Now I don't mean to be a whiner, but a little attention to the cracks in the road would be greatly appreciated. The roads throughout this county, Kandiyohi, have a large joint every 10 yards and it gets pretty tedious on a bicycle.
By the time I reached the town of Lake Lillian, I was ready for some relief, and it was almost noon. So I stopped at the town cafe and ordered the standard BLT and chocolate shake. They did a particularly good shake here and I was just enjoying the moment when a fellow from the next table approached.
"Guten Tag. Wie gehts".
I thought to myself "I wonder how you say 'Huh' in German.", but my mouth was full of food, so I just nodded.
"Sprechen sie Deutch?"
In one of my triumphs of long term memory fetch, I replied, "Ein bischen, sehr bischen".
For a moment I fooled him, but these moments are very brief because the next question was so long I couldn't even follow the drift. My quizzical look prompted the next question in English,
"Are you Norwegian?"
"No, but I live in Ballard (the Norwegian part of Seattle). Does that count?"
"Oh, I'm so embarrassed. I was sure I heard a German or Norwegian accent when you ordered your lunch."
He and his wife raised hogs for many years in Iowa, and were up here tracking down some folks in this area with the same German name.
So we were on a vaguely similar hunt. Perhaps this will prompt me to work on my German. I spent much of the afternoon trying to dredge up German idioms.
Outside, a fellow was inspecting my bike and was quite enthusiastic both about the S & S couplings and Bilenky's bike. He was the first to recognize it.
My plan for the day was to ride 45 miles south, and then 45 miles east, in that order. The wind was from the southwest and the south segment would be into the wind, so I better get that done first. Then I can coast in. It worked like a charm. The other thing I have learned along the tour is the following axiom: If you are cycling along a nice quiet road, stay on that road unless there is a good reason to turn. The chances are not in your favor that the new road will be better. I used this universal truth to my advantage today.
I have not seen many working scarecrows out here on the prairie, but I did spot this one, perhaps taking a break from its tedious duty.
July 20 we broke our record, wheeling 126 miles to reach Minneapolis, arriving about 7:30 p.m. It was only the second time we had made a century run, for one cannot make a practice of scorching on such a trip. This day the wind and roads were favorable, and we were less fatigued at night than after many shorter runs. Our road took us along by Lake Minnetonka, and we fain would stop and enjoy its pleasures, but Minneapolis was too near at hand, and we wanted to be once more "amidst great cities and the ways of men." We remained two nights in Minneapolis, receiving many courtesies from the local wheel clubs and pleasant notices from the press.
I am heading for the town of Janesville, where I will meet up with some Seattle friends, on their family farm. It will be nice to see familiar faces.
86 easy miles today, and even the wind wasn't objectionable.
The long and winding road is long, indeed, but it winds with right angle turns here in Minnesota.
Dennis