Day 103 - ending at Melrose, MN - The Great Plains Trail - Sort Of

August 25, 2023

Day 103 - ending at Melrose, MN

Day 103 - Ashby, MN to Melrose, MN

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Up at 6:29am. It hadn't rained overnight except for the few sprinkles before midnight. It looked like it was going to be a pleasant day.

I received a text this morning from Joetta, the nurse who provided coffee and made breakfast and lunch sandwiches for me the morning I was in Amidon, North Dakota (see Day 80). She lives in Minnesota close enough that she wanted to meet up when I passed through St. Cloud. I gave some thought on how that might work, then decided I'd text her back around lunch time. I needed to check the bike, pack up, and get going.

My destination for today was Sauk River Park in Melrose, Minnesota - about 58 miles away. They'd all be asphalt rail trail miles - an easy day.

Even though a chunk of the rear hub came off, the crack in the hub was continuing. This morning when I checked it, I was alarmed enough that I decided it was time to put on the new wheel I'd bought back in Medora, North Dakota. I got out all the tools I need for that, except I couldn't find my cassette lock ring tool. I remember putting it in my pocket just before I went to the bike shop when I was in Medora. I spent an hour looking for it, as the pleasant morning turned into an overcast, windy morning threatening rain. My final assessment of the weather radar indicated that the storms were going to just miss here. I'd wasted enough time now, so put the old wheel back on the bike and researched where bicycle shops are in the area. There happens to be three shops in Alexandria - 18 miles away. And the trail goes through there.

The wind off the lake made taking the tent down a challenge. I was finally on my way at 10:50am. I started out on the trail, going real slow because of the seam bumps, hoping the hub would stay together until I got to Alexandria. I looked to my right and noticed that paralleling Highway 82 was smooth. So I left the trail as soon as I came to a connecting road. This allowed me to go much faster. So far, I haven't seen any rumble strips on the highways I've been on in Minnesota. I like that.

I planned to eat at a local restaurant in Evansville ahead. I arrived at Schatzi's at 11:52am. The food is very good there, but not their wifi. I finally gave up and posted yesterday's report using my cell signal. I added a butterscotch milkshake to my breakfast. OK, back to worrying about the bike. I was thinking about that enough that I forgot to record the noon mileage, since my noon alarm went off while I was eating and I just shut it off.

I sent off a reply to Joetta that if I could have stayed on my original plan, we could have met up for dinner Saturday evening. But now with my wheel changing concerns, I wasn't going to make it to St. Cloud by then.

I decided to try the trail again, but was soon back on the highway. I was in the town of Garfield at 2:25pm. I stopped at the gas station there for a quart of chocolate milk, and sat on a bench outside to drink it. Alexandria was the next town. At 3:40pm I walked into Alex Bike Shop. They had the cassette lock ring tool I needed. I also purchased a spare Presta tube and a pressure gauge that will connect to Presta valves. The salesperson there said it would be OK to work on my bike in their parking lot. I got started on that at 4:00pm and was done at 6:00pm. I found another crack at a different place on the old hub. I was lucky I made it this far.

I thought next about camping or getting a motel room here in Alexandria. There was a good breeze from the west, so I decided to try and still make it to Sauk River Campground, which was 33 miles away. I got on the trail for this, in spite of the bumps. With the new wheel on, I wasn't nearly as concerned about bumps.

I was making good time on the trail, thanks to the tailwind. One thing I think would help this trail is if they had signs for the names of the towns you were going through. I did figure out that it was Nelson I was passing through at 6:33pm. And thanks to their water tower, I knew that I was going through Osakis at 7:06pm. In Osakis, the Lake Wobegon Trail started where the Central Lakes State Trail ended. I stopped along the trail at 8:00pm to take a sunset picture, and to eat the last two cookies I'd saved from the package I bought back in Cooperstown, North Dakota. For the most part there were less seam bumps on the trail now. At 8:35pm, I was going through another town. A couple walking the trail told me I was in Sauk City. Some event was occurring on the east side of town. The couple told me it was a truck show. Looked more like a truck light show to me.

Of course it was getting darker as I went. I had my flashers on for a while and later also my headlights. I was finally going through the town of Melrose, and arrived at their campground at 9:32pm. I was back on schedule now, so sent a text to Joetta that we could meet up tomorrow evening in St. Cloud.

There were a couple of RVs parked next to the Sauk River. I choose site #2 a little further away and got set up. I was a little surprised that the bathrooms were so far away. Far enough away that I rode the bike every time I headed that way. It is predicted to be a cooler night, so I put my thick socks on before I got into my sleeping bag at 12:34am. It'd been a long but ending-well day.

Jeff

Spent: $26.04 plus $6 (breakfast) + $3.19 (chocolate milk) + $63.32 (cassette lockring removal tool, tube, pressure gauge) + $15 (campsite) = $113.55

Never seen one of these before. Looks like a good idea.

Using my spare chain instead of a chain whip, which I left at home on purpose.

Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 3,844 miles (6,186 km)

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Steve H71Being from WI, I swear that if you didn’t note you were in MN, I would say your in WI from the scenery. MN trails are all paved, unlike WI that are crushed limestone.
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