Sunday, July 20, 2008 – Day 28

Start: New Ulm, Minnesota
End: Owatonna, Minnesota
Miles: 73.63 Total Miles: 2,045.59 BRAA Total Miles: 1,923.90
Time: 4 hours 36 minutes (avg 16.0 MPH)
Flat tire count today: 1 Total flat tires for the ride: 8

It was really tough to get back on the road this morning after a nice rest day. Especially, since it was so foggy and wet out. But, if I didn’t get back on the road, I would be stuck in New Ulm, Minnesota and would never make it home. So, onward we went.

Almost the entire ride was in a fog. I could say that I was also in a fog, but I was actually riding relatively fast today. The theme of the ride today would have to be fog, soy beans and corn. Since all that we could see through the fog was the miles and miles of soy beans and corn growing.

I know I am going on a bit too much about the fog, but I took this picture of my arm to show how wet I was. I was so wet, it was almost as if I was riding in the rain. My helmet, shirt and shorts were dripping wet.

The group that I was riding with part of the day wasn’t practicing safe riding habits. One of the riders was texting some friends to let them know when he would be arriving to our destination. Then, the rider next to him just had to take a picture because he thought it was so funny to be texting while riding. So, the guy next to him had to take a picture of both of them for the same reason. I topped it off by taking a picture of all of them. These are the kind of things we do during the ride to keep it interesting.

Our first support stop for the day was next to one of the first Dairy Queens built. Unfortunately, it was closed because we were there so early, but it was neat to see such an old DQ and to see that it is still in business.

A little further down the road, we came across a bunch of houses that were up on blocks. It was the strangest site, to see about a half dozen houses not on foundations. As I passed, I saw a sign that advertised house movers. Apparently, these house movers come into an area that is going to be developed and move the houses that are already there – if they are in good condition.

At our PB&J stop, the sky began to clear and so we just sat in some comfy chairs and looked at the peaceful lake across the street. We were making such good time, we decided to just hang out a little longer than usual because it was so relaxing.

Right before getting to our destination today, we passed the Owatonna power plant. It was worth stopping and taking a picture.

We are staying the night at the county fairgrounds. It was funny as a number of us pulled into the camp area. There were quite a few locals hanging around the ice hockey building and when they saw us pull up and start setting up camp, they were in awe. They just starred as we hopped off our bikes and popped up our tents. They were all talking to each other and pointing. At this point in the ride, it made no difference. We are used to just about anything.