I was cleaning things up this afternoon and came across this wonderful memory: Our friend Jay Lardy hosts a radio show on Macalester College's radio station. He calls it Blast Beats and Bicycles and in the fall of 2018, he invited Lisa and I to come on and talk about our trip. I just dropped … Continue reading Flashback to New Orleans trip
Author: Dan Gjelten
Itasca to Bemidji: Paul Bunyan, Babe, and a great night’s sleep
Itasca State Park is so amazing - the pines, the lake, the bike paths, and, this night, the full moon. We woke on Monday - me earlier than Lisa - to yet another perfect day. I climbed out of the tent and started water for coffee and sat and listened to MPR from my phone … Continue reading Itasca to Bemidji: Paul Bunyan, Babe, and a great night’s sleep
Pedaling and peregrinating: Walker to Itasca
Lisa wrote about the long day we had riding from the lovely Crow Wing State Park and our campsite at the confluence of the Crow Wing and Mississippi rivers. We had a fine night experiencing Walker’s delights and a meal on a patio with a stiff wind coming off the lake. The cheap hotel bed … Continue reading Pedaling and peregrinating: Walker to Itasca
St. Paul to Clearwater, MN via the Mississippi River Trail
This time we are riding upstream. Our goal is to reach the Headwaters of the Mississippi so that we can say we completed the entire length. Minnesota, fortunately, has done a great job of marking several bike trips , including this one, officially called the MRT as well as the US Bike Route (USBR) 45. … Continue reading St. Paul to Clearwater, MN via the Mississippi River Trail
2020 Confluences
We call this blog "Confluence" and even define it on our header: "a coming and flowing together, meeting or gathering." So, so much has come together in the last few months - a global pandemic which sent many of us home to work, and, around Memorial Day, the killing of George Floyd, here in the … Continue reading 2020 Confluences
St. Paul to Chicago, Day 6: Racine to the Mag Mile
Short report is that it was a beautiful day for a ride straight south into the city. Most of the way was on a series of trails including the long Robert McClory trail. I rode through the posh suburbs north of here, Lake Forest, Winnetka, and right by/through Ravinia. The recorded announcements at the train … Continue reading St. Paul to Chicago, Day 6: Racine to the Mag Mile