Fall Tour 2000

Day 4: Maiden Rock to Hudson WI

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October in Minnesota can be iffy. The weather tends to be either spectacular or awful, and we had already had several days of spectacular. Our fourth day of the tour dawned again delightful even ideal weather, much to my surprise as my natural pessimism predicted rain or a shift to a howling gale from the north. I decided to ride our planned route which would give Jean time to antique, browse and shop without me impatiently tapping my feet, yawning, looking at my watch, sighing, etc.- in short, doing my Al Gore imitation. I decided to cheat a little and put most of my luggage in the VW bus rather than carrying it with me as I had up to this point.

In planning the routes, I had depended on several sources. The two reliable ones were maps from the Adventure Cycling Association and a book written by a friend of Jean's and mine, Richard Arey. Richard is the author and publisher of Twin Cities Bicycling, a Fred's Best Guide. Today's route was straight out of Richard's book- in fact, I photocopied the pages and directions and took them with me in my saddlebag. Richard is also the founder or instigator of the St. Paul Classic, an annual bike ride in St. Paul that aims at promoting cycling and attracts about 5,000 participants every year. Jean and I both volunteer at the Classic, with Jean managing the food for 5,000 bicyclists and myself coordinating the ride marshals to make sure that someone is around to help riders with problems.

After a wonderful leisurely breakfast at the Harrisburg, I left Jean and the VW bus and rode northward on Hwy 35. The plan was to possibly meet in River Falls for lunch or, failing that, to meet at Art Doyle's bike shop in Hudson. The skies were basically clear again; the south wind was still blowing for the fourth day in a row, but today that made it a tailwind. I wasn't initially able to enjoy it, because right out of Maiden Rock is a climb up the hill that separates Maiden Rock from Bayport. At the top of the hill, which really wasn't as much as I was expecting, I found a wonderful white church built in the 1880's. The church sat above a wonderful view of Lake Pepin, looking south towards the bend in the lake between Red Wing and Lake City. Realizing that I was on tour, not training for a race, I rode over to the churchyard to get a closer look. The church was very plain and simple, but well maintained on the outside. I didn't try to go in but as there was no one around I assumed it wasn't open. The headstones I saw were a mix of late 19th and early 20th century attesting to the several generations of immigrants and their progeny who had made a living from the land there.

I went around the south side of the church yard to a spot where I could see the river in the distance, beyond the field of soybeans and some still-standing corn. It was quietly spectacular, with a strong sense of distance not very different from the Great Plains. In the photo, the bluish bluffs of Wisconsin and Minnesota appear to merge, and you can just see the gap between them where the river turns towards Lake City. It was a very tranquil spot and sort of hard to leave- I really wanted to just take a nap in the sun!

That wasn't going to get me to Hudson, though, so I got back on my bike. Hwy 35 undulates northward, with the hill between Maiden Rock and Bayport being the biggest obstacle of the day. I made good time and soon found myself nearing the intersection with Hwy 63, the road across the river back into Red Wing. I briefly debated going across into Red Wing for lunch, but changed my mind. I was going north; when I planned my route I had wanted to get off Hwy 35 and ride on County Road K through Hager City WI. Due to a map reading error, I missed it and didn't figure it out until I passed the north end of CR K. After some internal debate, I decided to just press on rather than backtracking. The Richard Arey's map and our hosts at the Harrisburg had both made the same recommendation to turn up County Road O and ride up the valley of the Trimbelle River. According to Richard's map, the word "trimbelle" was originally two words meaning "slender woman." The road through the Trimbelle Valley was a beautiful rural back road that gently rose up for many lovely, winding miles. It was definitely one of the high points of the trip. CR O crossed the small-to-medium Trimbelle River seven times and passed many idyllic small farms.

County Road 7 crossed Hwy 10, one of the old national highways supplanted by the Interstate system. It was necessary to ride west on Hwy 10 about a half mile, before turning off and resuming a more northerly progression on County Road O. Just after turning off the highway, I spotted an old homestead that looked a little odd as I zipped past. Attempting to turn around, I managed to fall over in the soft gravel shoulder. No harm done except to my pride I tried to get back on my bike, only to manage to trip myself and fall again! One good thing about rural riding is that there are fewer people around to see you make an idiot of yourself. Finally upright, I rode back to the old homestead which appeared to be an earth sheltered house built many years ago and long abandoned. There wasn't a good angle to take a picture from the road and I didn't want to climb the fence as I would have had to use the "No Trespassing" sign to do it. The terrain became more rolling as the road got up onto the top of the hills, and I rolled along for about 10 very pleasant miles. A couple of turns brought me onto a road that looked like a lightly populated rural suburb, which in fact it turned out to be. I was near River Falls in one of the outlier neighborhoods.

The rural road I had been on came out onto Hwy 35 (again), which goes from Maiden Rock into River Falls and then to points north. Next to the busy highway was a bike path. I usually ignore bike paths as they are often more dangerous than traffic and, besides, as a cyclist I am a vehicle and a taxpayer. For some reason I decided to take the bike path. No sooner was I on the path when I saw two cyclists coming towards me. I didn't really think about it and wasn't paying them that much heed. As we came abreast of each other, I realized that I recognized both of them! It was none other than Richard Arey, out for a day ride following one of his own maps, and his buddy Jerry who was responsible for one of the ride maps in Richard's book. What a surprise! Adding to the coincidence are the fact that Richard and I both grew up in Elmhurst IL and our mothers go to the same church and know each other. Being ten years apart in age Richard and I hadn't met, however, until I began volunteering for the St. Paul Classic.

Time was running short for both myself and Richard and Jerry, so we each went on our way after showing them my route on the maps. I rode north into River Falls to look for lunch, and Richard and Jerry rode south towards the Mississippi River. River Falls is a college and agricultural town, it seems. It has a vibrant downtown business area and lots of people walking around and shopping on foot. The layout of downtown seems to be conducive to this, with a unique parking arrangement of stalls both along the outside curbs and down the center of the street. I was looking for the Whole Foods Cooperative and found it without much trouble at all (the sign out on the sidewalk helping quite a bit). Browsing around I found the usual co-op fare as well as a bakery/deli section that had lots of interesting food. Picking some likely items, all made with primarily organic ingredients, I went to pay for lunch. I again noticed that being a bicyclist on tour seems to open people up to talking- maybe because they can tell you're not in a hurry and because it's unusual. At the checkout counter, I found out that the cashier who is buying a Burley recumbent bicycle soon from Art Doyle's bike shop in Hudson. I made a mental note to make sure stop in there as soon as I got to Hudson.

After a pleasant bite to eat at a table in front of the co-op, watching downtown River Falls go by, it was time to get going. Once thing about bicycling is that you don't want to stop for too long or your legs complain when you get going again. Richard's map recommended riding across a bridge over a gorge in Glen Park. It took a few minutes of searching as I rode, but then it was suddenly quite visible when I glanced down what initially looked like a driveway. The bridge was short, crossing a dramatically steep and narrow canyon over a small river, perhaps the very one the town gets its name from. The park itself was a pleasant municipal park, with a few families out enjoying the last nice weather of the year.

Going northwest out of River Falls, I was heading towards Hudson which is near the confluence of the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. Traveling via County Roads F and FF, I went past the controversial (and not particularly successful) dog racing track. I managed to get a little lost here and rode several more miles than I needed to, but it was a nice day and it didn't really matter. The route took me over Interstate 94, which runs through St. Paul to Madison and Milwaukee. On the north side of I94, I took a left and rode down a lovely little descent through a cleft in the bluff to downtown Hudson. Hudson is another river town, but unlike many it has maintained an economic vibrancy and its historic charm all at the same time. Many of the downtown businesses are in turn of the century buildings that are well maintained and nicely decorated. Hudson has a large marina and is a very popular place for boating, which no doubt has helped the economy. There are a number of good restaurants in downtown Hudson as well.

I rode up the street to Art Doyle's Spokes and Pedals bike shop. Art's shop is highly regarded in the local area and I had never been there. I rolled my Rivendell through the front door and a shortish, middle-agish guy (Art) came strolling over. He said "hi" and- like bikies everywhere- paid more attention to my bike than to me for a few minutes. In the meantime, I was scoping out his shop. Art has a wonderful collection of bikes hanging from the ceiling, along with "the shrine" to a former professional bike racer from Norway who now lives near Hudson. We talked about the "Rivendell philosophy" whatever that might be, about his bike collection, about riding, about Jean's and my trip, where to eat dinner and whatever else in between phone calls and customers. Art is a heckuva nice guy. After buying a closeout long sleeve Castelli jersey, I hopped back on my bike to look for Jean, who was overdue- which, given that she was driving a 28 year old Volkswagen bus, was a minor cause for concern. Jean and I passed each other going in opposite directions on Main Street. I turned around and caught her just before she would have turned around (sometimes our marriage has a Keystone Kops quality to it).

Jean wanted to see Art's shop, so we went back. While we were there, a Burley tandem caught Jean's eye. We have a tandem, a 1984 Osell (which is for sale, by the way) that has never quite fit me properly. The Burley was the right size and had a Softride beam for the stoker as well. A quick test ride and we decided it was the right thing to do. That's why the Osell- also a wonderful tandem- is for sale.

Test riding the tandem meant we rode around Hudson for a while. Sometimes towns look good on the main street, but the other streets aren't so good. Hudson isn't like that. Homes are well-maintained and haven't been remuddled into architectural caricatures. We stopped by the Baker Brewster B&B, our home for the night, while we were out testing the tandem to warn them that we'd be late. We returned the bike to Art and went out looking for dinner. There was a Carribean restaurant recommended by Art, the San Pedro Cafe, which was where we decided to eat. The food was absolutely fantastic, really the best on the whole tour. I can wholeheartedly recommend the jerk pork sandwich.

B&Bs are an interesting phenomenon in the US as compared to the rest of the world. In England, Ireland and most of Europe, for example, B&Bs are homey places that are quite economical- usually costing less than a hotel. In the US, on the other hand, B&Bs are usually luxury accommodations where one expects to be pampered and pays a premium price for it. While our most expensive night was at the St. James Hotel, the B&B's we stayed at were also fairly expensive. The quality of the service was excellent at both the Harrisburg (our favorite stay of the trip) and the Baker Brewster- as was the food.

The Baker Brewster B&B is a relatively new business in a carefully restored old Victorian style mansion. We stayed in the Cottage Rose room, apparently the old servants quarters at the back of the upper floor of the house. The room was quite large and equipped with a Jacuzzi tub, just the thing after 52 miles in the saddle. After checking in, we were treated to wine, cheese and pastry in one of the old sitting rooms. A cozy fire was going in the wonderful fireplace with a dramatic mantle. The other guests- whom you don't usually meet in hotels- were in the sitting room also. It was practically a family convention as the rest of the B&B had been filled with members from one family. They were on a group getaway and had spent the day exploring Hudson, including a stop to see the fortune teller on Main Street!

After an hour or so of visiting, the siren call of the Jacuzzi became too hard to resist and we retired to our room. There is something about hot water flowing that soothes away not only physical aches and pains but mental stresses as well. Everything would have been perfect for a good night's sleep, except for this odd electric motor noise that was quite annoying for me. Jean can sleep anywhere, but I am a fussy sleeper. I didn't sleep well because of the noise and learned something about why experienced travelers pack earplugs. Live and learn!

On to Day 5!