Day 46: On the Road Again

After taking four days off over Fourth of July weekend to visit Martha Grace and Kyle, I packed up my panniers this morning and hit the road. I’d strategized getting back on the route with Kyle yesterday, so had a smooth journey out of Hayward and back onto my maps.

The morning was lots of riding through woods and by lakes and rivers. It was pretty and rolling, though not too much along the way. There was a rest stop and a small general store in Edgewater where I picked up starbursts and a postcard, and had a picnic lunch. As I was lunching, a cyclist came by the other way. Morgan was headed from Minneapolis to Chicago and averaging about a hundred miles a day. We traded notes on what was ahead for each of us then he got going again as he was hoping to get another 70 miles in and it was a bit before noon already.

The general store in Haugen was much better stocked. I found chocolate milk for a snack, and dehydrated sweet potatoes and a can of chicken for dinner (turned out pretty decent with a few more spices!). I hung out on a bench watching the world go by and snacking for a while, but eventually you have to get going again. If you stop too long, starting becomes harder.

I was about 7 miles out from the campground when I passed a great little park on a lake and had to stop. I relaxed under a tree for a while enjoying the nice weather, then onto the campground.

I’m staying in Cumberland tonight at a city campground. When I checked in, the guy at the office said “oh, you must be the cyclist who called a few hours ago”. I was not. Sure enough, a couple hours later, Larry arrived on his bike. He’s headed coast to coast eastbound. He’s the first cross country cyclist I’ve run into on this trip. I picked his brain on some routing options ahead, which was super helpful.

Tomorrow is a short day, so I’ll have a leisurely morning and am hoping to get in a hike at the park I’m headed to tomorrow afternoon.