Category: Dakotas (Page 1 of 7)

To read from the beginning, click here.

This is a long-delayed summary of our Dakotas trip. We’re about to embark on another epic tour, so I thought it time to get this one summarized before we start the next.

“The only people who ever get anyplace interesting are the people who get lost.” — Henry David Thoreau

48 miles cycling, 30′ of climbing (3682.2 total) – to read from the beginning, click here.

Slow morning for me as Dave went off to work. I made some coffee and started to pack up. Dana was slow moving too, but we met at her cousin Tony’s and got going about 11. It was overcast, and there was a threat of rain, but the future radar showed just light rain passing through for our ride back to State College.

24.8 miles cycling, 213′ of climbing (3633.6 total) – to read from the beginning, click here.

We got up at midnight and finished packing, stripped the bed, fetched the bikes from the garage, and carried our panniers to the bikes. Then it was a dark, but warm, ride to the Amtrak station. It was a good thing that we found it yesterday, because finding that station in the dark would’ve proved daunting. Not in a very accessible place. We checked in and got baggage tags for the bike, and settled in for the long wait until boarding. The train was about 1/2 hr late, so the wait would be a bit longer.

14.4 miles cycling, 348′ of climbing (3628.8 total) – to read from the beginning, click here.

Bobbi had coffee ready for us and sausages and a bagel for me. Dana went for a run and I caught up on my blog, while Mark and Bobbi attended to their daily activities. At noon, we headed out on our bag-free bikes to ride to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), just 4 miles from the house. The only down side was that there was a Cleveland Browns game and the stadium is right next to the RRHOF.

46.7 miles cycling, 766′ of climbing (3614.4 total) – to read from the beginning, click here.

David whipped up some delectable blueberry pancakes and we shared another great morning repast, toured their camper and took a walk down to the lake. No F.L.A.T.s this morning, thankfully, and the best part was having David and Mary escort us the first 10 miles to Cleveland.

57.7 miles cycling, 937′ of climbing (3567.7 total) – to read from the beginning, click here.

Gordon swims every morning before work, so he was gone by the time we got up, again, a not-unusual thing for a Warmshowers host, and we had said our goodbyes and thanks before we went to bed. We had coffee and breakfast, packed up the bikes, and started out — getting about 300′ before realizing I had a F.L.A.T. rear tire. So, back to Gordon’s garage where I took all the gear off of Papa Hobo, flipped him over and started the process of finding the leak, making sure whatever caused it was out of the tire, and replacing it with a good tube.

56.9 miles cycling, 543′ of climbing (3510 total) – to read from the beginning, click here.

We got up around 7, broke down the tent and gear, moved back to a pavilion, watched the sunrise, made coffee and assembled some breakfast. We headed to McDonald’s for some better WiFi, and for me, some more coffee and an egg & cheese bagel, then headed off to Elmore.

61.2 miles cycling, 1195′ of climbing (3453.1 total) – to read from the beginning, click here.

After coffee and some breakfast, on we went to Wauseon. Neither of us had ever heard of it, so it would be new to us as many of the small towns we have visited have been. The ride was pretty flat with a tailwind to start the day, but that switched to a headwind by noon. Other than an 8 mile stretch on US 20A at the end of the ride, we were on very quiet back roads, passing lots of fields of corn, soybean, and occasionally tomatoes.

54.3 miles cycling, 1692′ of climbing (3391.9 total) – to read from the beginning, click here.

We said goodbye to Sarah, Curtis, and Elam and hit the Pumpkinvine Trail to start off (for us) a short day to Angola, IN. We rode through the Amish village of Shipshewana — think Lancaster on a much smaller scale. Not much else on this route as we were on local roads for much of the way.

9 miles cycling, 0′ of climbing (3346.6 total) – to read from the beginning, click here.

We spent the last two days in Goshen with Sarah, Curtis, and Elam feasting on their company and amazing meals, and comfortably resting our tired and sore bodies.