Day 39. Winona
75 miles 1,985 feet
At Pratt Taber B&B, Ron made me a serious breakfast and joined me for conversation. Their B&B in Red Wing nearly always has guests, from everywhere on the planet. I'm one of a stream of visitors to this small town on the Mississippi, and that includes cruise ship passengers who can stay on their boat.
I headed generally southeast and for most of the daytime had a a 10+ mph tailwind. In general in the upper US winds blow W->E and N->S in the summer. Today was an example of how this pays off. I biked on 35, the Great River Road, and it is generally flat, on average downhill because it follows the Mississippi, and the tailwind helped quite a bit. I stopped at every wayside and historical marker, to learn and to rest. I learned that the Mississippi forms large Lake Pepin because one of its tributaries, the Chippewa River, dumps more glacial debris than even the Mississippi can carry away. In my region, the Columbia River has lots of human-made hydroelectric dams and historically has had at least 2 earthquake-caused landslide dams (Bridge of the Gods and Ribbon Cliff), but none like this. Google Nelson, Wisconsin to see it.
Summer is road maintenance time and there are lots of one lane flagger or traffic light stops on my journey. Without maintenance the roads I cycle on would quickly crumble as The World Without Us points out. Already plants grow in cracks, sometimes unabated. The smooth pavement that I relish is only there because road crews repair rough patches. So I can hardly complain about the occasional delay without being hypocritical.
With the tailwind I arrived in Winona, Minnesota, earlier than usual for a 75 mile day. It's a water-focused college town that is full of enthusiasm for all it has to offer. I opted for my usual chain motel rather than a B&B or campground, so I am not in the historical district. However I will pass through it tomorrow after stopping and the bakery that is prominently described in the brochure for tourists. It opens at 6! Then I'll continue down the Mississippi toward Muscatine, Iowa.
At Pratt Taber B&B, Ron made me a serious breakfast and joined me for conversation. Their B&B in Red Wing nearly always has guests, from everywhere on the planet. I'm one of a stream of visitors to this small town on the Mississippi, and that includes cruise ship passengers who can stay on their boat.
I headed generally southeast and for most of the daytime had a a 10+ mph tailwind. In general in the upper US winds blow W->E and N->S in the summer. Today was an example of how this pays off. I biked on 35, the Great River Road, and it is generally flat, on average downhill because it follows the Mississippi, and the tailwind helped quite a bit. I stopped at every wayside and historical marker, to learn and to rest. I learned that the Mississippi forms large Lake Pepin because one of its tributaries, the Chippewa River, dumps more glacial debris than even the Mississippi can carry away. In my region, the Columbia River has lots of human-made hydroelectric dams and historically has had at least 2 earthquake-caused landslide dams (Bridge of the Gods and Ribbon Cliff), but none like this. Google Nelson, Wisconsin to see it.
Summer is road maintenance time and there are lots of one lane flagger or traffic light stops on my journey. Without maintenance the roads I cycle on would quickly crumble as The World Without Us points out. Already plants grow in cracks, sometimes unabated. The smooth pavement that I relish is only there because road crews repair rough patches. So I can hardly complain about the occasional delay without being hypocritical.
With the tailwind I arrived in Winona, Minnesota, earlier than usual for a 75 mile day. It's a water-focused college town that is full of enthusiasm for all it has to offer. I opted for my usual chain motel rather than a B&B or campground, so I am not in the historical district. However I will pass through it tomorrow after stopping and the bakery that is prominently described in the brochure for tourists. It opens at 6! Then I'll continue down the Mississippi toward Muscatine, Iowa.
Elegant breakfast cooked by Ron.
My 3 favorite words these days are downhill, tailwind, and flat. These arrows are in the right direction.
Lake Pepin, naturally created in the Mississippi by Chippewa River sediment.
An incredibly long fence of downhill skis.
