Day 2 was a loop ride. They didn't used to do a loop, but started the last time I rode three years ago and it was a big hit. A little bit of overlap, but no packing up the tent or supplies. You just rotate back to where you started at. In this case, the Minnesota Mining Museum in Chisholm.
Ben and I were up early, and worried about the rain forecast. But amazingly, we missed almost every drop. For the most part we were just where the rain wasn't.
Before I forget, here's a link to all the detailed maps: https://ridewithgps.com/events/163808-2022-bike-ms-ride-across-minnesota.
Given the weather cooled off dramatically, I was willing to putter around a bit more. Here's the start of the day at the castle in the middle of the museum. That fake mine I talked about yesterday is just over the hill to the right. A number of people camped behind the castle in a small, secluded field because it was so quiet and dark compared to almost anywhere else.
The only photo I really took during the day. A lot of time on the trails and winding between the iron ore/mining pits that are now lakes and mountains in the area. Most of the trails have a nearby ATV trail system as well. I took this photo so I could show it to the Bosnian folks I work with to give them an idea of why we have so much iron ore mining in northern Minnesota.
The big truck. Venue for music and for changing your t-shirt behind the tires if you work the beer garden because no one can see you back there. Music on Day 2, after we found dinner and beer at Jim's again, was a guitarist from Buehl. He played much less Billy Joel. One of the MS riders got up to play
Angel From Montgomery at Ben's request. He said he could only do it "Bonnie Raitt" style, but still, solid. At the very end of the entertainment, the beer garden decided they really didn't want to haul around the beer and offered two for one. A deal. But unlike my rides with Ming, Ben and I probably drank enough beer calories to wash away our exercise gains.
An old Greyhound bus. There's a whole
Greyhound Bus Museum in the area. We went right past it, but it was before hours. I can't imagine that's everyone's cup of tea, but given my age, I spent more than my fair share of cross country time on one as a kid.
I like whatever this machine is. It seems like something that should have been turned into kinetic art at the museum of industry and science.
SELFIE STREAM....
Me on a caboose.
Me in a mining car/truck.
Me almost pretending to be Paul Bunyan's dick. Needed to move a little to my left and remove my hat to take advantage of the mostly shaved head. He's shorter than I expected. Mostly, he reminded me of
Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan that I went to at the Trylon with Kyle.
Had the storms gotten any worse, this would have been the best place to hide. Although I don't know if it's insulated from lightning. So maybe it would have been the worst place to hide.
This display reminded me of all the little animated kiosks in Columbia in
Bioshock: Infinite. Even the title sounds like something from that game.
Not my bike. Or Ben's bike. I was on my sport/hybrid, and Ben was on a fatter tired hybrid. We only saw one other bike with his configuration. Lot of road friction for him. Most folks were on road bikes like these, although surprisingly not leaving us hours behind each day. I think we got out a little earlier and maybe spent less time at the rest stops, other than to pound a bottle of water and some gorp.
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