Minneapolis to Chicago, Day 1
7 Days Riding from Minneapolis
to Chicago via
mostly bike paths
Day 1
Minneapolis to Hagar City
54.2 miles
After leaving my friend’s house around 9 a.m. I hit the
road, a series of self-navigational turns to escape the Twin cities. I had all
kinds of plans to do 70 or more miles—not to be. There were navigational errors
(lost??) as well as sun and high humidity to deal with.
By 2 p.m. I reached Prescott,
inside the WI border. There is a visitor center there where I cooled off and
ate lunch. Little did I realize this was too little too late. I was probably
already dehydrated. The woman at the center did warn me: it’s not flat. I
wanted to live in denial—or maybe the sun had already rattled my brain—so I
started out with my measly bottle of water and high hopes. The temps were in
the 90s and there was very little to no cloud cover. The hot asphalt radiated
up as the sun poured down.
 |
| 1st view of the Mississippi |
My muscles seized up and soon I could hardly make rational
decisions. I stopped numerous times to rest in what little shade there was.
There was also very little development ie farmhouses, lawns, in other words
refuge. No wayside markers. Just road. At Hagar City
(I saw no sign for Diamond Bluffs) I camped behind a shed. I had to get out of
the sun and pull myself together. The owner came home and he gave me permission
to stay and also told me that outside of Bay
city there was a “helacious hill.” Something to look
forward to.
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