International Falls to Northhome, 14/6/11 120k
So much for the early start, it was raining. So a raincoat was needed. I had planned on buying one here hence the lack thereof. I was going to go Goretex and expensive.
A plan to buy a plastic poncho to get me through to Bemidji would suffice The shop assistant showed me a coat leggings combo for $20. The fabric is like a disposable heavy duty chemicals o/alls. Did the trick perfectly and light.
So had deep fried walleye, hash browns, toast and fried egg for breaky, then headed off with plans to camp at Grand Falls. However the rain got heavier and I was soaked. Even though coat waterproof persperation ensured I was wet through.
Highway 71 out of IF has a tarred shoulder at least 2m wide all the way to Grand Falls, riding was safe. However due to winter snow there were cracks in the asphalt everywhere, they were patched with gap sealer. It made for a methodical bumpy ride.
The topography was dead flat and even a little down hill. I feel I am still carrying to much gear, it is an effort to lift the back wheel of the ground, admittedly I had fruit, veges dried milk etc on board for the leg.
This feeling will probably be confirmed upon my first hill ascent.
Leaving IF there are regular houses on small rural lots. After turning left at Pelland my long southward journey actually begins. Dwellings become sparse, then non existent.
The countryside is all larch trees and conifers. Mostly regrowth. Both sides of the road have drains heavily vegetated predominantly with Bull Rush. Lushness of vegetation abounds.
My side stand snapped during one rest to eat some nuts and fruit, shit!! It was great, you could wander when you got off the bike. More importantly there was not a thing to lean the bike on for miles.
At Grand Falls the camp area had a shelter, by this time I was getting a tad cold, so hung here for a while and put a wet odlo on over my woollen tee, took a few picks and made the decision to head for Northome some 31 miles south having travelled 34 miles. The day was shit so not much else to do. It would make the 39 miles to Bemidji tomorrow a pleasure.
My backside by now was bloody sore, and a rash had set in from chaffing of my riding shorts, more on that later. Stopped at at the local servo at GF for sometime chatting and a few coffees. The guy like most people here was a hunter and consequently had an inanimate museum of almost everything that moved in the woods nearby. Beaver, Pinemartin, bobcat, black bear,deer,moose and others I cant recall. I stand corrected regarding the little critters in the peanut story at Rainy Lake, they were infact chipmunks not squirells.
Soon after GF the shoulder, though present was unridable gravel. Then all the way to Northome they had layed brand new road mat as smooth as a any asphalt driveway.
A pleasure to ride on, minimal rolling resistence. By now traffic was sparse just the odd truck and SUV’s with boats behind. All traffic was really courteous and passed me completly in the north bound lane, effectively I had the south bound lane to myself. Only once did a car and truck meet together. This was a bit dodgey, so loaded it was hard to keep a line all along the shoulder was piled dirt due to the road works.
Stopped at Mizpah for some human fuel, beef jerky and nuts, beef not so good so many additives.
While preparing for this trip I experienced a total melt down on a long ride around Bello from not keeping up the food intake, it was scary I had not one bit of energy.
So am now eating all along the way. The 120k ride yesterday, had that happened with so far between services could have been dodgy. I have NZ dehy food packs as a back up.
By the time I got to my Motel my rear was acutely sore from bruising and chaff, those earlier bumps had taken their toll. I could hardly walk.It took 10 minutes just to soak myself in the shower because of the stinging.
On close inspection of the padding in the shorts I found the edge stitching was overlocked and rough. They were top shelf too. This was the prob I will replace them at the earliest opportunity. Camping with this affliction would be hard work.
Got over this and applied some antiseptic rash cream and just layed down totally buggered.
My arse was that sore the stump option may have been preferable, well maybe not.
Wildlife spotted apart from that on the servo wall was one deer, I was informed that some moose had been seen during the day.
Harley Davidsons with helmetless guys were spotted many times. I thought shit theres alot guys with health excuses not to wear them. I was later informed that in Minnesota it is not law to wear a helmet.
The motel was $48 for the night very basic. I blew the fuse using 2 heaters to try and dry my gear. Most importantly the bed was comfortable really thats all that matters for me.
So much for the early start, it was raining. So a raincoat was needed. I had planned on buying one here hence the lack thereof. I was going to go Goretex and expensive.
A plan to buy a plastic poncho to get me through to Bemidji would suffice The shop assistant showed me a coat leggings combo for $20. The fabric is like a disposable heavy duty chemicals o/alls. Did the trick perfectly and light.
So had deep fried walleye, hash browns, toast and fried egg for breaky, then headed off with plans to camp at Grand Falls. However the rain got heavier and I was soaked. Even though coat waterproof persperation ensured I was wet through.
Highway 71 out of IF has a tarred shoulder at least 2m wide all the way to Grand Falls, riding was safe. However due to winter snow there were cracks in the asphalt everywhere, they were patched with gap sealer. It made for a methodical bumpy ride.
The topography was dead flat and even a little down hill. I feel I am still carrying to much gear, it is an effort to lift the back wheel of the ground, admittedly I had fruit, veges dried milk etc on board for the leg.
This feeling will probably be confirmed upon my first hill ascent.
Leaving IF there are regular houses on small rural lots. After turning left at Pelland my long southward journey actually begins. Dwellings become sparse, then non existent.
The countryside is all larch trees and conifers. Mostly regrowth. Both sides of the road have drains heavily vegetated predominantly with Bull Rush. Lushness of vegetation abounds.
My side stand snapped during one rest to eat some nuts and fruit, shit!! It was great, you could wander when you got off the bike. More importantly there was not a thing to lean the bike on for miles.
At Grand Falls the camp area had a shelter, by this time I was getting a tad cold, so hung here for a while and put a wet odlo on over my woollen tee, took a few picks and made the decision to head for Northome some 31 miles south having travelled 34 miles. The day was shit so not much else to do. It would make the 39 miles to Bemidji tomorrow a pleasure.
My backside by now was bloody sore, and a rash had set in from chaffing of my riding shorts, more on that later. Stopped at at the local servo at GF for sometime chatting and a few coffees. The guy like most people here was a hunter and consequently had an inanimate museum of almost everything that moved in the woods nearby. Beaver, Pinemartin, bobcat, black bear,deer,moose and others I cant recall. I stand corrected regarding the little critters in the peanut story at Rainy Lake, they were infact chipmunks not squirells.
Soon after GF the shoulder, though present was unridable gravel. Then all the way to Northome they had layed brand new road mat as smooth as a any asphalt driveway.
A pleasure to ride on, minimal rolling resistence. By now traffic was sparse just the odd truck and SUV’s with boats behind. All traffic was really courteous and passed me completly in the north bound lane, effectively I had the south bound lane to myself. Only once did a car and truck meet together. This was a bit dodgey, so loaded it was hard to keep a line all along the shoulder was piled dirt due to the road works.
Stopped at Mizpah for some human fuel, beef jerky and nuts, beef not so good so many additives.
While preparing for this trip I experienced a total melt down on a long ride around Bello from not keeping up the food intake, it was scary I had not one bit of energy.
So am now eating all along the way. The 120k ride yesterday, had that happened with so far between services could have been dodgy. I have NZ dehy food packs as a back up.
By the time I got to my Motel my rear was acutely sore from bruising and chaff, those earlier bumps had taken their toll. I could hardly walk.It took 10 minutes just to soak myself in the shower because of the stinging.
On close inspection of the padding in the shorts I found the edge stitching was overlocked and rough. They were top shelf too. This was the prob I will replace them at the earliest opportunity. Camping with this affliction would be hard work.
Got over this and applied some antiseptic rash cream and just layed down totally buggered.
My arse was that sore the stump option may have been preferable, well maybe not.
Wildlife spotted apart from that on the servo wall was one deer, I was informed that some moose had been seen during the day.
Harley Davidsons with helmetless guys were spotted many times. I thought shit theres alot guys with health excuses not to wear them. I was later informed that in Minnesota it is not law to wear a helmet.
The motel was $48 for the night very basic. I blew the fuse using 2 heaters to try and dry my gear. Most importantly the bed was comfortable really thats all that matters for me.
6 room motel Northome(pop'n 240) eat your heart out Clare
South of Grand Forks, no shoulder , truck giving me heaps of room
Wet and cold at Grand falls Camp area
