Day 12 - New Prague to West Concord
The Asteria Motel in New Prague has comfortable beds
. I can verify this because last night I slept nearly 10 hours in one! At 7:30 am, Dave and I woke up to the sound of Haydynne and Becca knocking on our door on their way down to breakfast. In a remarkably short time we joined them for biscuits & sausage gravy, and peanut butter on a toasted bagel (Ann) and cereal & OJ (Dave), supplemented by his last chocolate muffin from home and a hard-boiled egg that had frozen in the fridge last night! We then packed up and were ready to ride on the last leg for this year. The church bells were chiming 9 AM as Dave, Becca, and I rode out of the parking lot. We headed south on Route 13 from New Prague, with only a light breeze from the north. The road dipped up and down, with a rumble strip along the edge line and 8-12" of pavement outside the rumble strip. Traffic wasn't bad, though, and we made good time to Montgomery, about 9 miles from New Prague. Here we took a short detour west and then half a mile south on a gravel road (Becca said, "You guys rode 11 miles of this?!”) to see the little Budejovice church
. It’s a tiny Catholic church built by Czech settlers in 1868 that had fallen into disrepair after the congregation moved to a bigger parish. It went over a century without being used. A few years ago a man with Stage 4 cancer felt led to restore the church, and both seem to have found new life from the process. We had read an article in Guideposts about him, and since the church was so close to our route, wanted to see it. Though it was locked and the windows were too high to let us see much inside, it’s a beautiful little church in a beautiful setting of a well-kept cemetery. Wish someone had been around to show us the inside. Check out these sites for more information.
http://www.christiancyberministries.org/ccmEvents/menu_343.htm
http://www.southernminn.com/lonsdale_area_news_review/news/local/article_c296fdb9-5c04-5617-a41c-58860d0efeef.html
and watch the video part way down this site:
https://fleetingfarms
.wordpress.com/2014/06/25/budejovice-church-montgomery-minnesota/
We headed back up the gravel road and east again into Montgomery, then took Hwy 21 east. Still beautiful farmland and pretty easy roads. Going up one hill, I got a sudden burst of energy and enthusiasm for the last day’s ride and charged past Dave UP the hill! That is such an unusual occurrence it left him practically speechless! A bit further on, near a pretty farm, there was a farmer running his tractor harrowing between the rows of corn (at least that’s what it looked like). It was so quintessentially Minnesotan that both Dave and I stopped to take pictures. So here we were, our Washington jerseys proclaiming us as “foreigners,” taking pictures of a farmer on his tractor as the locals drove by. Talk about being tourists!
Made 15 mph to Shieldsville (does that sound like an American town, or what!) where we took a rest break at mile 23. We had entered the lake country again, large lakes this time, that looked lovely for swimming and boating
. Our lunch stop in Faribault was only 12 miles further on, but we’ve found that taking a break by mile 25 just makes the ride more pleasant. So then we cruised in to Faribault about 45 minutes later and met up with Rodney and the girls at their great park. That’s another thing we’ve noticed: most of these towns, even the really small ones, have beautiful central park areas with ball fields and toys for the kids to play on, and many also have public pools.
The weather was beautiful – sunny and warm, but with a nice breeze from the north to keep it from getting too hot. We relaxed for our customary hour, then mounted up again. Small towns are frequent enough now that we stop at each break at a mini-mart to refill our water bottles with ice and cold water. The route out of Faribault is a loooong, but not steep, hill – first on a bridge over the RR tracks, then a level spot where the Quik-Trip is located, and then another long hill out of town. After that it leveled out into general ups and downs for almost 10 miles
. Shortly before Kenyon, there was a nice long downhill to cross the Zumbro River, then a short, steeper climb to the town.
Here, Rodney was getting Haydynne ready to ride the last 10 miles home with us. She’d never ridden the Trail-a-Bike on the roads before, and does have a tendency to lean side to side to see beyond her parent, so it made Grandma and Grandpa a bit nervous. But Becca was fine with it, so we took some pictures – 3 generations of the women of our family riding together – and headed for West Concord. And it was a great way to finish this year’s trip – sunshine, a nice tailwind, and the 4 of us riding together. What a blessing from God to be able to do these trips!
We cruised along at sometimes 21 mph, and then when we’d go up a gradual hill, Haydynne would pedal so hard to help her mom – and Becca says it really does help. We saw the water tower for West Concord ahead – we’ve learned to spot water towers as each stage of our goal for the day – and rode into town about 3:00. Dave had stopped to take a picture, so Becca and Haydynne and I slowed way down to wait for him so that we could all ride up to the house together. Rodney and Sammi were waiting for us, and the rest of the day has been spent in showering, cleaning up the camper, re-settling Becca and Rodney and the girls back at home, and relaxing.
So this year’s ride is finished
. There were some really hard rides, and some very memorable moments. 62 miles with a 20 mph headwind the first day. Taking a rest break in the post office in Taylor, ND. Riding 11.4 miles on a gravel road. The beautiful openness of the North Dakota plains. Riding in a rainstorm through Fergus Falls. A tailwind and a great bike trail! Spending time with the Willsons after all these years. The lovely rolling farmland of Minnesota. Passing Dave going up a hill. Riding alternate days with Becca and Rodney during the last week – a very special blessing to have daughter and son-in-law whom we really enjoy and who like to spend time with us as well! And finishing the ride, with Haydynne on the bike as well, was extra special.
Just an end note: We had originally planned to ride 75 miles tomorrow, ending at Winona on the Mississippi River. The weather report and the early delays from winds changed that. As we sat around this afternoon, I was thinking that if the weather report changed and was good, it would be hard to make the mental switch to riding again tomorrow. But for the heck of it, I asked Dave to check the weather report. 75% chance of rain by 9 am, up to 100% chance from 11 am to 8 pm, winds from the E/NE starting at 10 mph and increasing to 20 mph by evening, with flash flood watches! I am so glad we are not riding tomorrow!!
Trail's End 2015
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
West Concord, Minnesota, United States
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2025-02-09