Minnesota cycling - part two

Typical rails to trails bike path.  This is part of the Paul Bunyan trail.

Our second day of cycling in Minnesota was to be a bit shorter but with a hilly section.  We headed out of the parking lot, across the street and onto a bike trail.  However, that trail just went behind the neighboring restaurant to cross Hwy. 371.  The next three miles were on a side road and then Hwy. 371, fortunately with excellent wide shoulders.  I was glad to be heading this direction because that side road had a nice downhill and the next section of bike path was a right turn off the shoulder.  Both would have been less than pleasant if going the other direction.  First we would have been crossing Hwy. 371 two more times, both on curves, and then ending our ride with a significant uphill!


After a few curves and hills the trail straightened out and was flat for about eight miles to Hackensack.  The trail passes right through this little town so we stopped at the city park with nice restrooms and a few shops across the street.  We bought iced tea and coffee, but got no ice for the tea because it was bottled and in a cooler.  Oh well.  It was consumed quickly anyway!

Hackensack is home to Lucette, Paul Bunyan's girlfriend.

We then retraced our route for those same eight miles and this time headed basically west for nine miles of curves and hills.  The hills were steep enough for us to get down into our lowest gears and just plug away, but the downhills were fun.  It seemed that we chose the right direction because it felt like we had more downhills than up.

Why is it that hills flatten out in photographs?  This was UP!

Once through the hills we crossed Hwy. 34 to get back on a fairly flat rails to trails section of both the Paul Bunyan and Heartland trails.  At an intersection one sign indicated Walker was six miles but ten feet away the distance was listed as seven miles.  After the hills, it was definitely more like seven miles!  Based on our experience the next day, we believe there is inconsistency in determining where a town is located (at the edge or in the center).

The deer flies were out in abundance, especially on the flat sections.  A speed of at least 12 mph is needed to avoid being pestered too much but that isn't always possible.  I took a bandana, sprayed it with OFF! and put it on under my helmet.  Not pretty, but effective!  Note the 'deer fly' trap of duct tape.  It was suggested by a friend in New Hampshire and this was our first attempt.  With only three flies trapped, we felt it wasn't worth the effort.