Long Prairie to Cambridge

Tuesday, July 8, 2004

Westbound: Fergus Falls to Long Prairie Eastbound: Cambridge, MN to Amery, WI

Long Prairie to Cambridge

This was a long day. The morning included some of the nicest riding of the tour; the afternoon provided a comparison.

Cambridge emerged as a destination following another revision of the original, car-based schedule. With sag support, I thought I could get from Long Prairie to North Branch. Without sag support, I knew I needed to shorten this segment. Perhaps I should have selected Princeton, but instead I told me wife to send the stuff—the biography of John Adams, some maps, and my passport—to the motel in Cambridge. Now I, too, had to get there.

Breakfast came from the nearby supermarket. I was then packed and ready to roll well before nine am, for me a good start. I needed, I thought, to send stuff home and found the post office where I also found a line. The folks in front of me were shipping stuff to China. They didn’t want the slowest boat but didn’t like the cost of the fastest plane. The postal worker was patient and informative, but the transaction took time. Eventually, he greeted me and sent my book and maps on their merry way home. Now it was more like 9:15—still an acceptable start.

As I was getting my bags closed and unlocking the bike, an older man started a conversation. He was interested in touring and has a daughter living in Washington. We chatted for at least a half hour. Here was an example of the subtle pressure presented by having to catch an airplane. Even though I was quite happy to chat, I had to get underway if I was to reach my scheduled destination.

The ACA route out of town included a detour or two but soon reached lovely country-side. The route wasn’t flat but the hills were short and usually not very steep. The land was lush, green, and seemed well-tended. I saw little or no traffic. It’s hard to imagine nicer touring conditions. ACA’s routing decisions began to gain luster in my mind.

I stopped for an early lunch at a bar in Sobieski. The sandwich was ok, the crowd not real welcoming, the air conditioning maybe too cool, and the air decidedly too smokey. The server was pleasant and didn’t complain when I sat as far as I could from the bar and the smokers. I’d had my chat this morning and contented myself with my book.

Soon after lunch, I emerged into more trafficked conditions on Minnesota 238 which led to Bowlus and the Nature Road bridge over the Mississippi, a landmark I had selected months earlier from my mapping

Mississippi River from Nature Road Bridge

Nature Road Bridge over Mississippi near Bowlus, MN

The bridge is quiet and not very long. Even this far north, the Mississippi is a real river, but it is nothing compared to the Columbia at Vantage or the Mississippi further south. Even so, I wasn’t disappointed, for crossing the “Father of Waters” has symbolic meaning well beyond the scenic values.

The river, I found, was a divide even within Minnesota. From my excellent lunch in Breckenridge until just after crossing the river, Minnesota had appeared lush, green, and well-tended. Upon reaching U.S. 10 at Royalton and for the balance of the day, the prevailing appearance was less green, less vibrant, more tired. Perhaps it was my take on a longer day, but even the stores seemed to suggest less prosperity.

I stopped at U.S. 10 for something to drink and to call home. With the two hour difference it was just before lunch in King County. The cell phone worked fine.

Nature Road continued eastward. I was still on the ACA route but now found why they had given it a limited endorsement. The pavement frequently was riddled with expansion joints. It was slightly up hill away from the river. And the land just looked less inviting. Onward I pushed. I stopped for more juice either at Morrill or Ramey. The store seemed to have not much more business than the market at lonely Sand Spring, Montana.

The ACA route then took a series of right, left turns from the end of Nature Road until it emerged on Minnesota 23 west of Milaca where I was very tempted to try to ride the shoulder of U.S. 169 south to Minnesota 95.

It was nearly 5pm. Upon seeing a Subway, I thought stopping to eat made sense. Then I could push until I reached Cambridge. The staff at the Subway saw the bike and had many questions. They were very supportive, which was quite welcome by that time of day. They also showed me a short cut to the road I wanted to continue toward Dalbo and Cambridge. By 5:45, I needed to leave and off I went with their good wishes.

Indeed their parking lot did lead to the road I thought I wanted, but golly it was bumpy and rough and not very pleasant. Instead of continuing on the ACA route to Dalbo and then down Minnesota 47 to route 95, I took the first turn that looked like it was heading for Princeton. Anything to get off CR 2.

I’m glad I made the change. My new path, 85^th Avenue, had good pavement followed by the same bad pavement, together with occasional traffic. It also, however, seemed to have mile after mile of land with four silos per square mile where the homes were built not where the land told them but where neighbors could associate. Suddenly, Minnesota again looked like a nice place to live. That made me much happier even as I feared I was racing dusk.

Soon I entered the north side of Princeton and came out on Minnesota 95. Somehow my maps or my imagination had convinced me that 95 would have a nice shoulder and take me to Wisconsin in fine style. Another myth destroyed. Where it has a shoulder the shoulder is usually no more than 18 inches of pavement outside the fog line. And the shoulder disappears from time to time, often where it would be particularly useful. In the stretch on 95 between Princeton and Cambridge, I had the single most frightening experience of the tour.

I was making ok time down the narrow shoulder, 14 or so mph. It was around 7:30 or 8 pm and most traffic had gotten off the road. I saw an bridge across a small stream, looked in my mirror and saw that the only traffic was well back, confirmed that the bridge did not include a shoulder, and took the lane to cross the bridge. I put on a slight burst of speed but the difference between 14 and 16 mph is sometimes harder for others to discern.

The vehicle in my mirror turned out to be a pick up truck driven by a young man. He chose to pass me on the bridge, using the entire left lane. I got a good look at him when he managed to turn around, face me, make a rude gesture, and lean on the horn all at the same time. However annoying his impatience was, it was no direct threat to me. His distraction was a direct threat to a young lady driving a sub compact car towards us in her proper lane.

My friend returned to the correct lane just before crashing head on into the young lady. With an estimated speed of 55 to 65 mph for the truck and 35 mph or so for her, it would have been an energetic crash that might well have reached me as well. By a fraction of a second, we escaped a tragic consequence of adolescent pique.

The rest of the jaunt to Cambridge was uneventful. The road had its good parts and its not so good stretches; there were some hills. The Carlson Inn was exactly where my maps showed it. I checked in and received my package. All was well, and I called home at 8:48 to confirm my arrival.

112 miles in 8:44 on the bike for an average of 12.8mph.

Back up to Fargo, ND to Cambridge, MN

Westbound: Fergus Falls to Long Prairie Eastbound: Cambridge, MN to Amery, WI