47 miles

We made it to the town of Kindred. Today was the first day I felt like I was riding to actually get somewhere. I was able to tune in a couple of times, but it was a struggle. 

I saw lots of red tailed hawks. We’ve been passing more corn fields now, and soy. It seems we’ve finally left cattle country and are approaching the corn belt. It is renewing my desire to take that detour through Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. Danielle has officially decided to take the train home from Minneapolis. It’s a little bittersweet, but it feels like a good plan. There is a cool looking climbing gym there, so we can climb for a day and hang out before we say our goodbyes.

We stopped twice today—first, to replenish our snacks. Our campsite was raided by a bunch of raccoons last night. One of them popped into a can of pringles that I had left strapped to my bike, and then they proceeded to ransack Danielle’s bags too. I managed to scare them back into the trees by running straight at them, yelling and brandishing my deer antler (we found a random wheelbarrow full of sheds back in Montana) like an absolute lunatic, but it took an awful lot to disturb them. I guess you could say my animal instincts took over. We secured our food just inside the campground bathroom for the night, which they seemed unable or unwilling to breach.

The second stop we made was at a place that sold farm equipment—the building was brand new, and there was a contractor working on the showroom with his 5-month-old chocolate lab, named Hunter. We had just stopped in to use their bathroom, but we ended up having a picnic lunch there too, finding a welcome patch of shade next to a big John Deere tractor with 5’ tires. From there, it was only a few more miles to Kindred.

We are staying at a city park—it’s well kept, and there’s a community pool next to it. The town has a grocery store and a school. It seems like a welcoming place. There was a bike path leading in from Highway 46. We used the pool. I lounged and read a little of my book, and we made dinner and chatted before turning in.