Pepin to Sparta, WI

Posted on July 27, 2004 by Kevin

I forgot to mention yesterday that I had my first flat tire since Day Two in Wenatchee, WA. When I pumped up my tires before leaving Northfield, MN, my rear tire only had about 40 psi in it. I decided then to just pump it up and see how it went. I was able to ride through to lunch, then pump it up again, and made it to Pepin, then changed it when I got there. I was able to find the shard of glass in my tire that had caused the flat.

I rode the whole day today with Patti and Bruce. It was very cold when we left Pepin, and also quite foggy. We continued along the remaining shore of Lake Pepin, and further as it became the Mississippi River again. About mid-morning, Patti got a flat tire; as we fixed it, we were joined by Debbie again.

Just before the four of us reached lunch, I found my road relic for the week–a bit of coiled cord that looks like it came from a phone charger. Later in the afternoon, I also found a piece of broken casing from a cell phone, so they will go well together.

The ride was a long 95 miles, through many rolling hills. When we reached Sparta, we went into town and stopped at the Deke Slayton Space and Bike Museum. There we saw many antique bicycles, plus an amusing bike safety film from the 1950’s or 60’s. Then we went to Ginny’s Cupboard for our traditional post-ride snack. I had a latte with my PBJ sandwich. I took a ride to the edge of town to check out Speed’s, the local bike shop, but didn’t buy anything. It was almost 5:00pm by the time I got to Sparta High School, so I got showered as quick as I could, then walked up the street with Matt Olson just in time for dinner at Trinity Lutheran Church.

Most of us just sat around and chatted back at the school after Tour Talk. I got to bed early around 9:30.