Minnesota State Fair

We had our annual departmental conference, and as a side trip a few of us visited the Minnesota State Fair. It was huge! Probably the biggest state fair I've ever attended.  Lots of animal,  commerce, food, and amusement rides. I was a bit reluctant to visit the fair, because I had to wake up early to catch an early flight. At the last minute, after happy hour, I acquiesced, and glad I did. 

Minneapolis, MN - Work Trip

 

George Floyd Memorial

 A 30 minute walk from my hotel where I was staying for a work related conference.  I was very glad I took the time to visit. However, on the way back it started pouring, I had to take an Uber. 

Mary Tyler Moore

When in Minneapolis, visiting the MTM memorial is a must, plus it was close to my hotel!

 

3D Street Chalk Art

It's also known as anamorphic art, 3D chalk art is a highly distorted image on a horizontal surface and when viewed from a particular location, appears to be 3D. 

 

Exploring Minneapolis

 Exploring the city while on a work related trip. And while visit met up with Anwar a friend from DC who now lives in Minnesota. 

Don't Grow Old Without A Few Cold Ones

Delaware River, NJ - one cooler per five tubes.

Camping - Glacier National Park, MT

Camping and Canoeing - Boundary Waters, MN

"Russian Hooker" Halloween Drag - Tracks, Washington, DC

Rain - Winona, MN

A low pressure system hovered overhead as we left Winona, MN and crossed into western WI on our way to Viroqua. It rained periodically throughout the day, and then again the next day on our way to Madison, WI. Thanks to waterproof panniers, a plastic garage bag covering my sleeping bag and tent, front pannier covers (yellow), an Arc'teryx rain suit and helmet rain bonnet, I stayed fairly dry, except for my cycling shoes. I brought waterproof rain covers for my cycling shoes, but they weren't very effective. My feet got wet regardless of whether I wore the rain covers or not. Ultimately, I chose just not to wear them, and to dry my shoes by directing a fan on them overnight.

Joe and Lily - Our hosts in New Ulm, MN

We arrived late in the evening at Joe and Lily’s home in New Ulm. It wasn’t a hard ride, comparative to some of our other daily rides in terms of distance and elevation, but it was a particularly hard ride for me. I think it was because of all the junk food that I ate the pervious day. Our host in De Smet, provided us with a huge box of Danish for breakfast, in which I ate four. No one else in the group was eating them, so I did. Later in the day we stopped at a bike shop that had an ice cream pallor affiliated with it and the ice cream parlor offered free ice cream. I didn’t say no. Continuing I also downed a bag a potato chips. I did, however, buy them at a health food store, but I really don't think it make a difference were you buy them. Typically, I limit my junk food, and try to snack on trail mix and fruit between meals, but not yesterday.

When we arrived in New U;m, Joe and Lily had a sweat lodge (pictured lower right corner) prepared for us. Joe is a Native-American and practices the Native-American rituals of sweats which include individual prayers, stories and song. The heat in the sweat, plus the grueling day, was a bit much for me. I only stayed for 3 out of 4 of the sweats. After dinner and a shower, I laid out in the hammock in the middle of the front yard staring at the stars. They seem particularly bright to me that evening, and then I went to bed early. The next day I also felt a lot better the next day.

Eating right and rest seems to makes a big difference in how I feel during riding the next day. I have been eating a lot of vegetarian meals on this trip and not paying attention to my protein intake. Reallizing this I started to eat more a little more meat, I feel a lot stronger now. I typically eat vegetarian meals at home, interspersed with meals with a little meat in them about three times per week. This seems to work best for me.