This year's The Ride Across Minnesota fundraiser for the MS Society did not disappoint. The first day, we drove to Alexandria, signed in, hopped on our bikes, and rode to Long Prairie after stopping at a VFW for a $6 breakfast that featured some very garlicky, burp-inducing sausage. I got hit by some rain during the last half of the day, but I dried out and warmed up at the very well-organized fairgrounds.
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Seriously, my dumb body shuts off the blood
to my fingers even when chilled in a summer rain. |
We had dinner at a great Mexican restaurant in the back of a grocery store, after seeing some pretty rude anti-immigrant signs in town. The people working there hauled out extra folding tables and chairs to accommodate the cyclists.
On the way back to the fairgrounds, we saw a family butchering some large animal in their backyard. It was fascinating. Once back at the fairgrounds, I skipped watching the country band and opted to shower instead. The next morning, the Long Prairie mayor picked up my luggage and took it to the luggage truck for me, and I ate a delicious breakfast in exchange for making a donation to the local kids hockey team.
The second day was pretty hot with some rolling hills, beautiful Amish homesteads, wandering chickens, and homemade cookies from church ladies. I also rediscovered how satisfying a can of Coke and a little cup of chocolate pudding can be mid-ride on a hot day.
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| We saw a lot of this. |
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| And this. |
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| I wondered how large the town is with a town hall of this size. |
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This woman on the left is someone I see each year. This is
the first time I saw her wearing denim shorts while riding. |
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| I lost these fantastic sunglasses on day 5. |
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| Someone went through a lot of trouble to paint this building. |
We camped in Wadena for the night, where I spent a good hour cleaning up all the lotion that had exploded in my bag.
On day three, we rode to Fergus Falls, by way of Phelps Mill. Parts of this year's route overlapped with last year's route, which is unusual. On the bright side, I got to visit the mill again.
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| Phelps Mill |
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| Very slowly assembling camp in the heat and humidity. |
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| We found good pizza in Fergus Falls. |
On the first night in Fergus Falls, we were evacuated to a government building when some storms swept through. I talked with the Mayor of Marshall, Minnesota, who does the ride each year, while there. I ignored the second evacuation request at 4:30 a.m., which was a good call.
This year was weird, as we spent two nights in the same place, but did a long day of riding in between. The day started off cool and foggy and got rather hot, humid, and quite windy. The homemade caramel rolls and nut goodies made by church ladies along the way helped me feel better, as did the huge pile of ice cream at the end of the day, purchased from an ice cream truck that may have once been an ambulance.
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| Egrets filling a tree in Fergus Falls |
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| Steamy, pretty uphill climb |
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| Me, on the downhill later in the day |
Dan, Steve, and I took a very short detour from the route and rode to, and walked to the top of, Inspiration Peak.
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| Sinclair Lewis praised "the enchanting peace and seclusion of this place for contemplation." |
After dinner on the second night in Fergus Falls, we watched Miss Minnesota emcee the team poem and song contest. She was surprisingly good. And the team poems and songs, as always, met the right balance of humor and seriousness about why we ride.
On the final day, we rode from Fergus Falls to Alexandria. I saw the lower half of a deer leg on the trail. It was a cooler, greyer day, and I enjoyed pushing myself by riding pretty hard.
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Our 2017 TRAM team on
Day 5 a/k/a "the day I lost my sunglasses." |
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| 5/6 of us afterwards |
I saw many of the TRAM regulars this week - the guy that looks like Vinny from Veronica Mars, the cigarette-smoking guy with fancy bikes who we've nicknamed "the Enigma," the young couple who are always camped by us but whose names I don't know, the tandem-riding couple who have been married for over a decade after they met on the TRAM, the lady from Austin with a plastic pig strapped on her bike, a kind of odd, but nice, duck named Ralph. I met a nice guy, Joe, from Northfield and learned about his early retirement to spend time with his wife who has MS, and heard many stories from riders throughout the week about why they ride and who they are riding for.
Many people who don't have immediate family members affected by MS tell a similar story: they do the ride for the fun and challenge of it, and get hooked and return each year after learning about why it is so important witnessing the dedication of the other riders and volunteers.
Our team raised over $70,250 for the MS Society this year by riding our bikes. I'm really proud of our work! Thanks for all the support!
