Journey Notes

It was brutally hot today. There were heat advisories with a combination of 36C/97F and high humidity that would make it feel like 43C/109F. I carried extra water and stopped twice for cold drinks but still ran out water at about 85 km. That was just the point where Rochelle caught up to me and I topped off for the last 20 km. I ended up using a fair bit of water by just pouring it over my head.

At the last minute, I decided to try a different route. This one, Google Maps suggested when I told it to avoid highways. It was shorter and a little more interesting looking than one that I had created by hand.

This new route took me across the north side of Minneapolis and then down a really nice road on the west bank of the Mississippi River. I got a good view of what I think is called St. Anthony Falls. It then took me over the Mississippi and into St. Paul before turning south and out into more industrial and then rural areas. It eventually took me onto highway 52 heading south to Cannon Falls.

One thing that really stood out for me about Minneapolis was how good their cycling infrastructure is. There are good cycling paths throughout the city and they have a bicycle sharing system like a lot of European cities have.

I personally have a bit of a problem with these kind of "off the street" paths because they are designed for inexperienced cyclists and don't work well for faster road cyclist. This is great for the inexperienced cyclists but their existence (the path, not the cyclists) mean that the streets are not as well adapted for cyclists as they would be if cycling was more integrated into the overall traffic planning. They do promote cycling a lot so I cannot complain too much.

Rochelle saw some fireworks on sale at Costco. Is there some kind of holiday coming up soon here in the US? :)

Tomorrow, I will continue south southeast on highway 52 to Rochester, only 90 km away. It should be a bit cooler, a bit less humid and for the first time in two weeks, a light tail wind!

Someone walking by just said "I love your camper". It's amazing that with all of the behemoth motorhomes and fifth-wheels around us that people still find the compact nature of VanGo appealing. We get such comments on an almost daily basis.

Finally, tonight we are staying at the beautiful and cheap, Lake Byllesby Campground, near Cannon Falls. It was great to take a dip in the only slightly chilly water at the end of such a hot day.