Today we rode from Sioux Falls, SD to Worthington,
Minnesota. It was suppose to be a 70 mile ride but
road construction and detours turned it into an 83
mile ride. We decided to take the long paved detour
route rather than try to fight our way over 7 miles of
dirt and gravel. Based on what we heard, it was
probably a wise decision. Again, the weather was with
us except for a slight headwind. It got into the 90’s
but that was later in the day so it wasn’t too bad.
It’s amazing that although the state lines carve up a
single body of land there really does seem to be a
change when you enter a new state. We noticed that
upon entering Minnesota the houses seemed much nicer
than in South Dakota. Also the air seemed much more
humid. A lot of it has to be our imagination but it
just seems uncanny.
The area of Minnesota we traveled today had some
incredible corn and soybean fields. We haven’t seen
fields like that since we traveled through southern
Illinois years ago. Even when you are on a slight rise
the fields stretch as far as the eye can see and the
density of the crops is amazing. Farming on that scale
is awe inspiring.
Tomorrow we knock out another “century” (100 miles or
more in a day) to Mankato, MN. And guess what?
Wednesday we do another “century”. Yup, two in a row!
Hopefully, they won’t be too bad since the terrain has
leveled out. A tailwind would be nice but we’ve almost
gotten to the point that we’ve quit hoping.
How many people don’t know that “The Valley of the Jolly Green
Giant” is in Minnesota?