonnet before the sting.

All in all, the first 30 miles were physically demanding. Lots of rolling hills, and the three boys roll up the hill a lot faster than I can roll down the other side, so I either have to ride extra hard or lag well behind. Usually, it’s the latter. After 30 miles, we hit the start of the Central Lakes Trail.

Central Lakes Trail is part of the “Rails to Trails” movement, and it was beautifully done. We rode for 55 miles without seeing a single car, with the exception of Pat finding side roads that allowed her to intercept us for snack breaks. The bike trail was a uniform 14 feet wide, well paved, and wended its way past dozens of lakes. We passed a number of other cyclists, mostly recreational day trippers, and with rare exception they wore NO HELMETS. I know the trail is safe relative to the highways, but accidents can happen anywhere! I think Minnesota needs the Hawaii Bicycling League folks to come give them a good safety lesson. And I think Hawaii needs to invite Minnesota to come help build some more dedicated bicycle pathways. Here’s a typical view of the trail we spent the day on!

It could have been gravel for all I knew. It could have been a dreadful experience, but as it turned out, it was every bit as good as I’d hoped it would be!

Our campground tonight is a grassy trailer park where we are the only tent campers. Two Mile Campground is listed as a resort because it’s on a lake. In fact, if it weren’t for the wind and the flies, we could be on the set of “On Golden Pond.” Nobody tried swimming or fishing, and I doubt whether any of the sixteen year olds would even know what I’m talking about, but for the more mature readers, the Golden Pond reference should give you a good picture of the area around Osakis.

And speaking of the area around Osakis, I promised an exciting announcement today. Osakis is 1788.3 miles from where we started, and it is 1733 from where we will end. Yep. We’ve officially passed the half-way mark in total mileage. We passed the half-way point time-wise yesterday, so either way you look at it, we are on the back half of our Bike Trip America journey from here on out! And tomorrow, we mark another significant milestone. You’ll have to either get out your maps and geography texts, or do some educated guessing. Or you can tune in tomorrow, because I’ll mention it then.