Day 93 (8/17): Northfield to Red Wing, MN

Mileage: 41.6; 2,546 total

To be completed shortly.....

Another fantastic day!

Paul, Giovanna, and I went out for a great breakfast in Northfield, which is the home of Carlton College and St. Olaf's College. It is a very pretty town -- it was obviously a prosperous farming town in the mid-1800's, and has preserved a lot of its architecture. Here are two photos: one of the local hotel, and one of the bank, now a museum, that was the scene of the great Northfield Bank Robbery of 1870.

The Bank Robbery is a part of its heritage that the town celebrates on a regular basis. The James-Younger gang (that's the Jesse James' gang), from Missouri, apparently planned to rob the bank at Mankato, but then had a change of plans and picked Northfield's bank, instead. After they had killed two people inside of the bank, one of the customers ran out calling for help. The townspeople grabbed their guns and a big shootout ensued, in which a couple of the gang members were killed. Jesse James himself was not directly involved in the gunfire, because he was just outside of town serving as a lookout. My facts may be wrong, but you can google "Northfield Bank Robbery" for more information.

So, after a pleasant breakfast and a bit of sightseeing I got off to a somewhat late start, planning to go 15 miles to Cannon Falls where I could pick up another bike trail. But after only nine miles I passed the very attractive, enticing Stanton Airfield, where I decided to stop for coffee, to watch the airfield activity, and to reminisce about flying. It turned out that there wasn't a cafe there, but there was a pot of hot coffee and Marilyn, who I believe is the owner of the airfield, invited me to help myself. I sat down outside, in a lawn chair, to drink my coffee and watch the planes. The airfield was all grass, manicured as nicely as a golf course, and with electric carts to use to get around and to tow the gliders. The airfield has about 20 gliders based there, and the focus of the airfield is on the soaring (gliding) club, as well as soaring lessons and lessons to transition to tail-draggers (planes with two wheels in front and a small wheel in back, as opposed to the more common "tricycle" landing gear). (For you city dwellers, tail-draggers are common in areas that require a lot of landings and takeoffs from unpaved runways.)

Marilyn was sitting near me on the lawn, talking with a friend, and I was surprised that they were talking about bicycling! Marilyn had just recently bicycled on the path that that I was headed to. As we talked, Marilyn found out that I used to fly but hadn't done so since 1991: she then proceeded to give me a very enthusiastic talk about how general aviation had improved so much in recent years, largely due to the introduction of "sport planes" from Europe, and new Federal regulations regarding "sport pilots." She then encouraged me to climb into a "Flight Design CT," a German built sport plane; this was the first time I had been "behind the controls" in many years, and it was certainly a nifty little plane! See picture, below, of Marilyn and the plane. She then gave me a tour of one of their hangers, in order to show me some brand new planes that are very similar in design to the old Piper Super Cub (but built by a different manufacturer) -- these, also, were really super looking planes. See photo. So I had a great time there, and was sure glad that I stopped and met Marilyn.

Eventually I did get on to the Cannon River Bike Path, which ran for 22 miles, up to Red Wing, MN. This path was even nicer than the one I was on the day before! There were lots of other riders on the path, and I had a great time meeting and talking with some of them. I ended up riding for a ways with a group of avid riders from the Prairie Lutheran Church (near Minneopolis)--see photo. A couple who were riding a tandem were especially interested in talking, because they had just purchased, but not yet received, a new tandem -- a Co-Motion, the same brand as my bike. The folks in this group were probably all a few years away from retirement, and I think a few of them wished that they also had the time to take a cross-country trip. When they stopped to have a picnic lunch I had to push on, but not before accepting an ice-cold coke and a piece of watermelon! Oh--and the guy on the tandem gave me his bicycling cap (photo) as a souvenir -- he had recently been in a "team" of riders called the "Pirates in Tight Pants" who had ridden across Minnesota in an Multiple Sclerosis fund raiser. So, if any of the other "Pirates" sees me with their team cap on, I hope they will have read this blog and know that I didn't steal it!

I stopped along the path for ice cream, which turned out to be the best I have had on this trip. It was made by The Chocolate Shop in Madison, Wisconsin. (I had mint chocolate chip and "Fat Elvis," an excellent blend of banana ice cream and peanut butter.)

In Red Wing, I had a relaxing dinner at an old, elegant hotel. My waiter, a young guy from the Ukraine, was very eager to talk about bicycle touring because he was planning to take a trip across his country when he finished school.

I only completed 40 miles today, whereas I had intended to do about 70. But it was a very enjoyable day, and the fun that I had meeting all these people was well worth the minor delays. On Monday I will cross the Mississippi, leaving the beautiful state of Minnesota but eager to experience Wisconsin.