Monday, July 11, 2011 Stillwater, MN 106 miles

Whew! 106 (rounded up from 105.9) in 8 hours of cycling time! I really didn’t think I’d complete the century, but circumstances were excellent. It turned out to be fun and ever so doable. I left the motel with Judie (pic: l-r, Katy, Mary, Judie) 6:07 (Doing this took considerable effort. I was up at 5:00 to get coffee, do some exercises, eat breakfast, pack some snacks, etc.). The morning was quite cool - about 65 w/wind-chill. With a few exceptions the road were smooth, clean and had good shoulders. The exceptions were short distances of farm-to-market roads that were VERY rough. Best of all, we had tailwinds for most of the day.  Just before Osceola (not AR) we crossed the St. Croix River over into Michigan.  Sue (Ohio) joined us for lunch at an Amish restaurant in downtown Osceola. This was at mile 79. From then on, the day was hot AND very hilly. In fact, about the time we reached 100 miles, we had a very steep and dangerous descent down to Hwy. 64. Of course to get to this point, we had some very steep uphills. One in particular was a 14% grade and followed immediately after a long, curvy (fun) downhill. Just after the steep section, we crossed the Mississippi River again and re-entered Minnesota at Stillwater where we’re spending two nights. After crossing the river (where we “took” the lane on the narrow bridge), we immediately climbed up to Second St., turned left and immediately climbed up to Churchill St. For those of us who did the Meandering MS trip, our van tour of the city was MUCH easier! This is such a pretty, historic town.

WT has done a good job of keeping us on backroads which makes our route very interesting. Today, I guess we followed township borders or property lines, because every 2-3 miles we turned south and then east. There was one 6 mile stretch and one 15 mile stretch. It really was important to pay careful attention to our que sheets so as not to miss a turn or turn the wrong way.

Observations today: Passed only a few lakes. Saw and smelled lots of turkey farms. Continue to see silos, but the pattern at the top has changed from checkerboard to piano keys. EVERY front yard is green and manicured. Even humble homes have clean and lovely yards.