We crossed into Minnesota today at about mile 39, our sixth state. The staff traditionally marks this state line as the official halfway point, even though mileage-wise it may be different, since the route changes from year-to-year, but we are halfway done in terms of riding days. Several people said they actually turned over 2100 miles on Tuesday. The halfway point that I saw marked on the road on Monday turned out ot be not for us, but for another tour group.
The first town in Minnesota was Marietta, where we had our lunch stop. We also passed through Madison, the self-declared “Lutefisk Capital USA.”
The conditions were just like yesterday, only somewhat longer at 84 miles. With mostly flat country roads through farmlands, with relatively little wind, the miles went by pretty fast.
When we arrived in the town of Montevideo, I considered going to the middle school to get cleaned up before exploring town, but David Butler and Bruce convinced me to go straight into town with them. I was glad I did, because lots of others from the tour were there, and we had a great time. We checked out the local bike shop, then hung out at a coffee shop called Java River, where I had an iced mocha, then later a bubble tea. I was even talked into doing karaoke with Matt Olson, Alan, and Richard; we sang “If I Had $1,000,000” (by the Barenaked Ladies).
After dinner, a bunch of us rode back into town to watch today’s Tour de France stage at a local bar. Lance won the stage by inches in a sprint finish.
Filed under: Coast to Coast 2004 |
Miles 4 Melanoma 
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