Roxy and Linda's Bicycle Blog

30th posting on July 31, 2013 ..... Back to the welcome page and listings for other links

Day 51 - Pine River, MN to Little Falls, MN - 66 miles ........ 2179 total miles
We started the day under cloudy skies continuing our ride along the Paul Bunyan trail for 30 miles to Brainerd. The trail today was pretty straight and flat, flat, flat. We did have a baby uphill to a bridge over a highway. The vegetation along the trail was dense, lots of trees and ferns, not many views. We did catch glimpses of numerous lakes. Lots of people out bicycling, walking and rollerblading along the trail, didn't meet any touring cyclists. This area has many lakeside resorts and recreation opportunities both summer and winter, fishing, boating, hiking, biking, snow machining and skiing. After Brainerd we were back on the highway following the Mississippi River down to Little Falls, the boyhood home of Charles Lindbergh. We continue to meet friendly people asking us about the bikes, our travels and wishing us well.

Day 52 - Little Falls, MN to North Branch, MN - 97 miles ........ 2276 total miles
Awesome day in Minnesota! The winds were with us. We spent the day on a little treasure hunt riding along rural country roads. We're following the Adventure Cycling Northern Tier route. The roads change names when we cross into different counties, sometimes there is an additional local name and the signage doesn't always match the map. We found all the treasure, didn't get lost or have to backtrack! We met a couple touring cyclists going our way, first we've seen in a while. We took a break at a bicycle bunkhouse near Dalbo on a farm owned by Donn. What a beautiful spot. We considered stopping for the night, but it was early and we had a great tailwind. Donn was instrumental in getting Adventure Cycling to utilize the paved rail trails in Minnesota for their routes. The bunkhouse was well equipped with everything a touring cyclist might need and more. Donn was friendly and a great resource. He advised us on routes to North Branch and beyond with maps and lots of detailed info. After visiting and snacking we headed off to North Branch. We're heading to the Twin Cities for the weekend to visit more of our relatives.

Our email address is gusrox30@gmail.com . Feel free to drop a note and say hello anytime!