Cormorant, MN to Fargo, NDStats!
Miles biked today: 47.9
Total miles biked on trip so far: 1349.6
Max speed: 29 mph
# of psi in my front tire: 25
# of psi that should be in my front tire: 90
Total # of Dean's flat tires, broken spokes, and chain losses on trip so far: 16
# of new wheels purchased to fix at least some of these problems: 1
Last night in Cormorant marks both the most expensive place we've stayed so far, and the worst. The water smelled bad and felt slimy on my skin. There was no noise insulation from the other rooms, and worse, from the band that played at their outdoor bar from 7:30 p.m.
to 12:30 a.m. Then the drunks who were watching the band hung out, hootin' and holelrin' outside our door until about 1:15 a.m. Zero noise insulation. They played "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World" at least three times. Awesome, Tin Willy. Also, their restaurant was highway robbery. I guess that's the kind of thing you can do when you're the only gig in town.It was another beautiful, perfect day for a ride today. I didn't take a ton of pictures because I've already posted a ton of beautiful pictures of lakes and fields and farms. Basically all of Minnesota looks like a Bob Ross painting come to life, complete with reflective lakes and happy little trees.
A little ways into our ride, we noticed a farm that had fenced land for about a mile of our trip. On top of every single fence post was a different shoe. On all the telephone poles were 3 or 4 pair of shoes nailed on. It creeped me out, like some kind of serial killer's trophies. Dean thought it might be "hoo doo."
We stopped in Downer, MN for lunch at a biker bar. When it was time to get back on the road, we found that Dean had another flat tire. I checked the tube, and could only find a tiny pinprick in it. Later, when we got to the bike shop, we found a tiny sharp wire in the tire. Tire fail. This, added to the broken spokes, other flat tires, and chain problems, was pretty annoying. I think getting the new wheel was the right thing to do. The guys at the Fargo bike shop said they thought the wheel he had was not an ideal touring wheel.
Tomorrow we'll take a rest day here in Fargo. Given our 5 hours of sleep last night, that sounds good to me! Also, Happy Birthday (one day belated) to my dad, Roy! And Happy Birthday (right on time), to my nephew, Beck!
A Fargo Bison!
Too bad you had to stay there on band night -- probably would not have been so bad any other night. I remember seeing a huge oak tree in Texas just full of old shoes -- it was a gigantic tree loaded with old sneakers and boots, stuff with laces you could toss and catch on the branches. Never did learn why people do it, but admit I kinda wanted to try tossing a pair. Hope you sleep well tonight. Love you!
ReplyDeletei was intrigued by the shoes and did a little internet snooping. All I could find was this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_tossing
ReplyDeleteOh, and this: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Shoe-Pole/191644157748
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that Fargo was so small that it only has one place to stay. I see that you found where all of Imelda Marcus's shoes ended up. Hope you have all of the bike problems sorted out and pedal with mettle.
ReplyDelete