Day 2 - May 11th

Route: Nerstrand Big Woods State Park to Sakatah Lake State Park
Miles: 36

Team Report

What we've learned after two days of skiing across Minnesota:

1. Trucks behind you push you forward, trucks toward you push you backwards, and some trucks just push you into the ditch.
2. Long downhills in Faribault are fun except when accompanied by a stop at the bottom.
3. When skiing West, sunburn happens on the left side of your body.
4. Downhill bridges are bad news.
5. Dairy Queen pit stops are a good thing and they are looking for energetic, enthusiastic people to hire.
6. Well packed dirt roads are skiable.
7. Stay awake: speed bumps are dangerous.
8. Sunscreen doesn't work.
9. Be prepared for skilocross (obstacles!)
10. The mileage will always be 6 miles more than planned.
11. Faribault is not rollerskier friendly.
12. Locals are not knowledgeable trail guides; Historical Centers are.
13. Cows are an attentive audience.
14. Don't touch the electric fence around cow pastures.
15. There is nothing funny about riding with bike trailers.
16. Bumpy roads are painful if you are skiing with a broken sesamoid bone on the ball of your right toe.
17. Blisters will appear in random places.
18. Who needs a heated pool when you have algae-filled lakes?
19. Don't leave expensive sunglasses on the ground or they will get stepped on and break.
20. You don't need a can opener to open up cans, and even if you have one who wants to do it the lazy way anyhow?

-- Julie, Jenni, Amy, Liz, Marie, Josie

Day 3 - May 12th

Route: Sakatah State Park to County Road 9 and Hwy 169 (SW of Mankato)
Miles: 38.4
Basecamp: Minneopa State Park

Julie Warneke

It was another eventful day out on the road. We started out on the Sakatah Trail right from our campsite. The trail was mostly flat but made more difficult by high winds. After about an hour or so we encountered some rain as well. Luckily, that only lasted a short while. The trail ended outside of Mankato and it was time to try our luck at finding our way through the city, after a short stop for lunch, of course. The first road heading in was a rather sharp decent with a stoplight at the bottom, rather than testing our fates with the skigods we reluctantly took off our skis and walked down. Skiing through Mankato was difficult due to hills and the cement streets, which made poling a challenge. Eventually we realized we weren't totally sure where to go, and by a chance we were right by the Blue Earth County Historical Museum. At that point a Mankato Public Safety Officer pulled up and inquired about a location to purchase roller skis. He then proceeded to give us directions out of the city. On the county road coming out of Mankato we found a lovely hill that left us (well some of us) energized. After that we had 5 more miles against the wind until we finished.

-- Julie

Jenni Mead

This morning we skied the last 25 miles of the Sakatah Singing Hills Trail. It went through woods and farmland, and was mostly flat. We did a lot of double poling because much of the trail was really bumpy in the center due to snowmobile traffic.

My parents met us for lunch at the end of the trail. They had brought our stuff to Minneopa State Park for us. I was really glad they were there to help us get through Mankato. We went through most of it before getting some help from a fireman who had asked me where to buy rollerskis. He gave us a better map and highlighted the way. There are many hills and stoplights in Mankato, and the fireman asked us if we had brakes. When I said NO, he roared with laughter and yelled out of his window as he drove away "what a good time!"

Today we all got really good at the downhill rollerskating technique of having one foot on the sidewalk and one foot in the grass to slowdown. We are also becoming experts at skiing through gravel and over curbs. Liz is trying to get used to bike shoes and fell 4 times today. Josie and the trailer had a good wipe-out on the railroad tracks.

Just out of Mankato we had some rolling terrain. The last 5 miles I was getting really angry at the wind. When I get angry at the wind I ski harder and harder as if I can conquer it. Those last miles ended up being an all-out race for me and I finished exhausted but happy.

Our actual time skiing was almost 4 hours today. We had a lot of stops, so it took us over 6 hours. The hours of skiing have gone by quite fast. Normally when I do a rollerski workout I check my watch every 5 minutes and a 3 hour ski feels like it takes forever. Our mission here is different, however, and so our mentality is different as well. It is fun to look at the stopwatch at the end of the day and see 4 or 5 hours on it.

Another really cool thing about this trip is that we never have to see anything twice. We are skiing on all new roads and the new scenery and geography is exciting.

When we got to camp today, we showered and layed around playing cribbage and reading. Then we took off to see Minneopa Falls a short drive away. We ended up touring the 6-mile Prairie Loop first because I took a wrong turn. Halfway around it I looked back and saw my clothes flapping on the bike rack that I had hung to dry earlier. Luckily all of them stayed on due to my quality hanging job! The Falls were surprising. I didn't expect anything that cool in this part of Minnesota. I think today was my favorite day so far.

-- Jenni

Day 4 - May 13th

Route: County Road 9 and 169 to Hwy 4 and Hwy 30
Miles: 30
Basecamp: Minneopa State Park
Weather: Windy, rainy, and cold

Amy Wyman

Today we woke up to the rainy weather. We didn't pack up our stuff because we were coming back here after the ski. On the drive to our start location we sang every song with rain in the lyrics to get psyched up for the day. Five miles into the day everyone was soaked. The bikers feet were frozen and all we could do was sing to keep everyone happy. Our songs of choice were about the town Madelia. Such as: Madelia your skakin my confidence daily (to Cecilia's tune by Simon and Garfunkel). We had a pit stop once we made it there at the BP where the Subway workers were laughing and pointing at us. So on the road we were again when all of a sudden a dog decided he wanted to run with us. The dog freaked people out and Marie ended up sticking her pole in her mom's wheel and they fell down together. While we were gazing at the farm houses in the distance we were trying to stay upright in the winds. If you would face north the winds would push you all the way across the road. Too bad that was not the direction we needed to go. Well I had a good day except for 15 minutes at the end. I could feel the effects that low fuel (food) has on skiing. So after a long, cold rewarding day we were finished and headed back to Minneopa State Park.

-- Amy

Julie Warneke

Skiing today was wet, cold, and windy for the first part. I just found a rhythm for skiing and stuck with it to keep going. Luckily the road we were on was nice and smooth so we didn't have to worry about bumps in addition to the elements. The wind from the North was strong enough that when we were standing still facing it, it would start pushing us South. Also if you blew a snot rocket from the far right side of the road it would fly all the way over to the far side of the left lane. Eventually the rain stopped and the wind actually helped us by drying us off faster. We took a short stop in the BP gas station in Madelia and got some hot chocolate before we headed back out into the cold. We passed from Blue Earth to Watonwan County and you could tell the changes in the road immediately. The last miles of the day actually had pretty nice weather for skiing in but we were drained from being cold and wet earlier and decided not to push any extra miles today. Overall, it wasn't the best day, but it was still fun to be out skiing on our adventure.

-- Julie

Day 5 - May 14th

Route: Hwy 4 and HW 30 to Westbrook
Miles: 40.5
Basecamp: Lake Shetek State Park
Weather: Windy, cold, then sunny, warmer

Marie Jordan

The day started out by waking up at 6 a.m. to get a head start. The temp was about 30F when we woke up and we were praying that it wasn't going to rain again. Luckily, our praying worked because the sky was clear and the sun came back out. To our dismay, the wind was very very bad to us as it was cold and would not let up no matter how much we yelled out at it. The first half of the trek was fairly flat. Our first stop was at 10 miles in at a little town called Darfur (population 137). Where we found an exciting little tool sale but didn't have time to stop. There was also a man who asked us if we were training for the Olympics.

Chasey, our bike trailer was not being very nice to Josie, so we ditched him at lunchtime, which was on the side of the highway. There, the hills started. We kept climbing and climbing but we never seemed to go back down.

The scenery was very exotic today. We had another dog chase us for a while and then we saw some cows, horses and some sheep! Not to mention corn fields galore. We knew we were going to put on some extra miles today so we stopped at 28 miles in a town called Jeffers to take a little nap. We found a spot behind a big truck to block the wind. Our "little" nap turned out to be about an hour and a half. Everyone that drove by us as we were resting got a kick out of us because they kept waving. The whole day was full of nice, friendly drivers, with the exception of one guy in a truck with a boat. He didn't think he had to move over or slow down while passing us. Well, Bah Humbug to him!

One of our last stops was in a town called Storden where we stopped for a pit stop at a little place called the Drive Inn Diner. Well, you don't really "drive in" to this diner. More like drive in the parking lot, park, then go inside and sit at tables like a regular restaurant. Their toilet was in the back and wasn't very sturdy when trying to sit on it. It was like a little ride!

This highway was very nice to us as it as very smooth and it also had the mile markers that counted down to the border. It's a nice feeling to see those miles dropping like flies!! On a personal note, this was a very good day for me as I didn't complain once! I think it's a first for this trip, or my life. Oh yeah, Josie snorts when she laughs. Until next time….

-- Marie

Liz Walters

I just have one thing to add… Last night it was a bit difficult to get a good night's rest. I was trying to fall asleep when Amy had to begun to snore…very loudly….even poking her did not abate the snoring, it just made it louder. Later on I was awoken by a sleeping bag repeatedly hitting me. Before I could scream I came to the realization that Amy had just fallen off her mat and was thrashing to get back on. While she was still asleep. Overall it was a very eventful evening thanks to Amy.
P.S. Biking has been alright.

-- Liz