The Kindness of Strangers

9/10 77 miles from Barnesville MN to Park Rapids MN

Rarely has a less promising day dawned during our eastward bicycling adventure. Dire forecasts of contrary winds had us quaking in our cleats. Unsure of our ability to handle another long ride, we elected to limit ourselves to about 40 miles, putting us in Detroit Lakes for the night. However, we arrived there quite early and opted for a nice second breakfast at the local Perkins. Therein we struck up a conversation with a nice couple who were from the area and who stiffened our backbones a bit by assuring us that most of the roadway to Park Rapids was shielded by forest and that it featured a broad paved shoulder that would make it less likely that we’d be blown under the wheels of a passing truck. This was mostly true. They were very impressed with the fact that Kevin had ridden from Seattle and was on his way to Maine. Our interaction with them reminded me of Benjamin Franklin. 
Huh?
Well, in his autobiography Benjamin Franklin discussed his having learned to ask for help. Not only do people want to help, they often take a proprietary interest in your welfare. 
What’s this got to do with our breakfast at Perkins? Shortly after our companions left the restaurant we learned from the hostess that they had paid our tab.
And there was more to come. We passed over a high point known as the Laurentian Divide. On either side, rivers flow away in opposite directions. I told Kevin that I had once owned a Pontiac Laurentian sedan, a model made and sold only in Canada. He seemed unimpressed. 

Anyway, from this high point we had a nice, long downhill run until we got thirsty and decided to pull over in the town of Snellman, which consists of a shuttered cafe, a crafts and collectibles shop and a sign telling you you’re in Snellman. Here we met Aune (pronounced OW-nee, it’s Finnish), a sweet lady who sold us pop from a tiny fridge and regaled us with tales of Snellman’s bustling past. Her shop had once served as the warming house for the local ski jump (now fallen into disrepair) and had then become a 3.2 beer joint (apparently Snellman was a hotbed for 3.2 beer) wherein one could purchase a 3.2 beer and for an extra quarter of a dollar descend with said beer into the sauna downstairs to sweat it back out.
Bidding Aune a fond farewell, we sped lightheartedly down the road a bit until we came upon the Osage Bait and Tackle shop. Initally intending only to enjoy a beverage, we were urged by some locals to try the burgers. So we did. And it was good. Stop in the next time you hit Osage.

Immediately after Osage, our luck changed a bit. The final 10 miles into Park Rapids featured a narrowed shoulder dominated in the center by an unrideable rumble strip. Also, there were far fewer trees to protect us from the wind, so it was a hair raising, white-knuckle finish to an otherwise stellar day on the road. And our motel is next to a Dairy Queen.
JF

Sent from my LG X venture, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone