Minneapolis and North

   A week in Minneapolis was nowhere near enough time to explore even a small part of what it has to offer, but we made our best effort.  Samara and I made the rounds to a good many of the bike shops: One On One, Angry Catfish, Haiwatha, Calhoun, Freewheel, Behind Bars, Penn, The Hub, and one or two others whose names I can't remember.  For those who don't believe it: bikes and coffee under one roof go great together.  I can't quite figure why the shops that I've been to in California, with the exception of a few in San Francisco and the immediate surroundings thereof, that have the kind of homey feel that so many of these do.  I guess it's a city thing.  One On One, had frames hanging from the heads of Elk, Deer, and Moose, and a basement full of used stuff and bikes that you could piece together.  They even had a Little 500 bike made by roadmaster!  Way too cool.  They had a bike hanging up that had White Industries Derailleurs and shifters too.  Haiwatha carried Rivendell, making it the second shop on this trip (the first being Hyde Street Cycles in Boise), which is pretty gutsy and cool.  The list of cool things goes on, but suffice to say that all of these shops had an atmosphere that felt to me like a bike shop should feel, and were staffed by people who were really nice. 
  After Samara flew back to Arizona, I left and headed North to Duluth, only to find that I had more beautiful bike path on which to ride.  In the end, between the 30 or so miles of the Harwood Trail, and the 60 or 70 miles of the Willard Munger State Trail, I ended up having only about 40 or 50 miles of actual road to ride on the way there.  On the way I met some folks from Duluth who were riding to Mahtowa for the 9th Annual Folks Festival there.  A great find!  Mahtowa consists of a general store/ gas station, a bar, and another bar, and a small space where they set up a stage and hold a three-day-long folk festival.  I felt like I was at a sort of Woodstock...it was a pretty cool feeling.  Duluth was hilly, and it stormed heavily that night; luckily, I had a warmshowers house to stay at.  Much appreciated--Thanks Lynn and Dave!  From there, I entered Wisconsin.  Up 13 around the peninsula to Bayfield where I stopped at one of the coolest bike shops yet: Bayfield Bike Route, which looks pretty much like a garage.  Marlon there was super cool, and found me a place to stay.  Bayfield is really pretty, but man, it's humid up here!  Next, I'm off to Sault Ste. Marie, where there sounds like there's a pretty cool bike shop/ campground to stop at.

The lake in Fergus Falls...did I already post this?

Near Ashby on the trail from Fergus Falls

On the trail near St. Joseph

The coolest cafe along the trail to St. Joseph.  Newberry?  I can't remember where really.

On the trail, to show that we were both there.

That's in Minneapolis.  That sign is the Pillsbury sign.  Wow.

  I'll have to post more photos later, because this computer is pretty slow at uploading them.  Take care!