Rochester, MN - Mitchell, SD (Current Location 6/25)

June 19
We took our rest day in style, going to see Super 8, eating Wendy's for lunch, eating Sam's Club samples, and soaking in the hot tub before falling asleep to The Big Lebowski. Can't beat that.

June 20
We left the house early but we didn't really leave Rochester until around 5pm. I'll briefly explain.

Since we decided to split the group up (Jared and I; Carson and Travis) due to time constraints, Jared and I were awaiting a Blackberry that my grandpa Ron was sending us. It was supposed to arrive on the 18th but didn't come until today. (Thanks grandpa, it helps a ton). So we had to ride down to the post office where they were unable to do anything to help us. Then we rode downtown and grabbed a cup of coffee at Caribou before heading over to Barnes and Noble where I picked up a copy of Donald Miller's, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, at the recommendation of Spencer Cook from Olivet. It's been a fantastic book so far and I can't help but want to get lost in it.

As we sat outside of the bookstore a woman who was meeting her daughter for lunch came over and talked to us before her daughter, who is doing Americorp, joined her. I can't stress how much random conversations mean to us during a day so if you're reading this, thank you so much for just taking the time to chat. I sometimes feel like we make ourselves unapproachable by wearing our bandanas and growing out our patchy facial hair so it's nice when people talk to us anyway.

Eventually we decided the mail had to have arrived so we rode back to the house to find the package had made it. We took it down to Fazoli's to load up on carbs and set the phone up which is always fun for me. I can't get enough of blackberry despite all the other smartphones out there.

After realizing we wouldn't be able to do a century ride we settled on Pine Island which was only about 13 miles away, almost entirely by bike trail. We didn't complain about this day one bit.

When arriving in town we realized that we had made the classic mistake of not making any arrangements for a place to stay so after looking for a town park that didn't exist Jared decided to knock on the door of a home that he suspected might be the parsonage of a church in town. Luckily he was correct and the pastor agreed to let us set up our tent on the church lawn.

While we were setting up she came over and brought us some boneless chicken, mashed potatoes, and sugar cookies and bananas for breakfast. People are unbelievable sometimes and on this trip what I mean is always. No matter how many times it happens you never get over just how wonderful people are across this nation in every town we hit. Imagine if people would just open up to everyone the way they do for us scraggly looking cyclists, this world would be so much better off.

June 21
We set out from Pine Island without much delay after a morning of rain. The plan was to keep heading north but when we reached the small town of Zumbrota we decided that we were ready for our second breakfast at a small diner.

At the diner we took the initiative to sit at the counter across from two men having their coffee and reading the newspaper. Our new goal for the trip is to have as many people interactions as possible and this was our first way of doing it rather than being closed off at our own table. It paid dividends right away as the two men chatted with us and helped us find a route that would get us off of the dirt roads we had been on all morning.

From there we set out for New Prague which was still a considerable distance away. After a long ride in the wind we finally reached the town of Northfield which is definitely a college town with some really cool people. As seems to be the case always, whenever we need a bike shop we find something awesome. As we got to Northfield my rear tire went flat and I discovered a rip in it so I knew I should replace the tire as soon as I could.

I went to the first shop I could find and after a very mediocre experience at Mike's Shop I headed out with a new tire in hand as I went down Main Street.

That's when I was stopped by an employee at Fit To Be Tri'd, a cycling, running, shop that I was invited to come in to switch my tire and share stories. This is the shop I would have gone to had I known better and I was glad to have been able to talk with them.

Northfield is a town full of very curious and friendly people. One such person is Bill Nelson who I met at the bike shop. He's a fellow Browns fan who slightly resembles Drew Carey in a way. Well Bill rode his truck ahead of us and about 5 miles outside of town he flagged us down. He said that he didn't want to make a big deal of it but that he wanted to buy our dinner in New Prague. So he handed us money and went to get back in his truck immediately. I stopped him to get a picture with him but I will never forget the graciousness and humility that Bill showed to us that day. It's moments like these that make the trip and seem almost miraculous, no make that absolutely.

When we arrived in New Prague we sat down for Mexican food which was perfectly filling and delicious and just the right thing to send us off to bed in our tent outside a church.

June 22
We started out our day very slowly on this day. I rode down to McDonald's without taking down the camp as Jared slept. Having a nice breakfast for cheap and being able to talk to the girlfriend and mother helped me feel connected to my normal life that I've grown to miss. I love riding and this trip is incredible but it's exciting knowing that the life that awaits me when I get back is a good one.

After breaking camp we rode down the street until we saw the New Prague Czech bakery. We were told in Northfield that we needed to czech it out and eat a colachky (what a terrible Czech I am that I can't spell that correctly). We also purchased day old donuts for $.50 which was the price for a bag of six huge and delicious donuts...challenged my mercantile purchase.

Just a moment after leaving the bakery, a man with gauged ears stopped me. I'm naming him Rex because he's a cool guy. He asked me if we were riding across the country but I said "the country," matter of factly. I sometimes forget that we've actually come pretty far and that it's a big deal to other people so I don't always sound as excited when I say it. He shook my hand and said it was awesome and it was a real encouragement to me. Thanks Rex, you're the man!

The rest of the day was pretty much terrible as we faced boring roads, wind, and rain. We limped into Redwood Falls where a pastor offered to let us stay at the church. It had all the amenities we needed, bathrooms, computers, and comfy sanctuary chairs that we laid across. Just before bed we went to Burger King and I ate a triple whopper, double stacker, fries, coke, and some of Jared's nuggets but thankfully I still had snacks back at the church in my bags.

After trying to update my blog for over an hour and losing my post I went to bed mad at everything in the world.

June 23
The pastor had told us that there would be some ladies coming to clean the church at 9am so we thought we would be out in time in the morning, but it was a miscommunication as we woke to the sound of two women coming into the church to clean. We tried to stay out of their way but then one of the women handed us some money and told us we should try the deli across the street for breakfast. It was another miracle to me even if I was pretty sure she just wanted us to get out of her way.

We went back to the church after breakfast and finished loading up the bikes, eager to get on the road and get going to Hendricks where we were going to be staying. It was late and we knew we were making the day more stressful for ourselves but when Eric, a tall slender man with a V for Vendetta kind of look (handlebar mustache included) approached us asking to shake the hands of fellow "tribe" members we had to stop. He then asked us where we get our lunch and coffee and then offered to treat us at the coffee shop he owned across the street. We spent about an hour in Calf Fiend with Eric talking cycling and it was a moment that we knew could never have happened prior to the split so it was encouraging to receive that moment of affirmation that our decision was the right one.

As soon as we left the coffee shop we were greeted by the same wind as the day prior which was a bit crippling and discouraging. We gritted out each mile and rode to towns where all they had was a gas station but eventually we reached the town of Marshall which was a reasonable sized town on the way to our destination.

I called Jared when I got in to see where he was and as I was on the phone with him a man named John rode up to me on an unloaded touring bike. Not just any touring bike, a Novara (I ride a Novara). John offered to take me for a cup of coffee and since I have made it my motto to never turn down free food, drink, or conversation, I followed him to the coffee shop in town.

Once there we all chatted at length about the trip and in the middle of conversation John offered to take us in if we wanted to stay in Marshall. We gladly accepted since Hendricks was still a good distance away and we wanted to head straight south from Marshall. After John left the shop the owners treated us to a healthy dinner that hit the spot.

When we got to John's house we got to relax, shower and chat with him before watching the NBA Draft which took me back to civilian life.

June 24
In the morning John fixed us some breakfast and after taking pictures with him we said our goodbyes before heading into town. John was a guy who just met us on the street and had no reason to offer such hospitality, but he boosted our morale in a huge way and made June 23rd possibly the most miraculous day in awhile.

We went back to the coffee shop because they told us the day before they would treat us to coffee so I got a delicious turtle mocha and bagel with cream cheese and then a lemon poppy seed muffin for the road that was out of this world. Daily Grind, you're amazing! Thank you so much for treating us so well. You really spoiled us.

Then we hit the bike shop in town where a mechanic lubricated our chains and helped find me a replacement screw for my sandal cleat. They are a very efficient and helpful shop, great experience.

And then it was on to a long day that took us over 100 miles to Sioux Falls, SD.

We stopped in Pipestone at McDonald's for some cheap calories and then it was just a grind it out kind of day in the wind.

Reaching South Dakota proved to be not such a big deal as we didn't cross on a major road and didn't find a real sign but we were there and that was cool I suppose. To be honest we haven't really come to love this state just yet, but the people have been more than great enough to overcome the dirt roads.

When we reached our hosts in Sioux Falls we were relieved to be off the bike. After showers we had a nice pasta dinner and conversation about touring with our hosts before climbing into the warmest bed all trip. I was out like a light.

June 25
Today we road out of Sioux Falls with the intention of reaching Mitchell. We reached it by 5pm somehow which is pretty remarkable for a 68 mile day.

Early into the day we met Jessa and Nick who are touring the same way as us right now. We met them after our chow down at Pizza Ranch buffet and for most of the day we played a game called we ride as fast as we can without letting them catch us. It wore me out but it was kind of nice to see another group of tourists who had learned how to do it on their own. We saw them throughout the day until Mitchell and expect we'll see them again before Black Hills, although with our route it's possible we may not.

And so now we're at Pastor Keith's house in Mitchell. Pastor Keith is the pastor of the Wesleyan church here in town and graciously invited us to stay here with him. We'll attend service tomorrow morning and then head out again toward Chamberlain where we'll cross the Missouri River which we hear is at a record high right now.

So now I'm caught up. I'll try to do a better job of making use of email posting to make the posts shorter from now on but my phone signal is getting a bit dicey and my best bet is going to be wifi which might become hard to find given how few towns we're going to encounter.

Thank you for reading and I hope you'll continue joining us on our journey. I'm on google latitude now so you can follow me that way if you want to know when we get to the Badlands or mountains.

God Bless!