Day 28

I wasn't sure that I was ready to leave New Ulm.  It's not that I liked New Ulm that well.  In fact, despite the Bavarian Blast and the brewery, New Ulm was kind of a pain.  The college provided no bedding or towels and had turned off the air conditioning in the dorms for the summer.  It was hot and humid in the dorms and we all had trouble sleeping.

Furthermore, the college was located about a mile from downtown and sat atop a bluff with Hermann the Germann.  Anytime that you went to town, by foot or bike, you had to negotiate that damn hill coming home.  The Bavarian Blast and Shells Brewery were both about 2 miles from town, but in opposite directions.  Needless to stay we covered a lot of ground on our rest day.   I was still tired at the end of it.

Fortunately we were greeted with another great riding day.  The temperatures cooled and we had another tailwind.  By 10:45 am Mike and I had covered 62 of the 74 miles that we were riding today and stopped for breakfast.  'The food wasn't great, but after riding 62 miles you'll eat most anything.

We had 3 rest stops scheduled for the day.  The group moved so fast that we could have gotten along with 2.  So that we know where the rest stops are located, Frank (a Big Ride Coordinator) usually places "AC" (which stands for angry cat) by the road.  On Friday Frank forgot AC on the side of the road.  Allen, the mechanic, went back to get him.  Frank was frantic, but even though AC sat out along the road for several hours, nobody picked him up.

Normally AC wears just a pink boa.  Today, however, he was also adorned with Sam's sauerkraut eating crown. 

Half of today's ride to Owatonna, Mn. followed the Minnesota river.  It was a great break from the corn, soybean and wheat vistas that we've had since we left the plains.  After rolling through Mankato, Mn. we were back into agriculture and some of the crappiest roads we've seen on the trip.  The shoulders had craters in them and the roads weren't much better.  It was a little tricky when a truck or a motor home went by, there was no place to go.  Happily, we all arrived safely.

It seems like every town in the midwest uses their water tower as a billboard for their name.  Some you can see for miles.  There may be some kind of competition for the biggest water tower--I wonder what the prize would be.

We're camping in the Owatonna fairgrounds.  I strategically located my tent by the colonial beer garden in case they opened.