A New Cycleblaze World Record For Flimsy Excuses

August 31, 2023

Minneopa State Park and Back

Until this morning, I had visions of riding all the way to the furthest southwest corner of the state, stopping within inches of South Dakota, and calmly turning around without crossing the border. (How cool is that?) It only took a few days of riding for me to realize I was delusional when I thought up that idea. There is NO WAY I can ride that far away and then back home in the 10 to 14 days I've allotted, and here are the reasons:

I can't get started early enough in the mornings to accumulate high mileage.
I linger too long at campsites, drinking coffee and watching squirrels & birds & insects & stuff.
I hike too much, at the expense of time in the saddle.
I saw a comment in my journal this morning from a Cycleblaze friend who told me there were many fine places to explore by bike in Mankato. Mankato is the city I'm in. Though the Cycleblazer cleverly didn't name those places, I was intrigued enough to stay an extra day and try to find some of them myself. (Thank you, Keith.)
There are other excuses too. I don't like to focus on physical weaknesses--not to others and not to myself. But the last couple days have made me more aware of them then I care to admit.
I've ridden my bike less this summer than in any summer in 20 years. Instead, I've been axing down bothersome trees in our backyard, sawing off the branches, lopping off the smaller limbs and twigs, and breaking them down in small enough pieces to haul to MY Town's compost site in my minivan. Over the last couple months, that activity resulted in a strained shoulder, a back injury, and a bee sting. The back problem was excruciating for a couple days, but it healed faster than the bee sting and shoulder problem. I thought the shoulder was ready for a tour, but after a couple hours on the handlebars each day, the pain starts setting in.
The next few days are going to be in the 90-degree temperature range. I used to revel in such heat. Not so much now.
I'm old. Last month, I became a Medicare recipient. That's quite a psychological thing to overcome.

It's a good thing I'm on a "winging it tour" because, in and of itself, that provides me with the option of changing plans any time I want to. In other words, I really didn't even need to reveal that record-setting list of lame excuses. I could have said nothing and moved on. I'll leave them here anyway.

************

I went downstairs and booked another night here in Mankato. After that, I suppose I should have watched cable TV and rested my shoulder in bed, but that's not my style. I went out to explore Mankato and some of its features I found online. I started on the university's campus, then rode steeply downhill to the downtown area.

The gigantic Minnesota State Maverick balloon. I bet that wasn't here when Keith was a professor at the university.

For anyone who thought cattails were an endangered species, here is a small section of acres and acres of them.

This was a quirky little neighborhood near downtown.

Mankato had bike trails leading to any part of town you'd want to get to. It had many nice parks too. I spent some time in a few of them in the last couple days. The Land of Memories Park was particularly special. It had wide open green spaces, camping, pow wow grounds, and a tribute to one of the most shameful episodes in Minnesota history.

From The Land of Memories, I got on the Minneopa Trail leading to Minneopa State Park. Now that I've abandoned the idea of going all the way to Blue Mounds State Park to see its herd of bison, I was pleased to see that Minneopa State Park had its own herd of bison--and it was only about four miles outside of Mankato.

Typical for the Mankato area, bike trails led me to within a mile of the state park. The trails were mostly flat, but there were a couple of hills. On one of them, I was happy to get a bit of encouragement written in chalk.

"You can do it!!!" They were right, I could do it.

I was disappointed to see that cars can ride into the bison area but bikes can't. Then I remembered the time when I hid behind a car while passing bison while touring in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I certainly felt the danger then.

From outside the gates, I managed to spot a few of those majestic animals. Unfortunately, my phone wasn't able to zoom in without significant blurriness.

Still, it was better to see them from afar than to not see them at all. I sat around, hoping they'd come closer, but it never happened. So I directed Son of Bing Bong back to Mankato via the same trail that brought us out here.

Just as I turned off onto Stadium Drive and looked up at the big hill back to my motel, I got a call from the Feeshko. She was a little emotional after picking up Diggity's ashes at our Vet's Office. We commiserated on the phone for a few minutes.

Then I started climbing.

I took this picture from about half-way up. The RidewithGPS map I just generated says it was a climb of 200 feet in 8/10 of a mile, with 7-8% grades. I've always suspected RWGPS of cheating me out of climbing cred. If that wasn't a 10+percent grade, I'll eat my bike helmet.

Looking back after completing the last part of the climb.

I've read a lot of journals written by people who love to climb. I have no doubt that's true for them and I admire that. After all, climbing is what makes bicycle riding a good cardiovascular workout. As for me--a dude who lives in in a mid-western state-- I don't LOVE climbing, but I don't hate it either. I consider it a natural part of cycling and a universal truth. I think it was Rene Descartes who said, "I ride, ergo, I climb."

************

At the end of the day, I'm journaling with Mankato-brewed beer.

Before I close, I just want to thank everyone for the comments. I'm going to try to catch up on my replies soon.

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Today's ride: 18 miles (29 km)
Total: 125 miles (201 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	11
Comment on this entry	Comment	5

Keith AdamsNice to see someone able to re-jigger a tour when faced with certain inconvenient truths. Well done.
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8 months ago

Keith KleinHi,
I cleverly didn’t say what any of the interesting sights might be because a: I haven’t been in Mankato for 19 years, and a lot has changed, and b: I’m getting old and forgetful. In fact apart from the hills and roads very little of what you showed was there 19 years ago. No bison, no Mankato beer, no giant blob on the campus. Not even the hotel where you are staying was there. I do enjoy the pictures, though .
Cheers,
Keith
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8 months ago

Gregory GarceauTo Keith AdamsYes, very inconvenient.
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8 months ago

Paul MulveyAnd just when I thought I cornered the market on flimsy excuses, along comes this list hitting the world record. Well done.

BTW - after all these journals, and your "round the world" ride, do you still consider yourself the world's most naive bike tourist?
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8 months ago

Gregory GarceauTo Paul MulveyI'm sorry for dethroning you as the world's top flimsy excuse maker. And, to answer your question: Maybe not the world's MOST naive but, in many ways, I'm right up there near the top. Worse than that, I have no desire to become a bike touring expert.
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8 months ago