Day 36 - Hill City, MN to Superior, WI - 85 miles - 1,066 feet of elevation gain

I enjoyed the ride today for the scenery, temperature, a gentle wind, and easy climbs. I did not enjoy 75% of the roads. From eastern Montana until Wisconsin they have purposely cut the asphalt every 15-20 feet. I’m guessing it has something to do with winter, but clearly the engineer that is recommending this technique is not a cyclist. It hurts! Hands, rear, and the rest of the body are all jolted. Sometimes these cracks are deep. Today’s roads also had some debris and lots of gravel. The gravel got me with a pinch flat. I had just swung out to avoid the gravel and clearly caught a rock at the wrong place. We also had our last hold out for a flat deflate today. So now everyone has had at least one flat.

We crossed the Mississippi River, but it definitely was not at its mightiest point. We rolled into the town of Superior across a cool bridge with a pedestrian crossing over the St Louis River, with views of Lake Superior. That also marked the entrance into Wisconsin. Then we got to do some urban riding on a straight away to the hotel. Our hotel is across the road from Lake Superior.

Guess what we did after showers? About 7 of us went to a bike shop. It was a ski/bike shop. So I was looking at the deals for ski gear, I didn’t find anything in my size. Two in the group bought new saddles because they were so done with the rough roads and uncomfortable saddles. Let’s hope tomorrow has them loving their saddles, they got the Brooks rubber saddles. I have a leather Brooks saddle, and I’m telling you it’s the only way to go. It takes some time to break the leather in, but boy-oh-boy is it comfortable. I’ve done long rides on bad saddles and it’s the worst. I’d end up dancing in my saddle to try to get comfortable, and then I’d be pedaling inconsistently. It was a mess! Having the right saddle is so important!!

At dinner I surprised the boys and ordered cheese curds for their table. They didn’t say anything so I have no idea if they liked them. But they were quiet when the plate was sitting on their table, so it couldn’t have been all bad. When in Wisconsin, you have to do cheese curds at least once!

One more day until a rest day!