Life On A B-I7

This caught me off-guard. You have to admit, it is always a good idea…

I met some really nice people. In fact, everyone I met was friendly and nice. Many times I would ask for my check and I would be informed that someone had picked up my tab for me.

I will admit to falling over a couple of times. (The exact number of times is classified.)

Sometimes when you come to a stop you can’t get out of the clip-in pedals fast enough. It happens.

I never thought of my custom touring bike as a “two wheeled foot pusher,” but I guess that sums it up pretty nicely.

The big city! One of two on my tour. (Minneapolis and Cleveland.)

Visiting friends and getting a free bed for a couple of nights. They took me out on the town and showed me all the best sights at night. Minneapolis is a cool town.

I was not able to catch a Twins game since they were on the road.

In exchange for my friend’s hospitality, I volunteered to fixe them breakfast the next morning…

They were a little surprised when I pulled this out of my pannier…

They liked it!

It’s one of my favorite dehydrated meals. Much better than the biscuits and gravy at a Motel 6.

The town of Fairbault was 60 miles off my route. I decided to go there and see the home my Dad grew up in. He went to Fairbault High School before moving to Washington after a year at the University of Minnesota.

My Grandmother raised my Dad by herself. My Grandfather came back from WW1 with PTSD (unknown at the time). He died an estranged from my Grandmother shortly after my Dad was born.

My Grandfather flew back-seat in a Liberty DH-4. It was the only American built airplane (built under license from the British) to see action on the Western Front in WW1. He was shot down. His pilot did not survive. Airmen referred to the plane as the “Flying Coffin.”

The people living in the home were kind enough to take this photo for me.

This Mill is world famous. It was established in 1865. It was originally powered by a horse drawn treadmill, later converted to water power using a 48-inch water wheel adjacent to the Cannon River.

The Mill is considered to be one finest producers of woolen goods in the United States. (My apologies to Pendelton Mill.)

It’s always a special day on a long distance tour when you cross a line and enter a new state.

I crossed the Mississippi River at Winona Minnesota and found this awesome single track heading East. I’m still making my way back to my originally planned route after my detour through Fairbault.

Wisconsin was a short traverse. After two days of wandering back to the official Northern Tier Route, I realized the Field of Dreams was only 30 miles away from where I was… I couldn’t pass up that opportunity.

“If you build it, they will come!”

So I did…

When I pulled into the parking lot the attendant let me in for free. He even gave me a ceramic souvenir pin on my way in.

The rest of the story is revealed in my Day 56 of my Northern Tier Travel Journal.

I will give you a head’s up… There are ballplayers in that corn field, and one you may have heard of did step out to meet me…

See the full story at Bicycling the Northern Tier Day-by-Day - Day 56

You don’t want the people back home to forget what you look like…

This is a fully restored Route 66 Gas Station. A tourist thought it would be fun to take my picture “gassing up” my bicycle.

I’m not far from Chicago but my route bypassed the Windy City. Route 66 is another classic bicycle tour. From Los Angles to Chicago. I haven’t tackled that one yet, but I was glad to grab a piece of it on the way East.

I’ve been on the road for two months and I’m beginning to look around for a shorter route to the finish… There isn’t one.

There are no straight lines to Bar Harbor, Maine from here.

The further East I go the more murals I see on brick buildings.

I’m fascinated by these. It seems the small towns are proud of these embellishments.

Traveling, uncredited sign painters known as “Walldogs” dangled from ropes high above the street to paint the many murals seen in the Central and Eastern U.S. The artists used durable, lead-based oil paints mixed with natural pigments and linseed oil. This allowed the paint to soak directly into the porous brick and mortar, giving the paint a strong grip and vibrant look.

This mural really speaks to my trip!

I meet my second Mayor. This one put me up on a cot in his office for the night. Iroquois is a cool town. The food at the local bar was top notch too.

I can’t resist a good mural. The good town of Monroeville allowed me to camp in their city park.

They also told me I had to stay for a concert that night, which I was happy to do.

I was told the best fiddler in 3 counties would be playing in the band. All of the musicians have recorded as stand-ins in Nashville.

The concert was wonderful.

After the concert I went up and talked with the fiddle player. When he found out I was riding across the country he told me to go get me bike so he could see it.

We talked bicycles and had a great time. He told me he builds bicycles for fun (art pieces mostly). He has over 200 bicycles hanging in his barn.

I would have given my front brakes to see that them.

It is not unusual to see signs like this one throughout the mid-West.

The number of cross-country cyclists has really dropped off in the last decade or so. I saw fewer cyclists on the road on this trip than in either of my two previous trans-continental tours.

I think a lot of people have moved on to mountain bikes and gravel bikes. Travel by bicycle is no longer called “bicycle touring,” it is now called “bike packing” and the emphasis is now on what are referred to as “Backroad Discovery Routes” (BDRs).

I can’t stop admiring the man murals I encounter.

This field of Sunflowers took my breath away. This is a crop that is commercially cultivated.

Get in early, build a fire, relax. It doesn’t get a whole lot better. It also gives me time to write about my day.

Sunset on the Maumee River in Mary Jane Thurston State Park.

I met a fellow cyclist today. He proudly showed me his TransAm tattoo. It’s a thing among cyclists…

I thought this mural was cool so I put my bike up next to it, because, bike and rider are just like that locomotive. (Sort of.)