Itasca and Cass Lake: Another test

The trip to Itsaca last weekend was a chance to try out my camping gear and get another long ride in. My friend and colleague from work, Lisa, went with me. It was also a great chance to see an area of Minnesota that I've never seen before--Paul Bunyan country you might say. As a kid I remember reading the legend, so seeing the statues of him and Babe the blue ox was very entertaining. We set up camp at Cass Lake and tried out the mini-stove, setting up our tents, and played cards while we fought off mosquitoes, which also gave me a chance to try out my insect repellent. It worked great, thank goodness.It started raining in the middle of the night and continued the entire next day. After a breakfast of oatmeal and coffee we set out to ride to Lake Itasca, which we both thought was only 35 miles away.

Riding through a steady stream of rain wasn't that bad and I figured it was good practice for a scenario I'm likely to encounter. I don't intend to ride through storms, but so long as visibility and maneuverability isn't compromised I'll trudge along. The only time it became a major factor was when we took a shortcut thru a country rode that was unpaved limestone. This slowed us up considerably but we made it through. About 25 miles into the ride we were looking forward to having lunch and we saw a sign that said Itasca Park was another 20 miles away. It was more than we bargained for, and as game as she is--and a much better athlete than I, Lisa hadn't planned or trained for that long of a ride. So we decided to stop in the little town of Kabokane and head back--which would still give us a nice 60 mile ride. We took a nice break at a gas station where the owner let us rest on some chairs as we ate lunch indoors. He let us know that the rain wasn't going to let up, so after a good rest we headed back and were oh so happy to discover that the campground showers had hot water. Afterwards we decided to drive to Bemidji and get a good hot meal. Later we went by Itasca and saw the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi and a beautiful rainbow. The mosquitoes were much less of a problem that night due to the rain and after breakfast the next morning we returned to Minneapolis--tired but content with a good experience.

The two most important things I learned from this experience was that I have to give my meals and calorie intake lots of consideration and how to better find my rhythm going up and down hills using my gears more strategically. both very valuable lessons. I visited a nutritionist this week and she informed me that I need to intake probably 6,000 calories a day--which is a heckuva lot! Other blogs from cyclists who have travelled long distances have said as much, but thinking through that from the practical standpoint of carrying food was an important thing to get my head around

Tomorrow I head out to Melrose, MN with a colleague who grew up there. Her dad has set up a series of meetings for me that will give me a chance to try out my talks/interviews with folks. I plan on riding back. My calculations of the back road route suggest it'll be about 120 miles, so I plan to bike a few hours into the evening, find a place to stay and then get up early Sunday morning and make hopefully make it back home in time for the Sunday evening Spurs-Cavs basketball game. Two weekends from now my goal is to ride from Hinckley, MN to Duluth (about 75 miles), camp and then head back to Hinckley the next day. This will give me the chance to get back to back 75 miles/day in at least once before heading out on July 1st.

I'll let you know how my visit to Melrose goes. I'm loaded with all kinds of technology to help me document my visit--from digital voice recorder to a mini cam and a digital camera.