With our morning chores out of the way, we had the afternoon to play. It was agreed we would bike from home to pick up the Tri-County Bike Trail near Eyota and then bike the trail into Elgin. We noted the temperature was in the 90’s as we began pedaling down the road but a slight breeze out of the south added comfort to our ride. We stopped in Saint Charles for a Subway lunch and then pedaled down US-14 towards Eyota. We cranked our pedals around and around for 18 grueling miles before we pulled onto the Tri-County Trail to enjoy a 2+ mile non-pedal glide towards Viola, MN. The attack of the grasshoppers began shortly after we reached the trail. They continued to jump onto various parts of our bodies causing us to jerk and twitch which made for a rather unsmooth tandem ride.
At 25 miles into our route we found ourselves in Elgin and directly in our path was the Huddle Bar & Grill. This bar not only offered a cool place for us to rest but also provided an extremely friendly atmosphere. From the time we stepped inside we were greeted by all with introductions and friendly chatter. Dennis was surprised to learn that the bartender was married to the daughter of a VoTech teacher he had in the 70’s—small world.
It was now time to turn this bike around and head for home. Remember those 2+ miles of downhill? Well, we now got to repeat those miles but in reverse—always up for a challenge. Once on US-14 we had no problem enjoying the wind at our backs as we pedaled towards supper awaiting us in Dover at the Roadhouse. We hate to eat and run but the sun was already starting to crawl below the horizon and we still had 10 miles to go.
We pedaled down our driveway as the sun quietly slipped from the sky. This trip of 53 miles will definitely be a repeater—such an enjoyable day.
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