July 23, 1998 - Minneapolis - Cannon Falls

DISTANCE TRAVELED: 45.75 Miles

TIME: 3 Hours 25 Minutes

AVERAGE SPEED: 17.0 Miles/Hour

TRAVEL CONDITIONS: Warm and sunny all day. A perfect day for biking overall.

ROAD CONDITIONS: Smooth roads all day except for the 3 miles of road construction where there was a complete road block. In this area, the entire road was torn up until there was only dirt.

TERRAIN/DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Some very small rolling hills but overall a very easy ride especially since it was a very short day.

DAILY JOURNAL COMMENTS:
I got up at 7:50 to make sure that when my new Speedplay pedals came that I would be there to sign for them. While sitting upstairs, I read my book for school which I hadn't done for a long time. Finally around 9:00 I went back downstairs and told the person at the front desk to tell me if they came. I packed up my things and just as I was about to go and throw it into the SAG, they finally came and Matt was able to sign for them. After gathering all of my things and replacing my pedals, I was finally able to leave at 10:50. I had planned on leaving by 10:00 but got a little delayed. Finally I was able to leave and had a little trouble finding my way out of Minneapolis. I ended up asking directions about seven times before finally getting onto the correct road. Eventually I was able to get onto a road that would take me all the way into Northfield where Carleton College was located. As I rode in, I passed by Abigail and her mother who were eating on the side of the road. I didn't realize that it was them so I passed by and stopped a few miles later at a Dairy Queen. I didn't even know that anyone would be on the same road as me since I was off of the normal route. A few minutes later, they stopped also and I finally recognized them. After finishing a sandwich and a blizzard, I left to go to Northfield which was about 15 more miles and I had only 50 minutes to get there. I was going fine and would have been on time for the 2:00 tour but a big orange sign was visible from a little way away. When I eventually reached it, I knew that it wasn't a good thing since it said that the road was closed 4 miles ahead. The detour was 15 miles and I was only supposed to have 7 more to go on the correct road. I knew that I would never make it if I took the detour so I went right through. When I finally reached the road block, the entire road was torn up so I rode on dirt for the next three miles passing by huge graters and other construction equipment. When I arrived at the school, I was only 10 minutes late. I locked up my bike and caught up. I had only missed a tour of the chapel which wasn't too bad. After the tour, I then had an interview which was more of an information session for me than an interview for the school to know me. Instead of riding over to Cannon Falls which was about 15 miles away, I got a ride from one of the admissions people which was great. I arrived at the church at 5:00 and immediately went inside to put my bike away. One of the rooms had bean bags so Heather, Tami, and I laid down and fell asleep for an hour, while still in our biking clothes.(Picture66) Finally the SAG got to the church at around 6:00 -- Anthony, the driver hadn't left Minneapolis until 5:00! We claimed our rooms to sleep in and then I cleaned the tar off of my shoes and old pedals before eating some of my food. A little later we had a dinner of rice and vegetables with a sauce. After dinner, we watched "Good Will Hunting" until 12:30 AM. It was was a fairly good movie. After eating some more food and then listening to some music, I finally went to bed around 1:00 AM.

TRIP ROUTE:
Follow East River Road. Turn Left on E Franklin Av. Turn Left on W River Pkwy. Turn right on E 24th St. Turn L on 35th Av S. Turn Left on E 26th St. Turn Right on 36th Av S. Ride onto Minnehaha Av onto Minnehaha Ser Road onto Street 31998. Bear Right on 47th Av S Bear left on Minnehaha Ave. Turn Left on 55. Ride onto Courthouse Blvd W. Turn Sharply left on S Robert Trail. Ride onto Chippendale Av. Ride onto Dahoney Av Bear Left on Water St. onto 4th St. Rt on Union St. Left on 6th St. Right on College.